If you know the words to the song “Conjunction Junction,” then the Bullis School’s Blair Family Center for the Arts is where you should be this weekend.
The Potomac Theatre Company is staging Schoolhouse Rock Live, Junior, which is a shortened version of the off-Broadway musical based on the classic 1970s-era television shorts.
“Definitely the baby boomers that come are going to enjoy it,” said Brad Van Grack, the shows director. The show is for all ages said Van Grack, and will feature a host of performers from around the Washington, D.C. area including many children.
The play centers on a family with two young daughters who find homework boring. A parade of singing characters with education stories leap forth from the gigantic television on the left side of the stage, said Van Grack, and just as they did in the television show, the singers take the family on an educational ride.
Graphics, illustrations, paintings, cartoons and photographs will project onto a backdrop to supplement the narratives and bring more life to the show, Van Grack said.
Van Grack frequently acts and directs with the “Capital Steps,” a D.C.-based theater group that does political satire, but this is his first involvement with The Potomac Theatre Company.
Van Grack’s extensive experience in local theater has been invaluable, said Marilyn Shockey, a producer with the Potomac Theatre Company.
“The show is really a ton of fun,” said Van Grack.
Because the music for the show will be played over the auditorium’s speakers, the orchestra pit will be covered and will serve as part of the stage, bringing the show that much closer to the audience, said Barry Hoffman, the show’s producer.
The lack of live music has also made Kris Sanz’s life a little easier. Sanz, an orchestra teacher at Winston Churchill High School, is the musical director for the show.
“Without an orchestra I can focus all my energy on doing the vocals,” said Sanz. Adding to the challenge, however, is the wide range of ages and experience levels of the cast that features nearly as many children as adults, said Sanz.
“Not everyone has had musical training,” said Sanz. Many of the younger actors do not read music and have learned by rote.
“I sing it to them and they sing it back to me until we get it right,” Sanz said.
The actors have been rehearsing three times each week since auditions ended in January, said Hoffman.
The Potomac Theatre Company is in its 18th season, said Shockey, and is the resident theatre company of the Bullis School. Though not affiliated with the school, the company has used the Blair Family Center of the Arts for performances for the past five years.
Schoolhouse Rock Live, Junior began last weekend and will conclude this weekend with matinee performances at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 31 and Sunday, April 1.