Adam Prudhomme
Editor
NDSS students will showcase their triple threat skills of acting, singing and dancing during their performance of Freaky Friday the Musical, which hits the high school’s stage May 15 and 16.
First written in 1972 and perhaps most well-known from the 2003 film-adaptation, the story centres around a mom and her teen daughter who wake up to find they have switched bodies. The NDSS version offers a different twist to the plot not often seen, turning the story into a musical.
“This is one is full blown musical so we’ve got a lot of musical numbers, the actors are acting and singing and doing a little bit of dancing for it,” said Sue Marriott, NDSS’ Drama teacher who is overseeing the production. “The learning for it has tripled because we’re not just learning characters and lines and the staging, but we’ve got all the music and the timing of everything and how do we get from scene to song and into the next. It’s been a huge learning curve for everyone but they’re working so hard and I’m really proud of everyone.”
This will mark one of the more ambitious plays produced by students in recent memory, with nearly 20 cast and crew.
“I’ve missed doing productions like this and to be able to do one again and have audiences come in and watch something like this, it’s really exciting and really energizing,” said Marriott, who noted drama performances were put on hold during the pandemic and just returned in full last year when they staged a community production of Football Romeo.
Jade Peter plays the role of Ellie, a teen who doesn’t always see eye to eye with her mother.
“Doing a musical with my friends has been fun,” said Peter. “I’ve done musicals before but I haven’t done one with my friends at school, it’s always been in Kingston or Belleville.”
Charlotte Lalonde plays Katherine, mom to Ellie and also a wedding planner who is also preparing for her own wedding right before the switch takes place.
“I love my mom and I’m a sucker for any of those mother and daughter relationships, tv shows, musicals, anything that centre around a mother daughter relationship,” said Lalonde. “It’s really interesting for me to get to be a part of that and really try to understand what my mother’s going through because I think we’d be friends if she was the same age as me or if we weren’t related. I’m going to university next year so it’s cool to have that taste of being an adult in a situation where it really doesn’t matter.”
Julie Clair plays the role of Torrey, assistant to Katherine.
“This is my first musical where I’ve been outside of an ensemble,” said Clair. “I really auditioned because I had friends doing it. I liked musical theatre but it took a lot of courage to get out there and audition and show what I could do with my voice so I could get a role that I could be happy with.”
The show contains its share of laughs but also promises to be relatable for both students and parents.
The cast and crew have been busy since the end of November preparing for opening night later this month.
Tickets are now available at the school’s front office during regular school hours with the performance to take place on the Gym 1 stage, starting at 7 p.m. both nights. Tickets are $15 per person.