Highlighting the theater program in the district, Indian Valley Middle School students put on three performances of their spring musical, “There’s A Monster in my Closet.”
Musical director Diane Ramage said the musical has a “feel good” plot. “There’s A Monster in my Closet” is a two act production about the monster’s dream world and our own colliding with one another.
“The kids are always afraid of monsters,” Ramage said, “but the monsters are also afraid of the kids.”
The “monster” in the show, Murray, is lured out of his closet by his love for video games.
“[Murray] loves video games,” Ramage said, “and the girl [he watches over] got a new video game for her birthday.”
Murray wanted to play her video games, requiring him to leave the closet. Emily, the main character of the musical, sees Murray’s antics and hatches a plan with her friends to find and capture the monster in her closet.
Yet unbeknownst to Emily and her friends is their closet monster’s passive intentions.
“Every child [is] assigned a monster to watch over them basically, from dusk to dawn,” Ramage said.
Due to a lack of belief, children outgrow their closet monsters. Those monsters must move on and tend to a new child.
When Murray’s supervisor informs him that Emily, too, will outgrow him, he must come to terms with losing Emily and her video game.
In musical fashion, Murray does so in song.
For Ramage, “music comes first” in a show.
“The music is what’s going to stand out,” Ramage said.
“There’s a Monster in my Closet” has a myriad of light-hearted, ‘groovy’ songs, from ‘Get My Groove On’ to ‘Dream King.’
Eighth grader Max Rohrbaugh plays the Dream King.
Rohrbaugh describes his character as “a self centered tyrant of the Dream World.”
Singing his character’s title song, “Dream King,” is Max’s favorite part of the musical.
The Indian Valley cast rehearsed for three months, meeting for approximately two hours for a few nights a week.
“All the songs are really good,” sixth grader Israel Therency said. “Ever since I started, I’ve had them stuck in my head.”
Sixth grader Quincy Rohrbaugh, who plays Kelly, one of the main character’s friends, also likes the music.
“I like singing the most,” Quincy said. “I get to project a lot, which is one of my talents.”
Quincy “definitely” wants to continue doing musicals in the district.
According to Ramage, the students’ dedication to the musical is why audiences should come to support the production.
“The kids worked very hard,” Ramage said. “Middle school is a hard age to get up on stage in front of everybody.”
The students’ dedication is rewarded with three “fun” shows, according to Ramage.
“It all comes together at the end,” Ramage said. “They realize that even though it was hard work, it really is a lot of fun to put on.”