This year at Grayslake Central, the school’s musical production is the Little Mermaid, inviting audiences to sing, dance, and feel as though they are swimming under the sea. To ensure even the littlest members of the community could join the fun, Grayslake Central’s theater department hosted a themed tea party inspired by the show, bringing the magic of Ariel’s world to life for all ages.
Behind the scenes, the creator of the tea party was Ms. Maureen Ritter, English teacher and Encore director, as well as Mrs. Diana Repp, the GCHS activities director. Repp said the goal “is to get community members in to see what the fine arts is like at GCHS,” which turned out be a production that could include the whole community, “since Mama Mia (last year’s musical).. [was] not necessarily for little kids, [they] were kind of like, it might be fun to do something where… more of our younger community members could be involved.”
From the moment the guests stepped into the transformed cafeteria and annex, it was an immersive under-the-sea experience. Ritter said the “characters in the play are going to be the characters at the tea party,” so the littles will be able to see their favorite characters from the film come to life.
Ritter said the Encore students and the executive board spent “about 75 hours [working on the play]… in one week.” In addition to the musical, they created a top-notch tea party carnival, designed to keep younger attendees in the spirit and entertained.
Every child’s dream came true at the photo booth, where the costumed cast members posed in character, bringing the play’s world to life. Whether it was a bubbly arm gesture or a dramatic pose, the booth and the whole event were full of laughter.
Kids rotated through stations that let them create and take home their own treasures, like bracelet making with beads, photo frame decorating for their booth snapshots, origami folding into sea creatures, and drawing tables where the littles were able to draw sea creatures.
The attendees were also able to play many games that Encore prepared, from ring toss and bucket toss, which lit up their little faces, fishing for ducks, which was very exciting, and a prize-winning station where every little one was awarded for winning any game.
When the crafts were completed, the dance floor lit up. Cast members led the dances, twirling toddlers, and leading many “follow me” dances. ‘Under the sea’ songs blasted while every child danced for their families, who watched their children proudly.
The most important ingredient at a tea party was the food! Ritter, who designed the menu, said “Quest… help[ed] [them] put together some of the food.. [for] food safety.” They had delicious, popular snacks like Goldfish crackers. They also created their own desserts like candy clams made out of Nilla wafer cookies
with frosting in between, crab croissants with googly eyes, and a fruit platter with banana dolphins. This event had something for everyone to enjoy, big or small, land mammal or sea creature alike.
