Who springs to the stage under the spotlight? Homer High School students. The spring musical will feature SpongeBob Musical 7 p.m. today and 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday at the auditorium. Tickets will be available at the door.
For the seniors, it will be one of the last shows they participate in school.
Drew Allen, who will play Old Man Jenkins, began performing this school year with Dracula in October.
Reed Cleland, director of the next show, Romeo and Juliet, recruited Allen.
"My dad used to be the director and he said that I have to carry on the legacy," Allen said, adding the best part of being in the show is spending time with friends for many hours of the day.
"I'm really thankful for Melissa Campos for being such an amazing everything," Allen said.
Trinity Hughston, the French Narrator, has been participating in theater since fifth grade.
"I like that it's a silly show so there's less pressure," Hughston said."With more serious shows there's a lot of pressure to get everything right, but if you make a mistake in this show it kind of looks like it belongs there."
Lavinia Caravella will play SpongeBob, but had never seen the show before. There's tap dancing, opera, fun songs and sad songs. To prepare, Caravella began watching SpongeBob.
Jackson Henderson will play Squidward. Henderson's favorite line from the show is "Another day, another migraine."
"I think it's a good introduction to the character, who's kind of a pessimist," Henderson said.
Director Cara McLaughlin has directed about 18 shows since 2005. She started as a music director at the school.
"It's got a ton for the kids to do," McLaughlin said. "Which is a challenge because there's so much to do. This is a very different show, but the message is great. It has a lot of social commentary on like what do people do under stress? Do they blame others, do they try and fix it, do they give into fear, do they find some bravery? All of those things happen in the show and at the end they see the dangers of turning against each other."
The message of the show reflects what people can do to make a day the "best day ever."
Having a modern show also has its challenges. There are 197 video cues for the digital backdrop and nearly 200 props. A person will play sound effects throughout the whole show from an iPad. The modern music includes gospel, music from Aerosmith, pop, rap and hip-hop. Diana Moreland designed 89 costumes for 22 students. The planning began last August.
"There's 189 props," Technical Director Melissa Campos said. "We made a bunch. Most of the set is made from recycled things because we figured SpongeBob is supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean so it's to bring attention to the things that are thrown in the ocean."
Styrofoam from the music department's new instruments were used to create corals. Students put in more time than the four required building hours for the set.
"I gave the kids ideas and this is what they came up with," Campos said.
CAST LIST
