When the clock strikes midnight on April 16, more than 70 students at Bellevue High School won’t turn into pumpkins, but they will have put a musical feat behind them.
From April 14 to 16, the students will perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella in the Bellevue High School auditorium, giving the classic tale a modern, teenage touch.
David Kline, drama director, is leading the ensemble into potential success on stage.
“He have this beautiful stage and the students can take the things they learn here into a professional theater,” he said. “We have amazingly talented kids in this show.”
Some of those kids include those who have never acted before, like Matt Trebbe, a senior transfer from North Carolina, who plays a Scottish nobleman.
“I feel confident in this show,” he said. “I’m usually a techie, but this is fun.”
Cinderella will feature a student orchestra, directed by teacher Chase Chang. The full orchestra is a first for Bellevue High School’s theater program. Anne Zanatta-Kline is assistant director and wife of director Kline.
“She’s spending her anniversary here with me,” he said at rehearsal. “She’s a saint.”
Angela Rinaldi is the production’s musical director, and she said the fact that only one adult musician is in the orchestra pit (piano accompanist Jenna Johnson) is a testament to the talent of the students.
Bellevue High School’s drama department hasn’t gone unnoticed. Kline and students have once traveled to Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival, and were invited to come again in 2017.
“The festival invites 3,200 high schools to apply, and selects 30 from North America,” he said. “Being asked to come back is a huge honor.”
The Fringe Festival is the largest arts festival in the world, and every year fills Scotland’s capital city for three weeks with thousands of performances on hundreds of stages.
But before then, fans of the dramatic arts can witness Bellevue sophomore Mia Mooko as the titular Cinderella in a dazzling white gown.
“Honestly I thought I might get a stepsister role,” the 15-year-old said of her surprise casting. “It’s been magical. Not only is it a well-known story, but to see a group of high-schoolers come together to put on such a wonderful show is really great.”
Performances of Cinderella will run April 14, 15 and 16 at 7 p.m. with a matinee performance on April 16 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12.
