Performance club to perform ‘Finding Nemo’ in June

Parts to be announced after break

Lately, there’s been something fishy about the Wrightsville Beach School (WBS) performance club. Just before students left for spring break, auditions were held in the WBS cafeteria for a production of “Finding Nemo,” to be performed during the school’s Marine Science Festival June 1.

More than 40 characters will be cast, with the parts and actors being named once the kids return from spring break, said L.J. Woodard, a parent volunteer who heads up the club.

“It’s so wonderful because everybody gets a part,” she said.

Staff photo by Joshua Curry Fifth-grade student Crystal Martin auditions for a part in the WBS performance club’s production of “Finding Nemo” on Wednesday, March 28. The club will perform the play during the Marine Science Festival on June 1.

Woodard, a professional actor, started up the performance club during the first half of the school year for first- and second-graders, expanding the club in January to open it up to all WBS students. The idea behind the club is to build self-confidence in children through musical and theatrical performances.

Last Monday and Tuesday, March 26 and 27, students auditioned for the parts in “Finding Nemo” by giving their name and grade, their favorite “Finding Nemo” character, telling a little about themselves, quoting a few lines and then mimicking the movements of various marine creatures, like fish, seagulls, turtles, octopuses and jellyfish.

During the Marine Science Festival in June, Woodard said some of the lower-grade kids would perform a few scenes, followed by the elder children performing a few scenes.

“Whichever part you guys get,” she told the auditioning children last Tuesday afternoon, “embrace it and make it your own.”

abby@luminanews.com