The Spirit Singers will be performing Little Women the Musical at Grace United Church in early May.
"We've completely transformed the entire place. It doesn't even look like our church anymore. It's quite amazing," shared Kendra Gonczy, Director of Spirit Singers.
She said the show features the classic story by Louisa May Alcott.
"The four March sisters and their strong mom, their bond that is forever. There is some beautiful new music that is upbeat, fun. You will laugh, you will cry. It is just an amazing story brought to life on the stage. It's something special, that's for sure, and I hope everyone comes and sees that."
It all begins with a dinner theatre on Thursday, May 1st, for which tickets including the dinner are $50 per person. "There are still seats available after the dinner. You don't have to have dinner," noted Gonczy.
The rest of the performances will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 2nd, and Saturday, May 3rd, with a matinee show at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 4th. Tickets for those shows are $20 for adults, $10 for students, and free for children five years and under.
"I've never done a musical quite like this and it's quite incredible to do with this very, very special group of teenagers."
Gonczy said many of the group of 13 performers have been part of the Spirit Singers since its inception four years ago, making this a nice wrap-up for their year.
"We're losing four kids this year to graduation. Some have been singing since they were six with me, so they've been together for a very long time at our church and Spirit Singers began about three or four years ago. We just kept kind of adding groups up as they got older, so this is our first Spirit Singers group."
"They are an extremely talented group of young people. The music they make together is unbelievable. The sound is incredible, and they just put their heart and soul into it and it totally shows. Their characters are just beaming up there and they are absolutely all perfect for their parts, it is incredible to watch."
After losing two members to graduation last year, four new members have joined this year.
"It's been a change from our core, but it's been awesome to have them join and so many of them have been singing for so long with Spirit of Grace and they're now in Spirit Singers."
While the core cast has been working on their parts, the small crew has ensured the sets, costumes, and other elements will be ready in time for the shows.
"It's a very small cast and then myself as a Director. Doug [Weimer], my dad, has been the sound guy. We've had Kelly Roysum, Donna Klein, Nancy Smoliak, and Gordon Smoliak doing sets and designs and they've been absolutely amazing with what they're doing. My mom [Colleen Weimer] has taken the reins as a Co-Director. We're not a huge crew, but we've done a lot of things in the short amount of time we have, with the amazing people, they all are."
Finding a musical to perform, Gonczy noted, is not an easy process.
"I probably thought about this for six months, and, even when I've decided, and I presented to them, I was still so nervous to tell them," she shared. "Some of the parts that I thought were for certain people have changed and their parts, honestly, could not be more perfect to this day, but it is definitely a long process."
"I wanted to represent all of the best features that every single one of them has and highlight every single person. I think that's exactly what this musical has done. There's duets, there's solos, there's group numbers. Everyone gets their time."
Tickets can be purchased at the Grace United church office (306-842-5131) or by calling Nancy Smoliak at 306-861-5124.
