The magical characters of DreamWorks' Madagascar will be brought to life by Bow Valley High School performing arts students next month.
The musical, which is currently in rehearsals and features 65 students, will hit the Cochrane RancheHouse stage on Feb. 6 to kick off six performances over four days.
Adrienne Fossheim, the school's performing arts and drama teacher, said the students are incorporated into every aspect of the production from the the leads on stage, to designing and building sets, backstage technical support, choreography and music, costumes and more.
"It's lots of fun, we have a such a great group," said Fossheim.
Last year, Bow Valley put on a lively and popular showing of Greece, with sold out shows, and Fossheim said this year Madagascar was selected to appeal to younger audiences.
"We wanted to do something that reached out to our community," she said, adding that aside from content they have also scheduled earlier showtimes this year to accommodate families with young children.
This year the performers have been divided into senior and junior casts, but Fossheim said the only difference in performances will be the four leads characters.
"The senior cast are Grades 11 and 12 and the junior cast are 9 and 10. It allows a lot of mentorship opportunities," she said of the advantages of the split cast.
Fossheim said the audience can expect all their favourite characters from the movie Madagascar, which follows the adventures of a group of zoo animals who attempt to escape their confinement to end up at a Kenyan wildlife preserve.
To bring the characters to life, Fossheim is going all out, including putting the actors playing giraffes on drywall stilts. She said considering she cast students who were six feet tall in the parts, the giraffes tower over the other cast members.
"We're very excited about this show. It's hilarious," said Fossheim.
Tickets. which are $5 for students and youth and $10 for adults, are available online at eventbrite, at Bow Valley High School and at the door, but last year's shows sold out, so buy early.
Showtimes:
Feb. 6: 6 p.m.: Sr. cast
Feb. 7: 6 p.m:. Jr. cast
Feb. 8: 4 p.m./7 p.m.: Sr. cast
Feb 9. 11 a.m./2:30 p.m. Jr./Sr. cast
