The Mettawee Community School (MCS) is quite a distance from Broadway, but all the elements of the Great White Way were onstage at the school’s Winter Musical, Treasure Island: Costumed singers and dancers performing ensemble productions. Stage marks on the floor with sound boards and changing sets. A missed line and quick recovery. A curtain call and encore number. A rousing standing ovation from the audience.
“Each year the musical generates so much energy at Mettawee,” said MCS Principal Brooke DeBonis. “For six weeks everyone - students, teachers, and staff - gets involved learning lines, making costumes, rehearsing songs, building the scenery, directing performers. This event is a lesson in collaboration and patience. Somehow it all comes together and the show goes on.”
This year, Mettawee staged two performances of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, on Thursday, December 12th. The first was a dress rehearsal in the afternoon, but let’s call it a matinee, followed by a second presentation to a standing room crowd that same evening.
Those fortunate to attend were treated to a tale of pirates, treasure maps, mutiny on the high seas and the lure of gold, silver and pieces of eight. A core group of actors drove the main story line, which featured a young boy named Jim Hawkins who was drawn into a race for buried treasure against a devious and delightful nemesis named Long John Silver.
The work of the main players was augmented by costumed students from each grade, including Pre-K and kindergartners, who provided musical production numbers. The performers proudly moved on stage. Some strayed out of character, waving to a mom and dad, or calling out to a grandparent.
None of the musical was possible without the dedication and patience of Mettawee teachers and staff. Music teacher Lisa Hoyt led the way as director of the production with an assist from physical education instructor Janna Webb. Art teacher Amy Harris, librarian Amanda Bickford, and paraeducator Kelli Lewis collaborated on set design, costumes, sound and lighting. School nurse Mandy Meyer delivered musical support playing the piano.
After the finale all the students were called back onstage for an encore performance of the show-stopper, Pieces of Eight, a stirring reminder of the consequences of greed. The crowd then moved into the hallways where the performers were hugged, kissed and fussed over by proud parents, grandparents, and other adults and siblings.
The reviews are now all in. Mettawee’s Treasure Island was a smash!
(Photo above: Long John Silver captured, but just for the moment, in "Treasure Island.")
The Mettawee Pre-K class opens the show with "Over the Deep Blue Sea."
Mettawee fourth graders sing the story of Captain Flint.
The full cast photo of Mettawee performers in the "Musical Treasure Island."
All Mettawee students performing the encore production of "Pieces of Eight."
Kindergarten and first grade students sing about the health benefits of "An Apple a Day.".
Pirates sing about the attraction of "Pieces of Eight."
Young Jim Hawkins takes a careful measure of Long John Silver.
The townspeople sing and dance during the Mettawee production of "Treasure Island."
A plot twist in the Mettawee production of "Treasure Island."