Fall musical cast list announced; rehearsals underway

A few weeks ago, the cast list for Airport High School’s fall musical, Aladdin, was released after two days of auditions. The roles of Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, and Jafar are going to be played by Joshua Parga, Liana Wiley, Jordan Mendenhall, and Noah Anderson, respectively.

Auditions started at the school right before the hurricane day and ended the week after. Students that hoped to be a part of the musical had to sign up outside the chorus room and fill out an audition packet. Students then had to perform a song and a monologue in front of Ms. Stilwell and Mrs. Hines.

Rehearsals for the Aladdin musical started the week after casting. The rehearsals are scheduled for Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursday evenings from 6 pm to 9 pm. Rehearsals are said to be lengthened to 5 pm to 10 pm closer to the performances of the musical. Participating in the musical requires the ability to balance school work with rigorous extracurricular activity.

The Aladdin musical, which is based off the Disney movie of the same name, is about Aladdin, a commoner, who finds a magic lamp that holds a genie inside. The genie agrees to grant Aladdin three wishes and then the story follows along Aladdin and the genie as Aladdin makes his wishes. The story of Aladdin derives from a collection of medieval Middle Eastern fairy tales called 1,001 Nights.

The cast seems very eager and excited to be a part of the musical and they seem to be very excited as rehearsals are going on.

When asked how it feels to be apart of the musical, Liana W., a senior at Airport who plays Jasmine in the musical, said, “It's really a good feeling I think for anybody to be accepted into any kind of production.”

Sophomore Kaitlyn R., who plays an attendant in the musical, said, “I'm really excited...it's a lot of fun.”

The musical is scheduled to have two performances sometime in November. Members of the cast will be selling performance tickets closer to the dates of the musical. Some teachers will be offering extra credit for attending one of the shows.