ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Those looking for a little Disney magic right in town will soon have just that chance thanks to the Liberal High School Drama Department.
The department will be performing Disney’s “Descendants: The Musical” Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., with all performances in Maskus Auditorium at Liberal High School. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and for the Sunday matinee those 12 and under will get in for free with a paying adult.
Director Miriam Climenhaga said the choice to do the show came from her students.
“Last year, I’d tried something different where I gave the students three choices and then put it to a vote. I sent a Google form where they got to vote, and I included videos of the three choices and asked them to watch them and then vote,” Climenhaga said. “And the eighth graders, when they came up for a day to tour the school, I had them vote that day too. Ultimately, ‘Descendants’ won, but I will say it was a pretty close vote between ‘Descendants’ and ‘SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical.’ But ‘Descendants’ won, and they seem to be really excited about it.”
Climenhaga said the rehearsal process has also been pretty positive.
“It's always a crazy time, there are a lot of different schedules we have to maneuver. But the thing I've really enjoyed the most watching is how much the students have come together on this one and had a lot of input about just how everything went,” Climenhaga said. “We've Nikki Frydendall put together our choreography again, but we also had some help from our student choreographer, Emmalee Ward, and between the two of them, that aspect turned out really great. They were also very receptive to input from the students too, they had a lot of input because they’re excited about the show. It's basically their childhood show – when we did ‘High School Musical’ that was the franchise those students had grown up on, and I would say ‘Descendants’ is that franchise for these kids. It's been really exciting to get to see them have fun bringing it to life, and I can tell it means a lot to them. It's been fun to work with the students I've known for the past few years, but there's also a huge group of freshmen this year, and it’s very exciting to see new faces interested in doing drama. They were engaged in it one way or another between the two middle schools, and it's carried over, so that's been really exciting to work with those students too.”
Climenhaga said she hopes to see a big turnout for the performances.
“It’s a Disney show, so children should enjoy it, and there’s also some humor for the adults in the audience too,” Climenhaga said. “And come support the students because they need an audience to watch all their hard work, which is part of why I wanted to do the Sunday matinee the way we decided. I’m hoping to get a larger crowd because traditionally Sunday matinees are the smaller crowd, but I wanted to do something to encourage more children to come to it and hopefully encourage them to want to participate in musicals when they come to the high school, or maybe even through the Rainbow Players.”
With opening night later this week, Climenhaga said there is still work to be done.
“I would say everyone's pretty excited, we're at that point where we've got everything almost down but there are still a few rough edges to smooth out, but it's all coming together,” Climenhaga said. “We're at that point where things seem rough and ready, but I know the students will totally bring it come opening night and the rest of show weekend. I’m just really proud of what the students have put together, they’ve been working so hard on this even with classes and homework, and I’ve got a fair number of athletes in the cast who have to take care of all of that too. I think we're all just really excited to see it all come to culmination and have fun doing it, and then we're going to be really excited when it's over and we can get a little sleep.”
Climenhaga also offered encouragement for other means of support for the drama department.
“People can support the drama department in all sorts of ways. If you want make a donation of some type, money is always helpful, but we could also take donations of costumes and other items, but I would ask people to call the high school and talk to me before officially donating those things so we can make sure it's okay to actually accept it,” Climenhaga said. “If people want to help us out, just get in touch with me at
Overall, Climenhaga said, the show should be a good time for everyone.
“It's a great play, and I think it's one everyone will enjoy both young and old,” Climenhaga said. “These students are super talented, the music is catchy, and it’s just been really fun putting everything together. Come out and see the show, we'd love to see you in the audience!”
