Stuarts Draft presents 'Freaky Friday,' Riverheads athletic trainer honored by VHSL: CHALKBOARD

STUARTS DRAFT — Alandra Nice and Ally Brement star in Stuarts Draft High School's musical, "Freaky Friday." Nice plays Katherine Blake and Brement is Ellie Blake. Well, kind of. It's complicated.

The school's spring musical, "Freaky Friday," is based on the novel by Mary Rodgers and the Disney movies that followed, one in 1976 and a second in 2003. There was also a made-for-TV movie in 1995.

The musical will be performed Thursday through Sunday, March 7-10, at the high school. The premise of the show focuses on an overworked mom (Katherine) and her teenage daughter (Ellie) magically swapping bodies, then having one day to solve what is happening. The magic centers around an hourglass given to Ellie by her father before he died.

Katherine is in the process of getting married, and catering her own wedding, putting a lot of stress on the family.

Both Nice and Brement have to play both of the lead characters. They begin as Katherine and Ellie, but for a majority of the show Nice plays Ellie in Katherine's body and Brement is Katherine in Ellie's body.

"It's taken a lot of watching and knowing (Brement's) acting style and her acting choices," Nice said. "So when I'm watching her be Ellie at the beginning and the end, I can add a little bit of that into my Ellie during most of the show."

Ellie is also dealing with the death of her father, as is Katherine, who has to come to terms with what her daughter is going through.

"It's not just her who lost her husband," Brement said. "Her daughter lost her father."

Nice said that Katherine also figures out, throughout the course of the show, that while she's about to remarry, she's also still grieving her late husband.

While the two leads didn't spend a lot of time talking about how they wanted to portray the characters, they did go on a youth group trip together to New York and got to spend the six hours up and back discussing the musical.

"Freaky Friday" is directed by Amy Neal Bussey, with musical direction by Katie Glydewell, and choreography by Kayla Chonoles. In addition to Brement and Nice, Toby Cramer stars as Mike and Ryder Talley as Adam.

There are also two Stuarts Draft Elementary School students in the cast, Casey Cramer and Rebecca Bussey, who alternate in the role of Fletcher. Both have been in other productions, including together in "Madagascar."

"I like being on stage because I can have fun," Casey Cramer said. "In musicals I love to sing out. I can just have fun being me."

Rebecca Bussey enjoys the relationships cast members make during the show.

"Everybody gets to know each other a little better in the show," Bussey said. "You learn a little bit more about the characters."

The cast is rounded out by more than fifty students in the cast, crew, and orchestra pit.

Onlinet ticket prices are $15 for premium seats, $12 for adults, and $10 for students. Show times are Thursday, March 10 – Saturday, March 12 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, March 13 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available online at sdhstheatre.ludus.com. Tickets at the door are $20 for premium seats, $17 for adults, and $10 for students. Call SDHS at 540-946-7600 for more information.

"The play is just awesome" Casey Cramer said.

VHSL honors Riverheads athletic trainer

GREENVILLE — Hillary Mickley, Riverheads High School's athletic trainer, was selected for the Larry Johnson VHSL-SMAC Award.

Each year the VHSL recognizes an athletic trainer from its member schools who excels in that role within their school and community. Mickley was chosen from the more than 300 schools in Virginia.

The award was created to honor Larry Johnson, and to recognize individuals who emulate many of the qualities he demonstrated in his long years of service to the young athletes in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  During his 40 years of service to the youth of Virginia, Larry Johnson was a teacher, coach, athletic director, official, and assistant director of the Virginia High School League.

This award is meant to recognize an individual in any discipline involved with interscholastic athletics who has gone the extra mile to enhance the health, safety, fun, participation equity and sportsmanship for student athletes in Virginia.

Waynesboro Schools receiving donation for food pantry program

WAYNESBORO — As part of its ongoing commitment to eliminate hunger in the communities it serves, The GIANT Company is helping to support the food pantry program at Waynesboro Public Schools. The program, which provides non perishable food items and weekend bags of food to students facing food insecurity, supports 2,800 students in the division.

Team members from MARTIN’S will present school officials with a check for $10,000 in support of the school district’s food pantry program Thursday, March 7 at Kate Collins Middle School.

Customers at GIANT, MARTIN’S or GIANT Heirloom Market stores can also support their local school divisions' food programs by rounding up their purchases to the nearest dollar or converting their CHOICE points now through March 31.

Buy a sub, help On the Road Collaborative

On The Road Collaborative is joining forces with the three Jersey Mike’s Subs locations in Harrisonburg, Waynesboro and Stauntonfor the 14^th Annual March Month of Giving campaign to support local charities.

During the month of March, customers will have the option to round up their purchase to the nearest dollar or donate $1, $3, or $5 when placing their order.

The Month of Giving campaign will culminate with Jersey Mike’s “Day of Giving” on Wednesday, March 27, when local Jersey Mike’s restaurants will give 100% of the day’s sales — not just profit — to On The Road Collaborative.

On the Road Collaborative is a Harrisonburg-based non-profit that provides educational opportunities and hands-on career experiences to middle- and high-school youth outside of regular school hours. It expanded into Waynesboro Public Schools last year and is now at both Kate Collins Middle and Waynesboro High schools.

On Day of Giving, local Jersey Mike’s owners and operators throughout the country will donate their resources and every single dollar that comes in — whether in-store, online or through the app — to more than 200 different charities including hospitals, youth organizations, food banks and more.

Since Month of Giving began in 2011, Jersey Mike’s has raised more than $88 million for local charities.

More: Staunton's school budget remains unbalanced as officials wait for state revenue figures

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— Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.

This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Stuarts Draft presents 'Freaky Friday,' Riverheads athletic trainer honored