Junior high performs 'Aladdin'

Explore “a whole new world” with Evergreen Junior High School’s production of “Aladdin Jr.”

The school will perform a junior version of the classic Disney cartoon at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dec. 8 and at 2 p.m. Dec. 9. Performances take place in the junior high gym.

The cost of admission is one can of food, which the school will give to the local Lions Club for its collection of items for the food bank.

About 35 students in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades are involved in the production, Principal Kim Anderson said.

“In my opinion, we’ve got a lot of young talent,” she said, explaining that usually fifth-graders are a little unsure of themselves on stage.

She has watched students come into their own in the school’s theater program; this is the fourth year Evergreen Junior High has put on a major production.

“We have amazing talent. It’s fun to see those guys mature,” Anderson said. “The eighth-graders have [had the theater program] the whole time.”

Anderson and Kim Krueger, who is directing the play, gave the students three options for this year’s performance: “Aladdin,” “The Music Man” and “Schoolhouse Rock.”

“We tried to steer them away from [Aladdin]; there’s not near as many leads,” Anderson said.

But the students wanted the Disney play, and everyone seems happy with the choice, she said.

“Everybody gets a part that tries out,” she said.

With this year’s crop of talented kids, the school didn’t need to worry about its “no cuts” rule, she added.

“Everybody would have gotten a part anyway,” she said. “They’re so phenomenal.”