Curtains Close On Round Hill Elementary Spring Musical

By KAYLA JACKSON

As the school year rolls ever closer to the end of classes and summer lingers on everyone’s minds, students in their senior year reflect on all of the lasts they are about to have: a last game, a last test, a last prom, or a last show. What always seems to be overlooked is the closing of a chapter for some of the youngest students and how their whole lives are going to change as they transition from elementary to middle school.

On Friday, March 28th, the Round Hill Elementary School put on their final production of Winnie the Pooh Kids, a story of Pooh Bear and all of his friends from the classic children's book and animated film series, coming together to rescue their friend Christopher Robin.

In the show, Winnie the Pooh is roaming around the Hundred Acre Wood in search of honey. During his journey he meets his friends, Tigger, Piglet, Rabbit, and Owl, who all quickly discover that their friend Christopher Robin has gone missing. As they construct their plan for a rescue operation, the animals learn about teamwork, friendship and, naturally, sharing snacks.

Director and music teacher at Round Hill, Mr. Alexander Garcia, decided that the best way to go about the show was by double casting it with Cast Bee and Cast Honey. This is a practice often done so that there are more opportunities for actors, to reduce the pressure on an individual performer and to allow for multiple interpretations of a character being performed by one production.

Brea Richards, a 5th grader at Round Hill who plays Tigger in Cast Honey, shared her experience in playing a role that's double casted. She expressed that she would “much rather be Tigger because it fits [her] more than a bee, but it's fun to be able to see how the other Tigger does it different than [her].”

Brea, as well as another 5th grader, Ashleigh Bruno, shared her feelings on the transition into middle school. Ashleigh was Winnie the Pooh for the Cast Honey and expressed, “It makes me feel really sad because I love this school, the music teacher, and Miss. Dorozynski, so it just makes me so sad to let it go.”

The show ended with a standing ovation from the audience and the cast smiling from ear to ear with pride. Hopefully their transition to middle school will be a smooth one and that they will be welcomed with open arms into the drama department.