Indian Fields Musical Brings All That Jazz

Inside the gym at on Wednesday, a group of talented kids practiced their dance moves and singing to perfection, ready to put on a show for the community on opening night. 

The school will present a performance of "The Aristocats" tonight (Thursday), a show that doesn't have the same name recognition as previous school musicals.

"This show comes from a not so well known movie, so it's always cool to introduce the kids to material they may not be familiar with," said director Daniel Martinho. "Brooks Crossing did this musical last year, so it's been helpful with the finances to be able to share costumes and props."

Martinho said he hopes to establish a coalition of musicals with other South Brunswick elementary schools that allow the schools to pool resources for cost savings.

The play also allowed Martinho to introduce the kids to music they're less familiar with, as the show's musical numbers are heavy on jazz-inspired songs.

"The music in the show is cool and different with a jazzy style," he said. "It has a heavy jazz influence and the kids are really getting into that, which is nice to expose them to this style of music."

For the kids in the show, they said hard work put in will be evident once the curtains open.

"I think everyone should come see the play because it will be perfect and we practiced a lot so everyone will be great," said fifth-grader Shakthi Sivaram, who is playing the role of Madame. "People are going to like everything, especially the moving scenery. I don't really like playing an older character, but I get to use a microphone, so that's cool."

The unsung heroes of the show are the students on the stage crew, who keep the action moving.

"What I like about this show is that the excitement never stops, so there is not one scene that not everyone is going to enjoy," said fifth-grader Alick Verney, a member of the technical crew. "There's so much excitement backstage and I get to do moving scenery with others. The best part is that the audience loves moving scenery, because it's so cool."

 "The Aristocats" will be presented at Indian Fields Elementary School Thursday (Dec. 22) at 7 p.m.