The Thursday matinée showing of Aladdin: Dual Language Edition was performed by the students at The George Washington Educational Campus to an amazing and enthusiastic audience of over 500 District 6 elementary and middle school students. 

 The 90 minutes show was followed by a 20 minute question and answer/meet the cast session, and then a spontaneous 15 minute autograph and photo session. 

Over the course of the afternoon we heard heat-warming, positive, and inspiring commentary including:  “I am so excited to be here.” and “I want to come to this school and be on that stage!”  This event clearly inspired members of the audience.  One middle school audience member was quoted as saying, “I want to be a set designer when I grow up!”  Members of the production came from all four schools on the campus, bolstering a sense of campus-wide unity.  Actors were quoted as saying,  “This was a great opportunity!”  and “It was amazing to see everyone in the audience supporting us!”

 While the audiences raved about the efforts of the student performance, some of the actors noted that the George Washington Campus auditorium and stage facility left a bit to be desired. The microphones were not working for the show, so much of the dialogue was inaudible. Some of the actors were able to project their voices but not all of them, making it tricky for audience members to hear the dialogue.  In addition, there seemed to be no spotlight for the stage so it was hard to follow which actor was talking. Some of the wooden seats in the auditorium were broken too.  During the post production question and answer session, we could see that the curtains were torn in several places. In spite of the need for an upgrade to our auditorium, student actors are already chirping with excitement for next year’s production.  Hopefully, some of the sound, lighting, and room issues will be ameliorated by then.