By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News
Prattville Christian Academy’s upcoming benefit play is their biggest fundraising event annually. This year, the school will be performing Mary Poppins, Jr. – a tale known to many.
Typically, the school would have their performance in mid-February, but due to the tragic passing of their director, Joey Fine, in January of this of this year, the school postponed the event until April.
“Everyone was so shocked when they heard the news about Joey. The cast members are dedicating their performance to him, because not only was he a great leader for us, he was also a fantastic person,” said Rebecca Thomas, Marketing and Communications Director for PCA.
Fine, who had been the school’s benefit play and theatre director for the past two years, directed WOBT’s production of Little Shop of Horror’s in July of 2020, which was the first in-person production of theater in the River Region since the beginning of the pandemic.
“The loss of Joey has taken a toll on everyone, but the students are confident that they will give it their all come production night. It’s going to be an emotional evening,” Thomas said.
The play, which will feature students from 3rd – 12th grade, has been in the works for quite some time. Tryouts began back in August of 2020, with practices taking place throughout the semesters.
“It’s been a year-long process trying to put this thing together. COVID has made everything exponentially harder on everyone. But, we’ve been fortunate enough to work through all of our events and hold most of our usual gatherings – socially distanced, of course,” Thomas said.
The play will feature two showings this year. This first will take place on Friday, April 16th at 7:30 p.m. in Hunter Hills Church. That showing will be strictly for family members of the cast and crew. There will also be a benefit dinner beforehand at 6 p.m. in the PCA gym.
The second showing will take place at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 16th at Hunter Hills Church, and tickets will be available to the general public.
“We typically don’t have the second showing, but this year we had so much extra time. We wanted to give back to the community and share some of things that we’ve got going on here at PCA,” Thomas said.
In the end, PCA is ready to put a positive mark on what has been an otherwise upside-down school year.
“We’re just so, so excited to perform this play and return to some form of normalcy. Our performers are prepared to cap off an unusually different school year and go out with a bang,” Thomas said.
For those wanting to more information about the play, or for those who are looking to buy tickets, please click the following link https://4pca.org/mpjr/
