Innovations students take learning to the stage

After months of preparation, students from Innovations Public Charter School’s fine arts mentorship experience program took their learning to the stage with a musical production of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu.

The after-school performing arts program is open to the school’s sixth- through eighth-graders who select an area of interest in the performing arts and work under the mentorship of a community or staff member who has experience and expertise in different components of theater. Mentors are provided in the areas of acting, choreography, costume design, set creation, on-stage set management, sound, lighting and production.

Audience members, including children who arrived in their princess dresses and crowns, enjoyed the colorful, imaginative costumes of plates, dishes, dancing candlesticks, princess Belle and The Beast. As the lights dimmed, student set designers scattered across the stage changing backdrops and providing the all-important props on stage for the actors. Laughter, oohs and aahs echoed through the audience as student actors and actresses engaged the audience in the story of finding beauty within through dance, song and drama.