KALAHEO — There was no time for Jayvin Suvia to catch his breath.
“Track 15, Jayvin,” Robin Herbig, the stage manager, called. “Jayvin! Jayvin? Track 15.”
Herbig, along with directors Marly Madayag and Laine Griffith, all teachers and staff at Kalaheo School opened the final week of rehearsals before the students present Disney’s “Aladdin Jr.” to the public this Friday.
The musical opens at 7 p.m. at the school’s cafeteria and will run for a single performance on Friday and Saturday evenings. Taking a break so students can attend school, the curtain rises next Friday and Saturday for its final run.
Madayag, no stranger to Kalaheo School student productions, said this production has one student technician, Suvia, 35 cast members, 16 adult volunteers working backstage, three adults helping with the technical aspects, and an army of costume designers and set painters.
“I’m not anyone,” said Bevin Parker-Evans who was finishing a pair of shoes for the cast. “I just thought I’d come in and take in the rehearsal. The designers deserve all the credit. I’m just helping.”
Robin, whose son Jake portrays Aladdin in the production, said Jeanne Eels has been working hard getting all the costumes together in time for the Friday curtain call. Eels is the costume designer for this production.
Madayag pointed out that Teng Schorr is the set designer, and her work continued as she took advantage of the set-up time to hammer out details on a set that graced the side walls of the cafeteria.
Set-up time was necessary because Madayag said when the play and rehearsal is over, everything needs to be converted back to a cafeteria. She joined the crews in setting up, running wires from the stage, between cafeteria tables and ending at the master console being supervised by Suvia.
“This is a lot easier than costumes,” said Barbara Bloemke, one of the school’s substitute teachers who was in charge of the stage lights. “Jayvin has the big console. I just have to worry about the little one.”
As the students worked through the unwrapping story plot on stage, Griffith interrupted them.
“You can’t be low energy,” he told the cast. “This is production week. You need to get into the production.”
Earlier, Robin had a discussion with the cast, emphasizing the need for focus to ensure a successful run.
Griffith said “Aladdin Jr.” is the fourth major production being put on by the school’s students.
“‘Treasure Island’ was the first. The following year, it was the ‘Princess and the Pea,’ and last year, it was ‘Honk Jr,’” the school’s music teacher said. “Before that, we put on ‘Snow White,’ but that was not a musical. All of these are musicals.”
The staff urged people to get their tickets early, and arrive early because parking will be at a premium.
Additionally, Robin said the cafeteria has a rated capacity of 600 people, but with families and young children, she estimates they will have just about 300-400 seats for each showing.
“We try to get better each year,” Robin said. “The new feature for this year’s production is the spotlights.”
Following the production, Robin said they plan to repaint the cafeteria, acquire some theatrical curtains to replace the white ones that cover the stage, and hopefully, write a grant to help get a sound system in time for next year’s production.
The production is based on the screenplay by Ron Clements and John Musker, Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio.
“The world is a stage,” Madayag said. “We can perform anywhere.”
