A performance of “Aladdin, Jr.” produced by the Oxford Peak Arts Council and featuring local middle school students, ended its run Monday, after bringing a high level of skill to the stage with another highly entertaining performance.  Like “Beauty and the Beast,” which was staged by the OPAC earlier in the season, “Aladdin” had the massive hurdles of taking on a very well-known story with even more well-known songs, and the most well known comic relief character of possibly any Disney animated film.  Many of the film’s best known set pieces involve cartoonishly kinetic scenes and over the top performances, and it was fantastic to see those things handled so skillfully by the team that put on the play.

There were many highlights of the performance, but special applause should first be given to Daisy Huckaby, who without a doubt had the most difficult task of all inhabiting the character made famous by Robin Williams.  With a somewhat different take on the part, Huckaby brought a sustained level of energy and comic confidence to the role that sold the entire performance.  The leads of Levi Balazs and Seth Huckaby as Aladdin and Ella Sperry as Jasmine were also spot on in their roles, and handled the fairly demanding character-based melodies well.  Williams Whipple as Jafar was nicely villainous, and Jersyn Shulz as Iago was consistently funny in as his high-energy sidekick.  

The rest of the cast also performed very well, and included London Hess, Audrey Moss, Maverik Lewis, Bentley Teeples, Luke Schow, Laney Coatney, Aspen Allen, Trinity Christophersen, Caroline Whipple, Sara Reiss, Cumorah Carter, Sofia Hess, Rose Butler, Nicole White, Jace Call, Hyrum Spencer, Anna Chipman, Oaklie Gledhill, Jade Charles, Mariah Price, Ava Fesler, Hannah Anderson, Nolan Briscoe, and Conner Worrell as the perfectly spooky voice of the Cave of Wonders.  

The set crew, who handled a lot of the moving elements of the stage that allowed for scenes such as the flying carpet and many rapid changes between scenes, included Rylee Dunn, Ambria DeJong, Zach Crowther, Conner Worrell and Kris White.

Jennifer Sperry directed the play, designed the sets, and arranged the music.  AdaMarie Campbell was the assistant director, stage manager, and prop master.  Kaleigh Worrell and Adi Schow were assistants.  Makiya Shulz and Maren Sperry were choreographers.  Shannon Worrell did costume design, Jeff Richins was in charge of Lighting, and Jeremy DeJong and Donna Whipple built the sets.