BHRA students going back to the 1980s for spring musical

Jennifer Bailey, Commercial-News, Danville, Ill.
·2 min read

Mar. 12—BISMARCK — Bismarck-Henning Rossville-Alvin students are getting into the groove to perform their spring musical Xanadu Jr.

Co-Director Jennifer Guminski, along with Nancy Heidrick, said this musical is especially poignant as it will be the last production of retiring director of bands and music Dave Schroeder. Schroeder is retiring at the end of the school year.

"It's his favorite," Guminski said, about why they selected it.

The directors and cast, consisting of almost all high school students, have been having a lot of fun with it.

Performances will be at 7 p.m. March 15 and March 16 and at 2 p.m. March 17 on the BHRA Junior High stage. The cast also will be performing for the Rossville and Bismarck elementary schools on March 13.

Synopsis of the musical: a Greek muse inspires love, laughter and the world's first Roller Disco in this 1980s glitter explosion based on the cult film and Broadway musical.

Xanadu Jr. is inspired by the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical and the Universal Pictures' cult classic movie that starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly.

Xanadu Jr. follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mt. Olympus to Venice Beach, California, on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time — the first Roller Disco. But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation, and chaos abounds.

Cast: Sonny Malone: Maddox Reynolds; Kira/Clio: Lily Kiser; Danny: Wyatt Bywater; Melpomene: Olivia Falk; Calliope: Addie Kruse; Erato: Ayala Stone; Euterpe: Mallory Bell; Polyhymnia: Madi Aguire; Terpsichore: Mya McCormick; Thalia: Ava Grace Allsopp; Urania: Gabi Moll; The Andrews Sisters: Ava Grace Allsopp, Gabi Moll, Lindze Parker; The Tubes: Gracie Pattison, Madi Aguire, Ayala Stone, Rileigh Allsopp, Mya McCormick; The Sirens: Madison Heidrick, Gracie Pattison, Rileigh Allsopp, Katherine Frattick, Ava Grace Allsopp, Aubrey Fouse; Cyclops: Payton Pierotti; Centaur: Aubrey Fouse; Medusa: Katherine Frattick; Hera: Ella Smalley; Thetis: Linze Parker; Aphrodite: Maci Long; Hermes: Gracie Pattison; and The Greek Chorus: Ava Grace Allsopp, Rileigh Allsopp, Katherine Frattick, Aubrey Fouse, Madison Heidrick, Gracie Pattison.