Fifth graders are Making Magic
Directed by NES’s music teachers Leona Williford and Jessie Ann Compton, the performances by two casts will take place 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5, in the gymnasium of the school, 1889 Thunderhead Road, off South Northshore Drive, West Knoxville.
“We are so excited,” Williford said. “It’s a lot of work.”
”I am so proud of these leadership in these kids,” Compton said.
The event is open to the public, and tickets are $10, which goes back into the music program’s fund, and can be purchased online at https://www.knoxschools.org/northshorees
The performance encompasses 100 students.
“We have about 50 kids per cast,” said Williford, adding of those 50, 40 are cast members and 10 are backstage.
Leading the cast are fifth-graders Jeanna Weckstein as Belle, the Beauty, and Nathan Jacobs as the Beast in one cast. Meanwhile, Annie Duncan portrays Belle and Baylor Dickenson portrays the Beast in the other cast.
“The neat thing is we have students who never thought they could have done this,” Williford said.
While Baylor never thought he could waltz, Jeanna never thought she would be holding a boy’s hand.
