ontgomery’s Virtuoso put on three wonderful performances of “Disney’s Freaky Friday: The Musical” during the last weekend of April. The story features a teenage daughter and her overworked mom who are shocked to discover that magic caused them to swap bodies. The two keep it a secret as they try to figure out how to switch back. The show was filled with colorful characters who kept the audience laughing throughout with clever comedy. Aside from the fun, the show also had some poignant moments dealing with love and loss.

The show had a complex musical score. Co-Director Carina McNear commented, “When we picked this show, we were looking for something with a lot of parts, because this has definitely been a growing year for us. We have a lot of young people, and still needed to consider our seniors, but then we also had a lot of new upperclassmen who are trying things for the first time, so we wanted to be able to have as many parts as possible. This was the very first show that we’ve ever done that has no ensemble listed. Everybody had a role so that was amazing because every kid had a solo line, got some solo singing, so as great as that was, it was really challenging to teach that ensemble kind of singing. It was all these solo lines on top of each other. It was very challenging but very worth it to help them grow.”

McNear also said that the show had 22 songs that were written in several different genres.

The job of choreographing the show went to Co-Director Jessica Carpenter. She shared, “You have so many different styles so it gives us the chance to teach them lots of different styles of singing and dancing. It allows a lot of diversity so a lot of the kids who have a forte in one or the other, we can feature. It’s tricky because some of it’s hard to count, it doesn’t count in eights, so we had to teach them how to count with words, we had to teach them how to count in different time signatures. It was an interesting challenge but it was a really cool opportunity for growth.”

Alexis DeSantis played Ellie, who started the show as a teenager and spent most of the show playing her own mother who has trouble navigating the high school social scene. Lexi Boyer played Katherine, and began the performance as a mom but spent most of the show as a wise-cracking teenager trying to manage her mom’s last minute wedding preparations.

DeSantis said, “At the beginning when we started, the process of blocking and singing it was really complicated because it was hard to distinguish between when I was the daughter and then when I was the mom. Slowly as we started learning, it became easier just to do that switch.”

Lexi Boyer said of her role, “It is so hard at first to be able to play off to the entire audience that it’s two different people, it’s entirely in the acting. It’s so much fun though.”

Camden Dalrymple portrayed Adam, a

sandwich-loving teenage boy who is interested in Ellie. He said, “There’s definitely a lot to learn for this show. Getting to learn the songs was definitely a challenge but to see the audience’s reactions to it, it was all worth it.”

Bobby Udani was Mike, Katherine’s level-headed fiancé. He commented, “It was really fun, I really enjoyed it.”

Jillian Pautz played Ms. Meyers, an intimidating gym teacher. “I needed to come out of my comfort zone and belt it out,” she said of her performance.

Jocelyn Moser played Savannah, Ellie’s arch rival. Moser said, “It’s different, but really fun though because I’m playing a whole different character. I think it’s really fun to switch it up every now and then and play different roles.”

Carpenter commented, “There’s so much potential in all of these kids. It’s so fun to have some way to help them realize it and to bring it out and to see what they can do, and then watch them grow in other places in their lives because they realized they could do something that’s this hard or this different. For some of them, it’s the first time they’ve done it, and to help them step out of that and navigate the rest of their life because they can do this is really, really cool.”

The Cast Members:

Ellie Blake – Alexis DeSantis; Katherine Blake – Lexi Boyer; Fletcher Blake – Madison Hamm; Mike – Bobby Udani; Adam – Camden Dalrymple; Gretchen – Gabryel Calderon; Hannah – Emily Dieffenderfer; Savannah – Jocelyn Moser; Parker – Maeson Beck-Barton; Wells – Bryce Miller; Laurel – Christeena Gardner; Savannah’s Minions – Kaylee Sargent, Zoe Furman, Zoe Sargent; Glee Club – Raegan Troxell, Avery Heasley, Lily Gingery, Emily Miller, Madalynne Whitmoyer, Erika Kunst, Brielle Mowrey; Gym Rats – Payton Harman, Mitchell Schreiber, Trace Furman, Briar Persing; Torrey – Skylar (Paige) Rice; Grandpa Gordon – Justin Figard; Grandma Helene – Ahnalya Regel; Danielle – Rubi Solano; Dr. Ehrin – Laila Hessler; Ms. Meyers – Jillian Pautz; Officer Sitz – Madison Burleigh; Mrs. Luckenbill – Samaia Stewart-Williams; Senora O’Brien – Lillian Muhl; Pastor Bruno – Zoey Sargent; Mrs. Time – Autumn Fry; Mr. Blumen – Justin Figard; Louis – Maeson Beck-Barton; Adam’s Mom – Zoe Furman; Gretchen’s Mom – Anali Pick; Security Guard – Margot Schreiber.

The Crew Members:

Co-directors – Carina McNear and Jessica Carpenter; Digital Pit Conductor and Lighting Director – Mr. Trey Fox; Set Designer and Sound Technician – Mr. James Carpenter; Choreography – Jessica Carpenter; Assistant Light Technician – Gabby Butcher; Assistant Sound Technician – Emma Keister; Stage Manager – Miranda Stoner; Assistant Stage Manager – Emily Bucio; Projectors and Stage Artists – Ava Goliash and Kurrah Bohner; Photography – Alexis DeSantis, Zoe Furman, and Camden Dalrymple; Videography – Caleb Parkyn, Parker Persing, John Stoller, and Karma Schaffer.