Madalynn Wilson
Lantern Staff
The theater program is switching gears this spring to put on a one-act children’s play called “Uniquely Frank”. The play is another installment of Alvin the Alligator’s story, who Bob Peterson, the writer and director, calls his “Mickey Mouse”.
“I’ve been writing him for several years now and this is his adventure, his third one on the Digby Prep School campus,” Peterson said. “He has gone off to other places like Hollywood, the old west and outer space, but he’s now been on campus at Digby Prep School.”
The show will be performed to around 2,000 elementary school students from El Dorado and the surrounding areas. “Uniquely Frank” impacts so many young children, and this is why Peterson believes this children’s show is the most important one the theater program performs each year.
“I remember things that happened to me as a kid in the theater and how it really, really moved me and shaped me and taught me things,” Peterson said. “Why we do this, is that we are affecting, hopefully nurturing, children’s lives.”
During “Uniquely Frank”, the 7th Alvin the Alligator show, the students of Digby Prep School are challenged to a Best Student Body President Silver and Lilac Tournament by their rival school, Beardsley Prep School. Along the way, Alvin, played by Caden Runnalls, and his best friend and student body president, Frank, played by Ian McDaniels, learn how important it is to embrace who you are. And, according to Caroline Birkhofer, who plays Dani, a yell leader in the show, there are many laughs along the way.
“I also love that the children’s shows are high energy and full of laughter,” Birkhofer said.
Compared to his experience directing the full-length play in the fall, Peterson trys to treat every play as a new experience, no matter who the audience is.
“The difference is the play itself will tell you how it’s going to be different,” Peterson said. “You don’t go in with, ‘Okay, this is going to be a different experience’, the play informs you of how it’s going to be different.”
There will be matinee performances for the children at 1:30 p.m. from Tuesday, Feb. 18 through Friday, Feb. 21. They will also have two extra performances: one for the public on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 2:00 p.m. and one for scholarship students on Monday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Productions are free to all students with a Butler ID.
