Kids in Lake Plains Players performing Finding Nemo
Summer theater program has shows today and Saturday in Barker
Photos by Tom Rivers
BARKER – The cast of Finding Nemo Jr. performs the opening number of “Big Blue World” during a rehearsal on Wednesday evening at the Barker Central School auditorium.
There will be shows at 7 p.m. today, and Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The school is located at 1628 Quaker Rd, Barker, NY 14012. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online (click here) or at the door.
There are 36 students in the cast with most of them from Orleans and Niagara counties. The production is by the Lake Plains Players, which has been running a youth summer theater program since 2014.
Jennifer Trupo directed all of the shows until Finding Nemo Jr. This time, Heather Rutherford, Annalise Steier and Evan Steier are serving as the co-directors. Evan Steier said the show has lines for 34 roles, which is much more than a typical musical where he said there are speaking parts for 12 to 20 characters.
Madelyn Elliott of Medina plays the role of Marlin and holds the last remaining egg after a vicious Barracuda attacks their reef, taking the eggs and killing Coral, the mother. Marlin would name the lone survivor Nemo.
Marlin, a clownfish, is grief-stricken and very overprotective of Nemo, who has a weak fin. Elliott, who will be a senior at medina, has been involved in local theater programs since she was in second grade. She wants to major in theater and music education in college.
She said Finding Nemo touches on heavy subjects, such as grief and learning to trust others, especially for parents as their children get older and head out into the bigger world.
“It is a story about trust,” she said. “Parents need to trust their children to make decisions on their own.”
Nikola Fuller of Roy-Hart plays the role of Professor Ray, a cheerful, singing schoolteacher. Professor Ray is a spotted eagle ray that guides students on field trips across the reef.
The reef kids want to go on an adventure. Ariel Avery stars as Nemo, with Charlotte Smith as Pearl, Nathan Stirling as Sheldon the seahorse, and Loxley LeFrois as Tad.
Ariel Avery is going into seventh grade at Lyndonville. Ariel said Nemo sends a message to not give up. Nemo gets separated from his father, and Marlin goes to great lengths to be reunited with him.
Nemo also overcomes a weakened fin to swim and explore with the other creatures of the sea.
“Even if something is different about you that doesn’t mean you can’t do it,” Ariel said.
Ariel’s sister Aurora also is in the cast as Crush the turtle and a reef parent. Aurora, 15, said she enjoys the five-week summer theater program and meeting kids from several other school districts.
“It’s a good time,” Aurora said. “You are building a community.”
