Arts & Entertainment

Don't Miss The Oompaloompas!

Willy Wonka Jr. Edition Coming To Clinton April 28 And 29

This article is written by Willow Pender, a seventh grade student at the Jared Eliot Middle School.

Just picture a candyland factory where everything is made of gumdrops, candy canes, Wonka bars, candy mushrooms and so much more. Little Oompaloompas waddling all around. A bunch of kids visiting the factory getting in trouble left and right, and squirrels who work in a dome with little girls trying to get one as a pet. Does it sound like the famous, well-loved Willy Wonka movie? Well, it’s not. It’s a production by the Pierson School. It will be on stage Thursday, April 28th and Friday, April 29th in the Morgan auditorium at 7:00pm. Tickets, which are $5, are on sale now and will also be sold at the door both nights of the show.

The producers/directors of the show are Gina Nedderman and Denise Duphily. The young actors have rehearsals mostly everyday after school. They either go from 3:00-4:00pm or from 3:00-5:00pm depending on which character the actor is in the play and how demanding the role is. The production has about 85 cast members, including about 20 Oompaloompas. There are mostly two children playing each main character except for the Candy Man and Willy Wonka. The cast is as follows: Willy Wonka is Miles Waterbury, The Candy Man is Joel Hotchkiss, Charlie is Brian Card and Ryan Caldwell, Grandpa Joe is Brett Martian and Vincent Jhiroli, Augustus is AJ Fritz and Antonio Tran, Violet is Madison Seeger and Andie Carse, Veruca is Cassidy Taylor and Kaitlyn Mavrias, Mike is Matt Koziy and Sean Cockley, and Grandma Georgina is Stephanie Terrace and Maya Kadel.

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I talked to Gina Nedderman, a few of the cast members, and the principal of the Pierson School, Angela Guarascio, to see what they thought about the play.

Mrs. Nedderman said, “ I love teaching this play and working with all the children. I feel like they are learning to get along as a family, and they are all focused when learning new things.”

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The cast members said that they love being in the play and they love being on stage. They all can’t wait until show night.

Mrs. Guarascio of Pierson said, “I love that the children are putting on this play, and I can’t wait to see it. Everyone is doing such a good job and I am proud of all of them.”

Mrs. Nedderman said that it was difficult picking the cast but she did it through an audition process. They had about five days of auditions including callbacks. Around 100-125 kids auditioned in the beginning, and only 85 made it.

All 85 fourth and fifth graders have put many months of work into this play. For many of them it’s their first time being in a play and performing for an auditorium full of people some of whom they don’t even know.

So I really encourage the community to attend either of the nights. The kids and staff worked very hard on this play, and they deserve a good audience and all the support that they can get!

Don't miss two nights of the Willie Wonka, Jr. play: Thursday, April 28th and Friday, April 29th in the Morgan School auditorium at 7:00pm. Tickets are $5 a person and are on sale now and will be sold at the door both nights of the show.


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