Montgomery’s Virtuoso Junior presented “Moana Jr.” to a packed house on Tuesday, March 14, in the auditorium. The stage performers were comprised mostly of seventh and eighth grade students, as well as some sixth grade students and select members of the fifth grade chorus. The student performers took the audience on a colorful trip through the Polynesian Islands as Moana went on a mission to help save her people from starving. The tale of devotion, determination, hope, loss, bravery, and triumph was well-received by the audience.

The young students did a wonderful job with their singing, dancing, and acting. The challenging score required several students to sing in a Polynesian dialect throughout the show, and their performance was quite impressive.

The hallway leading into the auditorium and the stage were filled with brightly-colored works of art that were created by elementary students. Kindergartners created octopi, first graders made stitched turtles, second graders made pastel fish, third graders made tiki masks and woven fish, fourth graders made stuffed fish, fifth graders made jellyfish, and sixth graders made scratch art. Senior high students Sloan Wooten, Kailyn Woltz, and Danyelle Brion, created the backdrop for the stage.

Virtuoso Junior students were mentored by Virtuoso, the senior high theatre ensemble. “Moana Jr” was co-directed by Jessica Carpenter, Carina McNear, and Trey Fox.

Jessica Carpenter choreographed the show. She also did the setwork, and part of that was working with the elementary art teacher, Bess Lowry. She commented, “There’s a beautiful moment when you get to look over all of it and just see it there and see what you’ve pictured in your head, and see it come to life. The day the sail went on the boat, the kids were so excited. And the kids seeing their artwork, it’s really fulfilling.”

Trey Fox commented, “I think my favorite part was probably just seeing the growth from the beginning to the end of it. And how hard the students work and how engaged they were throughout the whole process.”

Carina McNear said that “Moana Jr.” was chosen for the young performers because, “the choral piece of it really pushed the fifth and sixth graders so that we can start to build them up to what we need them to be in seventh grade. And then it also offered a lot of roles for the seventh and eighth graders, and some of the sixth graders because there’s so much talent coming up through. And while not everybody can have the lead role, I always believe that the bigger the show, the better, if it gets more kids exposure on stage.”

She further commented that she, Jessica Carpenter, and Trey Fox all put in equal effort to bring the show to the stage. She also wanted to express her thanks to elementary art teacher Bess Lowry and high school art teacher Tina Sampsell for working with their students to create the artwork for the show.

The cast and crew : Grace Childs, Avery Heasley, Hailey Campbell, Raegan Troxell, Quintin Bloodgood, Anali Pick, Avelyn Moore, Lily Gingery, Samaia Stewart-Williams, Logan Joy, Brielle Mowrey, Camden Nunn, Bryce Miller, Zoey Sargent, Margot Schreiber, Shawn Pysher, Madison Hamm, Emily Miller, Brijit Rupert, Erica Kunst, Isabella Clinard, Leah Farley, Taylor Medina, Kelsey Zimmerman, Georgia Warner, Becca Muhl, Logan Gair, Delaney Harper, Chelsea Marquette, Ali Herb, Devin DeSantis, Nik Bennett, Jaelyn Thomas, Emma Shaffer, Amelia Russell, Mya Temple, Jacob Whitmoyer, Madi Gomez, Sonny Emery, Jocelyn Bartlett, Lelia Hampton, Kaydence Matlack, Reace Parrish, Sophia Geiger, Brik Bonilla, Aspen Burchell, Adelyn Rine, Aislyn White, Serenity Straub, Nichole Solomon, Carter Rider, Candyss Shoemaker, Bella Ziegler, Aaron Johnson, Aubrey Barto, Conor Irwin, and Dylan Sherman.

Virtuoso Mentors: Samantha Guyer, Madeline Bender, Margaux Magnien, Jillian Pautz, Parker Welliver, Alexis DeSantis, Lexi Boyer, Justin Figard, Laila Hessler, Camden Dalrymple, Thea Beaver, Gabe McNear, Aden Keister.

Virtuoso Junior Co-Directors: Jessica Carpenter, Carina McNear, and Trey Fox. Technical Director: Jim Carpenter. Lighting: Trey Fox, Alexis DeSantis, Kimberly Pickering. Sound: Jim Carpenter, Kristin Lowe, Emma Keister. Elementary Choral Director: Trey Fox. Elementary Art Teacher: Bess Lowry. High School Art Teacher: Tina Sampsell.