Spotlight on Parkland Theatre! We welcome the middle school play directors, Jessica Reitnauer and Sydney Sniezek, alongside their talented student stars from the fall productions: Cadence Adams, Edan Silver, and Maeve Hilton. The high school program is also represented by Natalie Gabrie, director of the PHS Children's Show, and rising stars Riley Davidson and Ryan Iorio. These ninth-grade alumni from OMS and SMS are currently preparing for their roles as Ariel and Eric in the PHS production of Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr. Join Dr. Mark Madson as he dives deep into the diverse theatre program opportunities available across Parkland middle and high schools.
Get your Disney's Little Mermaid Jr. tickets at https://www.parklandsd.org/departments/arts/ticket-information
November 21 - 23, 2025 at Parkland High School
Springhouse Middle School (SMS) presented A Night Under the Stars, an evening of humorous and heartwarming stories set in the great outdoors. Orefield Middle School (OMS) performed Shuddersome: Tales of Poe, bringing Poe’s most haunting tales to life. Their shows were held in early November.
Hello Parkland and welcome to the superintendent Parkland Pride. podcast. I'm Dr. Mark Madson, superintendent of schools for the Parkland School District. I'm excited to start the year of this year with the Parkland Pride podcast. We're a little bit behind this year, but better late than never, and I can't think of a better way to start the podcast series for this year than to start with our arts program. We are joined by both students and staff uh who are heavily involved in our theater arts program. And now, the audience can't see this, but I'm going to tell you that this is definitely uh a packed room and and I think the most guests that we've ever had on this podcast. So, I'm really excited about that. And we have both middle schools and the high school represented. And this is a really t timely, I think, because both of our middle school uh fall shows just finished uh this past weekend. And uh so I think we have we have some some people in the room that might be a little bit tired even though it is being recorded on a Monday morning. We're usually tired, maybe just a little bit uh extra tired this morning. And then we also have our our high school with us. And again, very timely Because the high school family show, The Little Mermaid, is starting in 11 days. I was about to say 2 weeks, but I was corrected that it was 11 days. So, we want to All right, let's get started. So, the first thing that we normally do is, and again, we have a good number of guests, is just kind of introduce yourself um and tell us a little bit about yourself or or maybe uh what building you work in or or what grade you're in. Um and then we'll get started from there. All right. So, I'm just going to go kind of right to left all the way around. So, if you want to start.
Hi, I'm Riley. I'm a freshman at Parkland.
Hi, I'm Ryan. I'm a freshman at Parkland.
Hi, I'm Edan. I'm a eighth grader at MS.
Hi, I'm Cadence. I'm also an eighth grader at MS.
Hi, I'm Maeve and I'm an eighth grader at SMS.
Hi, I'm Jessica Reitnauer and I'm a director as well as a language arts teacher over at Springhouse Middle School. Hi, I'm Sydney Sneizek and I'm a teacher at Parkland High School for English as well as the director of the Orefield Middle School shows. Hi, I'm Natalie Gabrie. Um, I'm an English teacher at the high school uh and theater arts and I also direct the family show and this year I'll be directing the spring musical as well.
All right. Very exciting. Very exciting. All right. Let's start with a really heavy difficult question first and it'll be rapid fire across. We'll just go across and we'll start on this side. Favorite Broadway musical?
Pippen.
There's so many. I'm so sorry I can't pick one. Um, I loved Spongebob.
Okay, good. Good answer.
Old school Fiddler on the Roof, new school Wicked.
I liked Wicked a lot and I also liked Lion King when I saw it.
Okay. Um, Hamilton.
I would say The Outside. Um, I don't really know any uh Broadway stuff, so I'm just going to go with The Outsiders,
The Great Gatsby, or Hades Town.
All right, good. My answer would be Hamilton as well. So, I got to see that um with my daughter, and we we had a really good time, so we enjoyed that. All right, so let's let's get started. Why don't we talk first about the the middle school um because we just finished them up and I know it's fresh in everyone's mind. And how about if we start with with our with our staff first? So, um maybe just talk a little bit about what what shows we did and and how many students were were involved at at if if we know at at each building.
Um hello again. I'm Sydney Sneizek and at Orefield Middle School this weekend we just completed Shuddersome Tales of Poe adapted by Lindsay Price but of course written by the iconic Prince of the Macab himself Edgar Alan Poe. And so what we did this weekend was a collection of Edgar Alan Poe stories and poems. There were six total. and a lot more than six children in this production. Um, it was pretty large this time around. I had 39 students in the cast and probably like 15 to 20 in crew. So, we had a very large group of students involved with this production. It was wonderful. Hi, I'm Jessica Wright over at Springhouse. Uh, the production there was a little unique. It was called A Night Under the Stars, but the base part of the play was a night a night under the stars. And then we added in because we felt it it needed a little something extra. We pulled some excerpts from an old show that I had done many many years ago because I've been doing this a really long time. And we added some comedy into the show to make it really um appealing to pretty much kindergarten through grandpa and grandma. So, and then on top of that, we added a bear because it's a camping story and and it everything was about being out in in the woods and enjoying each other and why not have a bear.
All right. How many So, how many rehearsals did did we have to go through? So, we had we had a show was it three shows you do three shows, right?
All right. So, how many rehearsals to and and anyone can answer this question, but how many rehearsals uh and about how long per rehearsal till we got to actually be able to to go live?
Um, at Warfield, we usually have three rehearsals rehearsals a week um on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Um our Tuesday and Thursday rehearsals were usually until 5:30 and then our Saturday rehearsals were 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. Um so that was for several weeks. And then leading up to our dress rehearsals, uh those were extended a little bit. So this past week was pretty long, but we got through it and we crushed it and it was amazing. But it does take quite a lot of rehearsal time, uh especially in Shuddersome because we had a lot of synchronized movement and a lot of speaking at the same time. So it took a lot of practice for everybody. to kind of get into being in sync with each other. But we did it and it was very impressive. I'm very proud of them.
Awesome.
Our schedule's not that much different. Uh we rehearse typically four days a week till about 5:00 because of the nature of the show and and kids being in just single scenes or double scenes. We were actually able to skip out on the Saturdays this time around. But come musical season, Saturdays become a really integral part of it.
Great. Great. Thank you. All right. How about uh for for our kids, our students that are that are here. Um maybe talk a little bit about what role you played um in in the production and then also maybe think then my next question will be what what made you um get into the arts into theater if you if you can recall a specific moment or if it just grew over time.
Um I'm Maeve. I'm was in the SMS show and Night Under the Stars. I played the role of Morgan who was one of the campers in the camping scene. I was also the tapper in when we did All Sleep. I um and I feel like I what got me into theater was I just saw I remember going to Newsies which was the show that SMS did when I was in fifth grade. I saw it and I just thought it was really cool. So I auditioned for the for the play in sixth grade and I got in and it was just a lot of fun for me to do and so I just continued doing it all throughout middle school.
Great. Great.
Um, hi, I'm Cadence. So, in Shuddersome Tales of Poe, I was a Shutter in the Telltale Heart. I was the young lady in the oval portrait, and I was speaker five in the Raven. Now, if you didn't see it, that probably doesn't really make any sense, but what got me into theater was so my cousin is really involved in it and I always used to go see his shows and he really inspired me to um try out for a show and I tried out in sixth grade and I got in and I loved it and And yeah, I've been doing it ever since.
Great.
Uh, my name is Eden and I, um, I was the painter in the oval portrait. I was a shutter in the Telltale Heart and I was Robert Jones in Lionising. And what got me into theater was my mom's been a director at SMS for the musicals. And I grew up around theater. And I went and saw newsies too at SMS. And then me and my sister had always loved news as kids and then when they did it at SMS me and my sister got really jealous. So then we ended up finding a summer camp that did it and um I ended up getting less in that and that really let me grow into theater and I made a community there and then once I got into sixth grade at SMS or at um there's really a community there and it's really nice to be able to go there after school and just feel calm and just hang out with your friends.
Awesome. Great. Okay, great, great answers. We appreciate that. Um, what would you say is your favorite part of the experience that you've you just had all of those rehearsals, you know, three or four days a week, hours upon hours, um, this really busy weekend and what was the f your favorite part? If you could think of one thing that was your most enjoyable. Um, my favorite part was like during the rehearsals when we had the dress rehearsals. I feel like the chaos backstage was just a lot of fun. And I loved watching everybody's scenes because before that point I hadn't really seen everybody's scenes yet and like how they went through. So being able to like watch other people's scenes and like how see how they perform. It was a lot of fun. Um my favorite part was seeing like how the play evolved like from the beginning to the end because I mean it was amazing throughout but I like seeing like everyone like when like we got off script everyone really get into their role and I also liked hanging out with my friends and making new friends with like the sixth graders.
Great.
Oh, it's always fun to get to meet the new sixth graders, especially as being an eighth grader and having to be the kids that are older and have them look up to you. But, um, it's always really fun to see everyone grow into their characters and the evolution of when we start on the first day and just reading through the script versus this first show and just everyone being able to feel comfortable in their role and just it going super well. Great. All right. So, on the flip side, how about biggest challenge? What's your biggest challenge that you faced? Either yourself or you think as a group?
Um, I would say my biggest challenge was definitely getting into the painter in the oval portrait because that role, um, we weren't allowed to talk. So, I had to develop a character and be able to show the audience what was happening while also not being able to speak. And
is that hard for you to not be able to talk?
Well, I mean, I mean, I I do get I do talk very much.
Okay. All right. So, um
I see some head head nodding and some laughing. All right. Just just checking.
But um it's definitely harder to not be able to have those uh cues because usually in theater you look for lines as cues for when you're supposed to do stuff. So when we had to make cues for each other to make sure it all looked smooth, but it ended up going well in the end.
Great.
Um for me was actually memorizing all my my lines in the Raven because I had a lot of lines and I didn't know what any of them meant because they were in old English. So I had to use AI and look up what they meant. So I understood them. So that was definitely the hardest part trying to memorize all those and understand what they meant.
Right.
For me, I feel like one of the hardest parts was all the blocking. Like in A Dark and Stormy Night, which was one of the camping scenes, I had to go up and get the stick from the bear to tap to tap uh Ryan on the shoulder in the play. And I also feel like another one of the challenges was the prologue and the epilogue when we had our entrances and exits. It was we had to we had to remember like who was going in first in our order and we all had to make sure that we said our lines on the way there,
right? All right. Great. All right. Let's transition to to the high school a little bit. All right. So, this kind of some of the same questions. Maybe just uh reintroduce yourself to the audience and and what role do you play in in the the the family musical that's coming up or the family show.
All right. I'm Ryan and I play Prince Eric.
And I'm Riley and I play Ariel.
Okay. So, we got like the two main stars of the show here, right? Part partly. Partly. Okay. All right. So, um how about if we start with for both of you, how long So, you're you're both in ninth grade. All right. So, how long have you been in in theater?
Well, I've been in theater since I was like six. I started at civic cuz my mom like I wasn't very good at sports, so my mom wanted me to get involved in something, so I did that.
Okay.
All right. Unlike her, I started theater really late. I played sports in middle school, like for sixth grade, but I only started in the seventh grade. So,
All right. All right. So, so Riley, you gave us a little bit about what prompted you to get into it? How about How about for you?
All right. So, like some of the eighth graders, I saw Newsies as a sixth grader.
Newsies must have been like a great show.
It was really good. It's really Yeah.
It was amazing. Um and also Tristan. Tristan's one of the main reasons I did theater.
Yeah. Okay.
Who's Tristan?
So, Tristan's a 10th grader who played Crutchie and he's basically he's just really good, you know.
Okay. All right. like a like a role model.
Do you think we should have him on the podcast at some point then?
Yeah, definitely.
Okay. All right. That's that's good. All right. So, how about um I asked them about what what has been so far their fa their their favorite part of being in the show. Now, you you're only still working through your rehearsal pieces right now. You haven't actually finished the show. What's been the most enjoyable for for both of you?
Okay, so the most enjoyable part for me, this definitely stresses Miss Gabri out, but I get to wear ies. So, it's like sneakers with wheels and you get to like roll around on stage and it's just like it's really fun and I've only fallen once. So, like I'm doing pretty well.
It is very stressful.
All right. I like when to see the show finally starting to come together when we like connect the scenes and all the lines are memorized, the blocking and actually just like starts to happen in work, you know?
Right.
Yeah.
So, so Ryan, when you started, so if you started a little bit late and you first got into to theater. Uh, did you think that, okay, I I'm I'm going to be Prince Eric in in a show?
No.
Never never crossed your mind.
No, definitely not.
Okay. All right. Let's dig into these.
Hold on. Ryan didn't believe he had talent.
That was the cool part. He came in as a seventh grader and said, "I'm going to try this thing." And and said, "Oh, I really like this thing." And we went, "He's really good at this thing." And he kept going, "No, I'm not. No, I'm not." Yes, dude, you are. So, it was so cool to watch him not just grow as an actor, but to grow in his confidence in himself. And that that as a director is so amazing to do to watch them grow as humans.
Awesome. That's great. So, let's let's dig into these. What are they called? Wheelies.
Yeah.
All right.
And and so Mr. Gabri's a little bit nervous about the the wheelies. So, g give us talk a little bit. Pretend I don't know what they are because I don't know what they are.
Okay. So, they're like sneakers and like they have a wheel. in the bottom and you like put your foot up and you like can roll. They're kind of like roller skates but like smaller and you like wheel around and like you stop and you put your foot down and there's kind of cracks in the stage at some parts so like kind of have to avoid those. It's it's a great time though.
We we do have um we did put uh spike tape wherever those spots are on the stage that are a little bit uh uneven so that our students know where they are. Um I was really on the fence about doing Heelies, but after I think Riley and I had a couple rehearsals and I was like, I do not like this mermaid walking around. It's not going to work. So, I had to put all the mermaids on Healy's. Um, and Flounder is wearing Healy's as well. Um, so I was
Are they wearing them the whole time or
they wear them the whole show? The My Sisters, they are double cast as the princesses in the end. So, they they do switch into like regular shoes like uh Riley does uh when Ariel gets legs. Um, but we did like we put them all in the was on the same day. We talked to the choreographer and I talked to them about how like we're only healing when we're like on the stage, which has been somewhat successful. Um, and the night they it does sound like it's very dangerous, but it is like a controllable uh shoe comparatively to a roller skate cuz really all they have to do is go to their uh to the their toes or you know to the ball of their feet when and it'll stop them. So, we've been it's been they've been really successful with it. I'm very impressed with they've been able to do with singing and dancing on Healy's. I am blown away that I even been able to make it happen. But I think it really does add a nice feature to the show. So, it's worth it.
So, do I need to worry someone's going to go flying off like the front of the stage in wheelies or we we're pretty comfortable that?
No. No, they're professionals now. They're professionals.
All right.
Adding the tails though, Riley. We did learn that after when she put her mermaid tail on that that is, you know, it's a whole other layer. So, every each piece that you add with the technical side of the theater really does kind of it's like almost a new learning process throughout the the entire um you know working on the production. So it's it's been pretty cool to see and I I and you know we have 11 days I can see the some of the like you know the things we need to like pay attention to um as we move forward but the show is really going to be great. It's awesome.
Great. So I know from from the middle school students we talked there were some challenges involved in in in roles multiple roles multiple characters but this to me the the All joking aside, the the wheelie situation, um, there's an extra level of preparation, something you had to learn, right? Can you talk a little bit about that on top of, you know, the lines and choreography and every everything else?
Yes. So, it was like one of the first Saturday rehearsals and the girl who played Flounder, she had these um she had these like children's size three healies to show Miss Gabrie. So, she was wearing them at the rehearsal and she was like, "Why don't You try, Riley. So, I crammed my toes into these shoes and we went into the hallway and we like we taught each other by like dragging them each other by our hands like across the hallway. And then like as we got into it, like it just got a lot easier and especially when we got shoes that fit. It It was like It was so much easier. But it was hard at first. Definitely.
Okay. All right. All right. Natalie, I asked a little bit from the middle school side of of how um how how much rehearsal has gone into getting to where all right the curtain opens. So, can you talk a little bit about the number of kids in in the cast and the whole production and then how long you've been the kids have been spending to get ready?
So, there's 39 students in the cast and we rehearse like midepptember and then the show goes up November 21st. Well, we'll have an inschool performance for our elementary schools November 20th. Um, we rehearse so it's essentially nine weeks of rehearsal and then each week has about five rehearsals in the week. So you're looking at about 40 rehearsals. Now not all the students are at every rehearsal, but like Riley and Ryan have probably been at like a lot of the rehearsals comparatively. Um we have some featured dancers. I think those students really have probably been at most of our rehearsals as well. Um and then when we start adding the technical side, I think we're looking at about like 25 I think it's about 25 more students on top of that um that are working on the show. And we've just started adding like our stage crew, our costume crew um to the show. So that's that process. And as we move into the next couple weeks, I don't really increase the number of rehearsals. The rehearsals just get a little bit longer. So we start like just going 9 to 10 on the sorry 9 to 1 on the weekends, but now we're doing 9 to 4. Um we go from like 3 to 5:30 to now we're doing 3 to 6. Um so it's a it gets it gets pretty busy, but at the we've got like about two weeks of like a grueling process, but it'll all it'll all be worth it in the end.
Great. All right. So, then what based upon that, what what has been um uh something that that you're most looking forward to once that first curtain opens and the live performance starts?
Um getting to like complete a full show cuz like once you finish that show when the curtain closes at the end, like the adrenaline, it's just it's just a really great experience after you finish one, you know? All right. And now we just got to do it again and repeat it.
I feel like the part that I'm looking most forward to is definitely singing Part of Your World on stage cuz I feel like that's such like a powerful song and like getting to wheel around and be a mermaid. Like I have always like I've been want like I've been manifesting this part. So like getting to do it is like actually amazing.
It's kind of like every I feel like every little girl's dream. I feel like like Ariel is such a quintessential princess for so many of us. I think it's really special to be ble to do that.
Absolutely. How about do do we get do you get nervous? Do any of you get nervous when when you're out there or is are the nerves like beforehand and not so much when you're out there in between in between scenes? Talk to me a little bit about like how you feel when the production is actually going and it can be any any of you. Yeah.
Um I feel like on the first night I'm the most nervous just because it's my first time performing the full performance in front of people. But as but for the second and third night, I feel like it's not at I'm not as nervous just because I've done it before and I know I can do it again.
Anyone else?
Okay. Um I feel like nerves mean you care. So like I feel like I always care before each show. I don't really get nervous like when I'm on stage, but like if I have a big scene like I'm in the wings and I'm freaking out. mentally, but like once you get out there, it's like you know what you're doing and like you're good.
It's funny. They don't think about the directors being nervous, but we're as bad as the kids sometimes. We're back there like, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh." And I get out and I introduce the show and I'm like, "Gosh, I was babbling because I was so nervous." I'm nervous for them. You know, at SMS it is a fully student-run production. So, I take my cup of coffee and I stand in the back and I watch it unravel. But you're just nervous. Are they going to hit every queue? Are they going to hit every lighting? Every every line, every and and it's out of your control at that point because it's their show.
But yeah, we get just as nervous as they do.
Oh, absolutely.
Yeah, I would I would love to add to that too of that's definitely a feeling that I get. It's very hard to work on something for so long and then finally get the chance to let it go. And really actually letting it go can be really difficult because you want it to go well, but you also need to trust in your cast and your crew that they know what they're going to do and you just want to let it let them soar and shine on that stage. Um I know that for my students they are most nervous before their in school performances for their peers. Um but they always crush it and one of the things I always remind them is that you're performing for a lot of these kids who just like they all mentioned of we saw newsies and it made us want to perform. So many of the Orefield Middle School students have told me that the reason that they decided to join theater was because they saw these in school performance. performances and saw just the absolute joy and happiness and just this aliveness on stage that these kids bring and were so blown away by it that they're like that looks awesome. I want to do that too. And it's such a treat as a director to be able to see some of these students who otherwise would have no opportunities to experience theater to get to experience so many varieties of shows whether it's at Springhouse or at Orefield or when they come up to the high school to see the outsiders like they did for the eighth graders. uh this year as well as Little Mermaid that's going to be in a couple weeks. So, it is a huge blessing the programs that we have in place for these kids because so many of them would not get to experience it without those opportunities.
Definitely. And you can I mean again this isn't um there's no video of this this recording but you can just hear and and feel the passion that the kids are bringing um which clearly kind of just spreads throughout the student body and and obviously it starts with with our staff through through our kids. And I'm sure that maybe you're not as nervous. I'm sure your families are also get nervous when when you're up there. Um, but but a a credit to the time and why I ask those questions about rehearsals. All that time, all that effort put you in a position to be, I'm sure, a little bit nervous, but also knowing, listen, we've we've we've been working through this for for months or weeks, and we're ready. We're prepared for this. Um, and so I'm really certainly looking forward to seeing um the the uh the children show um coming up in a couple weeks. From our from our teachers, what if if there was something that you could say um that maybe hits to uh what do you think is is why are the arts as a whole, whether it's theater arts or the arts as a whole, uh so important to our community and to our kids? What What is something that you would say like is is tangible that that our kids are getting from this experience? You've already touched on a few things.
I can start with one. Um, so one of the things that I think is the most important about I'm going to say with theater specifically is that it is such a great opportunity for collaboration, learning how to work with people that you've never met before and being able to hold your own and kind of build your confidence in yourself and your abilities. Um, when you're on stage itself, there is a lot of nerves and trying to make sure that you feel confident in the practice that you've done, the muscle memory, kind of like how Riley had mentioned earlier, like once you get on stage, you know what you're doing. But learning how to deal with those types of emotions and be able to push past them and prove to yourself that you are capable, that you are strong, and you have worked really hard at something. And then seeing the wonderful thing that you've created based on just that sticktuitiveness, I think is just such an amazing gift to see, but also for them to believe in themselves as they get to high school that I am talented and I can do hard things and that I can perform and do all of these things. It's really Awesome to see them really start to believe in themselves.
We've talked a lot about the actors on stage, but I also work with the stage crew behind the scenes, and there's a same element there. Watching them learn to run technical soundboards, lighting boards, design the lights, learn to level out microphones and make it all come together. What does a run crew need to do to coordinate with with each other? Like actors have to learn to work together in a scene and they're blocking. So does the run crew behind stage need to make sure that set piece goes out in that spot and and everything is set. And watching their sense of accomplishment a at the end of a run when they're like, "Yes, I nailed every cue. Everything got where it needed to be." is so satisfying. And then they walk out and they're like, "I did that. I I learned how to do this. I can run that board. It's just amazing to watch, you know, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders learn uh equipment that is really meant for adults.
Great.
It is nice to see too, they come from the middle schools um and they have a lot of experience. So, like when we're thinking about stage crew and our and our cast on the stages, they already have so much experience coming from middle school and it feeds so much into our program and what we can accomplish at the high school. I think our students really have a place where they find the people that are their people, the people that like they can really jive with and um that it's like a safe space for them to be creative um and like in that creativity also have an opportunity to really like explore who they are and um who they can be. So I feel really grateful to like the experience that our students get in the middle school by the time they get to the high school. These this program that we have uh these programs that we have in Parkland School District I think are so successful and are incredibly unique because of the ability that we have to put so much of it in our students hands.
Great. Great. All right. For our high school kids, um we're in November, beginning of November. Advice to the middle school students who are going to transition into the high school next year.
Take all the free time you can get at rehearsal to do your homework and study cuz there's stuff like you have practice Monday through Thursdays and Saturdays. Like it takes a a lot of time. You don't realize it does. And then you get home and you're tired and you have to eat dinner. And most of us we do like dance afterwards or like voice lessons. Like you really have to learn how to manage your time well cuz high school's kind of hard. So like you really have to focus.
So it's going to get bigger. It's going to be more of a challenge. So you're really going to have to like if you weren't practicing like lines at home, you're going to have to like practice at home. You're going to have to practice your lines, your dancing, your blocking your your songs. You're going to have to practice more than you would have had to at the middle school. And um also I forgot the rest of the question.
Would you say also managing your time with with academics and making sure you're getting everything everything done? Okay, great. All right.
All right. We're we're almost uh at at time here. And I think that I didn't even get through half half of my my questions, which is okay. Which is actually good. Um usually I'll ask if at if you have any any other advice. Um this can act as an advertisement for people um for for the upcoming show. You want to give a shout out to someone. Um basically, you have an opportunity uh for an open mic for a quick couple minutes for each of you. So, whoever wants to start
really quick, I just want to say a lot of people are intimidated by theater and I'm not going to lie, intimidated by our theater program because we've done some incredible things on our stages and I know that there is a lot of hype for it and so that might scare some people, but do it anyway. Do it. scared. Even if you're afraid, some of the most amazing experiences that you have do not come without risk. And if you're not willing to take that risk, then you're never going to get a chance to grow and see what you're truly capable of. So, even if you're scared, do it anyway.
Great, great advice.
I think of the three directors that are here, we would be remiss if we didn't give a shout out to all the folks that support us back at our home schools. We all have co-directors. We all have people who help manage our stage crews. and the parents that are so supportive from our casts and crews. We can't do this by ourselves. It really does take a village to do what we do. So, shout out to all those people behind the scenes that that help us do what we do.
Um, I want to give a little shout out to Ryan cuz he has this whole little dance number and he texted me and we ride the bus together and he was telling me how he didn't think he was going to get in cuz he couldn't dance and now he's dancing on stage and saying, And I think that's just like great to see how much he's grown.
I would like to give a little shout out to everyone who is who like everyone in A Night Under the Stars because we have all we've done amazing. Like I I was watching their scenes and they were doing amazing. All of the stage crew and tech crew, they did amazing with all the cues and like the mics and stuff and I think it was just amazing to watch them do their thing. Um, I'm just going to take them an opportunity to say come and see The Little Mermaid. Uh, on November 21st, uh, and the 22nd, it's at, uh, 700 p.m. And then on the 22nd and 23rd at 3 p.m., it is an awesome opportunity to do something with the whole family. Um, even if you have older kids, I think that it's a great show that speaks to a wide audience. So, come out and see it. They've been working really hard.
All right. Okay. Um, I would like to say that at MS we have such a strong bond in between every single kid there and I feel like even if you are scared to come into theater and you feel like there isn't going to be anyone there to accept you, anyone who comes, we all just make it's like a giant family everyone and like over time we've made like little family trees and stuff with people being parents and stuff. It's it's it's hilarious but um it's always so fun and Everyone accepts each other and if you feel like you're not accepted at anything else, if you come to theater, everyone's just all kind to each other and we all just have fun.
Great. That that is a great message to end on. So, I I appreciate everybody taking the time this morning uh to be here and I I know I enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. So, for everyone else that's listening, please think about subscribing to our podcast series. There's more to come. In the next episode, we'll take a closer look at the upcoming addition and renovation project right here at the high school. And then you can check out to see what else we have going on in Parkland. This podcast is supported by the Parkland Education Foundation. Please visit the foundation. You can find their information on our district website. A special thanks to J.R. Rena for the technical support, Nicole McGalla for organizational and logistical support. And each year we have students create music for the podcast. Our podcast music was composed and produced by student Michaela Jagger in her music production class at Parkland High School taught by Mark Figueroa. All right, Parkland, have a good day.