Inside Cardinal O'Hara High School's production of "Freaky Friday"
SPRINGFIELD, Pa. (CBS) - Magic and family take center stage at Cardinal O'Hara High School this week, as the school's theater department prepares to debut its spring musical "Freaky Friday."
The high school production features dozens of performers, a live orchestra and a student stage crew.
The stage crew runs all of the behind-the-scenes aspects of the show, including lights, audio and set design. Students are taught those technical skills by a professional with his own company.
Cardinal O'Hara students have been preparing since late last year for their big night, and they've ramped up to full dress rehearsals this week.
"We had two dress rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday until 9:30 p.m.," theater director Valentina Raffaelli said. "Of course, these students have a full load of classes during the morning as well. Today we are dark. We take an afternoon to rest, and tomorrow we open."
"It has been a lot of heavy work with the crew and cast working hard together, and it's paid off," junior Jonathan Viola, who plays Mike Riley, said. "You can see it."
"Freaky Friday" tells the story of an overworked mother and her teenage daughter who magically swap bodies. They have just one day to put things right again before mom's big wedding.
The musical is based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films. The performance is billed as a hilarious, contemporary update on an American classic in which a mother and daughter see what it is to be a family and experience each other's lives firsthand, if only for a day.
"So 'Freaky Friday' is a great story. It's about a mother and a daughter and their relationship," sophomore Eva Sweeney, who plays Danielle, said. "They switch bodies for a day and they go through each other's lives and see what each person has to go through and their hardships but it brings them closer together. It's a great story, it's beautiful."
Cardinal O'Hara High School presents "Freaky Friday" on March 14, 15, and 16 at 7 p.m. The final show is on March 17 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for adults.
