GORHAM, Maine — A Maine school is taking a family favorite to the stage this weekend. Theater students at Gorham High School will be performing "Mary Poppins."
The flashy new production of the classic musical involves 40 people onstage and behind the scenes.
The team decided to go all out this year and hire a production company from Las Vegas to install a system allowing the main character, Mary Poppins, to fly across the school stage. For that they needed $10,000, which they fundraised through sponsors and different community events including a golf tournament.
"Mary Poppins is a big show with lots of sets, lots of costumes, lots of lighting cues, lots of music, and those are things that you really don't want to let your audience down because they are so in love with the movie," Josh Hurd, the director of the musical, explained.
Hurd said he hopes many students incorporate the arts into their future life plans.
"We have a lot of students who have gone to Broadway, national tours. We have students working on cruise ships already. I hope, having been part of the program, students can look back and think, 'Wow, I was a part of that. I did that,'" Hurd added.
The performances will be held at Gorham High School on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $14 each. They can be purchased online through Eventbrite or at the door. One dollar from each ticket will be set aside to later give to Full Plates Full Potential to help Mainers experiencing food insecurity.
"Limited time with the scripts, learning all of the lines, the immaculate amount of choreography, and all the money that went into it," Patrick Delaney, who plays Burt, said of some of the challenging aspects of the show.
"It's a fun show and a family favorite, and we want people to enjoy it. But it also has a deep rooted message of family that I hope everyone can learn from," Madie Douney, who plays the lead role of Mary Poppins, explained.