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FARMINGTON – Students at Mt. Blue Middle School will present their 5th Annual Dinner Theatre on Saturday, March 20, featuring the school’s award-winning Show Choir and its One-Act Play Troupe. Two seatings and performances will begin at 4 and 7 p.m. The annual dinner theatre raises money for school improvement projects; in the past money has been used to buy state-of-the-art lighting and sound systems for the stage area.
Tickets are $10 and include a meal of cranberry chicken, baked potato, vegetable, rolls, salad, coffee, tea and dessert. Tickets may be purchased by calling the Middle School at 778-3511, from a performer, or at DDG Booksellers.
Students enjoy waiting on tables almost as much as they enjoy performing. RSD 9 teacher Maureen Perkins, an experienced restaurant hostess, teaches the students how to set a table, how to wait on tables properly, and how to interact with the public.
“We’ll be setting tables and cooking for about 300 people. Every year we get at least one parent from the year before who wants to come back and help even though their student has moved on to high school,” said coordinator Kim Fast. “
It’s a lot of work but also a lot of fun, and the second you see and hear our students perform, you know it is all worthwhile.”
When ticketholders arrive, they will see the MBMS cafeteria transformed into a cozy restaurant, replete with a host or hostess, waitstaff, and charming music. Rolls and salad will be on the table, and once the performance begins, the waitstaff starts delivering the meal while guests are entertained from the stage above. When it is time for dessert, performers and waitstaff switch places.
Half of the entertainment will be provided by the Middle School Show Choir, which this year is presenting selections from “The Little Mermaid.” This year’
s vocalist group follows a 10-year tradition of award-winning performances directed by Jim Perkins. At the District Music Festival held last month, the students earned a rating of 1, the highest rating a school can earn.
“I’m constantly amazed at these young performers,” Perkins commented. “Every time I draw a line and set performance expectations, they seem to step up to the line, then hop over it as if to say, ‘What do you have for us next?'” He went on to say, “This year’s troupe is surpassing all expectations and may well be the strongest group we’ve had yet.”
The other half of the program will be provided by a troupe of 18 middle-schoolers performing three scenes from the play “Story Theatre” by Paul Sills. Director Robin Lisherness says that the actors are learning basic theatre skills with a classic children’s theatre script. “This production is for children of all ages,” says Lisherness. “The adaptation of three popular folk tales provides an opportunity for each student to play various roles and also showcases the musical skills of the outstanding instrumentalists in the group.”
The Mt. Blue Middle School Dinner Theatre promises to provide a gourmet meal, exceptional music, and theatrical hi-jinks for a perfect family night out.
