On March 11, 2020, I was in the Auditorium working on set pieces for the upcoming production of Frozen Jr., discussing some of the recent cancellations of major national events due to “the Coronavirus,” when my phone rang. It was High School Principal Tony Bird calling to inform me that the CDC, whatever that was, had made a declaration that public gatherings should be limited to 250 individuals. With a capacity of 500 in our auditorium, we would need to limit the number of people we were going to allow to see our show by half; I was irate. Little did I know that this was the first of three conversations that he and I would have that evening as the rapidly-changing guidelines left that evening with us being allowed, at most, 50 people in the auditorium for the productions. Two days later, Governor Evers declared the closure of schools in Wisconsin the following week, and the rest is history.
By the time that our curtain goes up for Moana Jr., 1098 days will have passed since we last performed a Middle School Musical in Little Chute. The few years off have been painful for both the students and production staff alike, but we are back with a group of fresh new faces who are excited to get the Middle School Musical program in Little Chute back up and running. In addition to the joys associated with having live performances back for our Middle School students, we are also excited about the fact that our program is becoming more and more student-driven. This production will, from choreography to sets to lighting, etc., be more produced by students than any musical production in Little Chute School District History.
Thank you for taking the time to come and support the Fine Arts in Little Chute, and Welcome Back!
-Dan Van Eperen
