A production two years in the making due to the COVID-19 pandemic continues tonight and Sunday at the Pocket Community Theatre, as its troupe of children put on the final two performances of "Cinderella."
"I feel wonderful; it's really great," Director Allison Spraggins told The Sentinel-Record prior to the first show on Friday. The children "have worked really hard and it's come together, and it's spectacular."
"It's kind of bittersweet, like I'm excited. I was thinking about yesterday, 'Well this time next week it's gonna be over," but there's been joy in the journey. I'm just thinking of milestones with the kids, just seeing something come to fruition," she said.
"We started rehearsals back the second week of January, so we've had rehearsals three days a week since then, with a few breaks here and there for weather and for illness-related reasons, but we've worked through blocking and getting everyone in character and becoming their character, and it's just evolved over the past two months into a really magical show," Spraggins said.
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She said the cast "were asking last night at rehearsal, we had a really fabulous rehearsal last night, and they came out for their curtain call because we've been practicing that, and they went 'Ms. Allison, were you crying?' I said, 'I might have shed a tear or two, yeah. I'm just so proud of y'all."
While most of the shows at Pocket Theatre are performed by adults, the cast of "Cinderella" ranges in age from 10 to 17, Spraggins said, noting that "about half have" performed in plays before.
A teacher by day, Spraggins said that teaching children who had never performed was a fun experience. When asked if it was challenging to work with youths who had no prior experience, she said, "not really, because that's what I enjoy about it, just helping them find themselves in the theater."
The cast features 17 performers, and Spraggins said that it has been a treat to watch the youths learn their craft over the past few months.
"That's part of the process and the journey in youth theater, and seeing them, and knowing that when they audition they will become the character, that you see that character in them, but then watching them change and grow as an actor/actress over the process," she said.
Spraggins said that she hopes that this production has been a positive experience for the cast, "and it's been something that if this is their first time in theater, then they've caught the theater bug and they love it and they want to continue participating in theater and doing more shows, whether it be an actor/actress on stage or it be working with lights or tech or costuming, I just kind of wanted them to be a part of that whole process so that they can find kind of their niche in the theater and find a true love for it."
This is also Spraggins' first time directing a play. She joined Pocket Theatre in 2018, then assistant directed "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" in 2019, which was also a youth show.
"It's been a learning experience with me, but a fun learning experience. She proposed "Cinderella" after "Sleepy Hollow" for 2021, "needless to say it's been about two years in the making, so I kind of got rusty on some things I remembered, but we've all worked through it, and I've had a great assistant director (Stacey Bean) that's helped me," Spraggins said, adding that Bean "has been involved in theater for years, has worked even in New York."
Spraggins said that she intends to continue working with Pocket Theatre. "I've put forward one for the 2023 season," she said about possibly directing again. "I'm excited about the opportunity to possibly direct again," she said.
Showtimes at the theater, located at 170 Ravine, are 7 p.m. today and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Seating is limited to 216 due to the pandemic; around 150 tickets had been sold for the Sunday show, and around 100 tickets had been sold for today's show, as of Wednesday. Tickets are $10.