The performance of "If the Shoe Fits" begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Northern Burlington County Regional High School auditorium.
By: Scott Morgan
MANSFIELD All right. There’s still a prince, a fairy godmother and some rather unsavory characters looking to head off the happily-ever-after romance before it starts. But if you’re looking for magic wands and pumpkin coaches, you’re in the wrong spot.
"It’s enough Cinderella that you’ll recognize it," says Penny Kearns, "but it’s built for seventh- and eighth-graders."
And that’s appropriate, since the cast and crew of seventh- and eighth-graders under Ms. Kearns’ direction at Northern Burlington County Regional Middle School will be the ones putting on the show tomorrow night.
For one night only, Northern will stage "If the Shoe Fits," a Cinderella story with a modern-day update, in the high school auditorium Friday.
Ms. Kearns, an eighth-grade history teacher at Northern who is co-directing the show with longtime collaborator and seventh-grade geography teacher Rosalee Giardinelli, says the story follows a lovelorn prince who is kidnapped by villainous security guards and replaced with a shady imposter.
"There’s a happy ending, of course," Ms. Kearns says , but not quite the one you remember. Where the original story closes with the happily-ever-after romance, this prince and Cinderella decide to put their wedding date off until after college.
After 10 years at the helm, Ms. Kearns says she’s still having a blast doing the plays. It’s just Mother Nature who’s making things tough.
"The problems are not with the kids, they’re with the weather," she says.
Having already lost two rehearsal days to ice and snow, and anticipating a third before the curtain goes up, things are getting a bit tight, she says.
But with so many plays beneath her belt, she’s not as worried as you might think.
"You don’t sweat the small stuff," she says. "We’re all right, we can do this."
"If the Shoe Fits" begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Northern Burlington County Regional High School auditorium. Tickets are $2, available at the door. Senior citizens and children under 11 will be admitted free. For more information, call (609) 298-3900.