Marquez Students Take Audience on Musical Adventure

By DAYNA DRUM | Reporter

Napoleon Bonaparte took center stage at Marquez Charter Elementary School to kick off the “Hello Louisiana” musical on Thursday, March 3.

Student and actress Zoe Woolenberg sang the introduction of her character, singing that fortunetellers had told her “they will name a pastry and a complex after me.”

The script and all of the lyrics were written by Marquez teacher Jeff Lantos, who also directed quietly from behind the piano. The witty and upbeat choreography kept the packed audience of students and parents engaged throughout the hour and a half performance.

The story followed the adventures of Merriweather Lewis and William Clark accompanied by their crew.

Along the way the explorers encounter multiple Native American tribes, which lead to some tense interactions.

One of the tribes sings a chorus “we don’t like you” to get their message across to the strangers. During these moments a news reporter character interrupted the scene to narrate the situation or to ask the student actors questions about what was going on.

First-grade students also participated, filling the roles of different animals. Each time a group of animals appeared they sang a chorus “don’t you come messin’ in my house,” warning the explorers of their presence. Each appearance roused thunderous applause from the audience.

The explorers were led by the character Sacagawea, portrayed by Kendall Wilken, whose endless bickering with her husband was a constant humorous element throughout the play.

Despite all of the light-hearted content of the script it also didn’t shy away from addressing tougher realities of the era, like slavery.

The slave character York, played by Leonardo Velez, was freed by his owner Clark early in the performance but in the end was denied his freedom.

One of the last songs performed by Velez was an emotional longing for his freedom. One line said, “I’d like to get to heaven because I’ve already been through hell.”

The performance ended to rousing applause and the entire cast singing the chorus of “Hello Louisiana.”

The next play by Lantos will be titled “Water & Power” with performances on May 31 and June 2.