MFHS Students Stage ‘Honk!’ A Musical Tale of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ This Weekend
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MARTINS FERRY -- Martins Ferry High School Theatre Department presents "Honk!" -- a musical tale of "The Ugly Duckling," this weekend.
Performances will take place at 7 p.m. today, Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15; and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at the school, 5000 Ayers Limestone Road.
"Honk!" first hatched in 1993 and is a heartwarming, family-friendly production written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who later would pen "Mary Poppins" for the stage.
In this award-winning retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's classic fairy tale, Ugly is born to a family of ducks headed by blustery Drake and doting Ida. His size and appearance earn him no friends on the farm. He is criticized and ostracized and eventually runs afoul of the wily -- and hungry -- Cat.
Upon his escape, Ugly gets lost and encounters a benevolent Bullfrog who teaches Ugly he is worthy of love, conveyed during one of the musical's most memorable songs, "Warts and All."
Back on the farm, Ida convinces Drake to organize a search for Ugly. Winter arrives, and with it the famished Cat. Come spring, Ugly has matured into a swan; he is reunited with his mother and has a new swan friend, Penny.
"This musical is just delightful, and the students have done a terrific job with it," Director Julia Wayne said. "The story of 'The Ugly Duckling' is so relevant in our lives and especially in the lives of our children and youth. I feel like this production speaks to all members of the cast and crew because, as teenagers, they feel judged by others."
Crew members of "Honk!" are, front row from left, Jackson Littleton, Mathew Bex, Samantha Roundtree; back row from left, Ashlyn Smith, Payton Kramer, Joseph McLeod, Abby Heath and Zoe Heath.
In the musical, Ugly doesn't understand why the people around him are mean to him just because he is different.
In the song "Different," he sings: "Different isn't hateful. Different could be swell. Different is just … well … different."
"How nice it would be if we all actually lived by that," Wayne said.
Cast members are De Briggs, Ugly; Jude Kutay, Cat; Sal Briggs, Drake; Julia Buck, Ida; Milo Dobresk, Billy and Froglet; Abby Carpino, Beaky and Froglet; Danielle Helsel, Downy; Hudson Higgs, Fluff and Froglet; Emmy Buck, Maureen, Wild, Fish and Froglet; Maddy Piper, Henrietta and Lowbutt; Josh Vetanze, Turkey, Mother, Jaybird, Fish and Froglet; Miranda Volan, Grace, Barnacles, Fish and Froglet; Ash Williams, Greylag and Fish; Emma McFarland, Dot, Queenie, Mother Swan and Fish; Wyatt Hercules, Bullfrog, Silly and Father Swan; Alex Danehart, Pinkfoot, Bewick and Farmer; Mikahyla Nolan, Snowy; Alexandra Gramatikos, Penny and Froglet.
The crew includes stage manager Mathew Bex; lights, Joseph McLeod; prompter/sound, Ashlyn Smith; stagehands, Abby Heath, Zoe Heath, Payton Kramer, Jackson Littleton and Samantha Roundtree. The elaborate set was designed and constructed by Julia Wayne, Rachel Shipley, Bill Nickerson, Trevor Nickerson, Benda Nickerson, Kris Bauer, and students in theater and set design classes.
Wayne thanked cast member Emma McFarland for she described as her "amazing artwork that is featured on our poster and throughout our program."
Tickets are available at the door. Students receive a discount. Children 5 and under are admitted free, and Ayers Elementary School students are admitted free with a ticket-holding parent. Doors open one-half hour before curtain.
Cast member Emma McFarland created the artwork for the "Honk!" poster and program.