Eighth grader Corrine Thomas never imagined that her last year to perform in the Northwest ISD middle school musical would look quite like this.
The future of the annual production became unclear when the global pandemic forced school buildings to close in March 2020. In the past, auditions were held in person for students from each of the NISD middle schools in the spring before the performance. Cast rehearsals took place during the summer months and when school resumed in August.
“We were waiting for some sort of guidance from the state — what we should do and how we should proceed with as little risk as possible,” said Director Wendy Bramlett.
Determined to continue the production, Bramlett invited students to audition for Shrek The Musical Jr. by putting together a video to showcase their talent. Callbacks were completed over two weeks via Zoom conferences.
“From the beginning, this was a different kind of challenge,” she said. “We knew we would have to handle a lot of it digitally.”
