Just Keep Swimming: TWO to present youth production 'Finding Nemo Jr.'

Theatre Workshop of Owensboro will bring audiences through an underwater adventure with its youth production of “Finding Nemo Jr.” starting at 7 p.m. Friday at the Empress Theatre, 418 Frederica St.

The show, based on the 2003 Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios’ animated comedy-drama, serves as a musical adaptation of the Academy Award-winning film with new music by Oscar, Emmy and Grammy Award winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT recipient Robert Lopez.

According to the publishing company Music Theatre International, the show details the story of Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish that resides in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia with his son Nemo, who is eager to explore the world “beyond their anemone home.”

Like the film, Nemo is captured and taken to Sydney, challenging Marlin to find his son and face his own fears and insecurities.

Amongst the 24 cast members in TWO’s production, popular characters from the movie such as the blue tang fish Dory, the sea turtle Crush and the great white shark Bruce are featured in the hour-long show among others.

Karen Feldhaus, the director of TWO’s production, said the stage version is “the story I remember seeing in theaters when I was a young adult” and similar to the live puppet and musical stage show “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond!” located at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Florida, which the Lopezes also wrote the music for.

“Once the music starts, you’re just transported into that whole Disney world, and I love that,” she said. “... I think it’s a fun story to tell. … It’s really been such a joy being able to take this story from page to stage ….”

While Feldhaus said the plot and message of the show will be familiar to the fans of the original film, there are some differences between the movie and what will be presented in the spotlight beyond the inclusion of multiple musical numbers, under the direction of Ella Henry, and feels people will be “moved” by some of the content.

“Disney does a really great job of packaging this with a lot of materials, and there’s a bit of focus on the fact that disability, the fact that Nemo has a small fin and kind of addressing that some,” Feldhaus said. “(It also talks about) connections between families and (Nemo) growing up. That’s kind of (what) I’ve been focusing on — (the) relationship between Marlin and Nemo that a lot of parents deal with while their kids start to grow up and (the parents) don’t want them to.

“I think it hits on a little more of the emotional mode than maybe the movie did.”

Ethan Wimsatt, who portrays the role of Marlin in his second-ever leading role, said the movie, along with other films in the Disney catalog, were favorites during his upbringing and eventually found himself revisiting the box office smash in anticipation for the audition process.

“I watched (the movie) when I was younger, and I’ve watched it every now and then,” Wimsatt, 17, said. “But definitely whenever I got the role, and even before I got the role when I was preparing for the auditions, I watched over the movie a couple times just to kind of familiarize myself with the entire story again and to kind of build a character … to put on the best show that I can …”

Wimsatt, who was born five years after the release of the film, said rewatching the source material and becoming Marlin throughout the rehearsal process helped him see the role through a different lens.

“As a kid, we have this innocent mind so we don’t really understand a bunch of things …,” he said. “... (It was already) hard for (Marlin) to let go of his kid to let him go to his first day of school; and just when he was getting ready to let go, he lost his kid and then he had to go on this big adventure to find (Nemo) again (while learning) the importance of letting a kid grow up, and letting them move on and letting them live their lives ….”

For Paige Ehlschide, who plays the parent of Sheldon — “the seahorse who is allergic to water” — the show will mark her theatrical debut.

“I don’t really like sports and I was really trying to find something extracurricular,” Ehlschide, 12, said with a laugh, “and I thought it was a great chance to make friends.”

Ehlschide, who recalls viewing the film as “fish swimming around in a fun kids’ movie,” said the show has helped her see the underlying messages of letting go and protecting the ones you love.

With the opening night just days away, Ehlschide is feeling confident about making the most of her inaugural time in the spotlight.

“I’m feeling really excited. There’s no nervousness,” Ehlschide said. “... It’s a lot of fun and we’ve worked really hard.”

And just after her first show experience, Ehlschide has already been bitten by the theatre bug.

“... This is something that I’m going to want to carry out in high school and the rest of middle school,” Ehlschide said. “This is something that I’m definitely going to do for a while ….”

Feldhaus, who is the drama teacher at Daviess County High School, said she’s enjoyed getting the chance to work with other children in the community.

“I am working with a lot of different kids … and that’s been lovely,” she said. “(There’s) kids from as young as 7 up through 17, so that’s kind of out of my experience and my norm.

“Learning to work with a variety of ages … has been a lot of fun ….”

While Feldhaus is aware there are other events happening nearby over the next two weekends, she hopes people will take the time to support the young performers and the local arts community.

“... These are some super talented kids who are working so hard to put on a great show,” she said. “I really think (people will) be impressed by what they have staged.”

Additional opportunities to see “Finding Nemo Jr.” will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, followed by three more showings at 7 p.m. June 28-29 and 2 p.m. June 30.

The show is sponsored by Independence Bank, with the season being sponsored by Owensboro Health.

All youth activity at TWO is supported by a grant from the B.J. Killian Foundation.

Tickets are available for purchase by calling 270-683-5333 between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday or online at theatreworkshop.org.