On Oct. 11, Westerville South’s theatre troupe put on their production of Freaky Friday, a show based on the Disney Channel movie of the same name. The play featured Sophia Shai playing the role of rebellious teenager Ellie Blake, who, thanks to a magical hourglass given to her by her father, switches bodies with her strict and demanding mother, Katherine.

The show follows the two as they navigate a day in each other’s lives, including a scene with Katherine, in her daughter’s body, having to experience Ellie’s classes, while Ellie has to do an interview with a reporter about her mother’s wedding planning business. 

Before the show, Shai reflected on the work that had been done in preparing for the show. She stated that though rehearsals had only been happening for around a month, everyone working on the production was excited for people to see all of the hard work they had put in over that time.

She also stated shows like these, where the cast has a short timeline to prepare for the show, are great for bringing them all together. “I love doing theater,” she said. “It’s such a fun atmosphere. It’s like a second family.”

The production also featured several other veterans of the South theater program, including senior Josiah Holloway, who played Adam, the charismatic crush of Ellie Blake; senior Emma Murphy, who starred as Katherine Blake; and junior Georgia Santino, who played Savannah, the school bully that competes with Ellie for Adam’s attention. Other familiar faces include Parker Smith, Matthew Shaffer, Karina Deere, and Madison Yanichko, who starred as minor characters.

There were also several new faces to be found in the show. Sophomore Curtis Wyglendowski, who starred as Mike, Katherine’s soon-to-be husband, showcased both his acting and singing talents in last weekend’s show. 

This production did have some obstacles to overcome like the character of Fletcher Blake, Ellie’s younger brother, required an actor closer to his age group to portray him accurately. In order to solve this, they brought in 8th-grader Emmet VanBuskirk to fill the role.

Another issue that tech director Karina Deere came across was how to transition between set pieces quickly between scenes. “Since the musical takes place in multiple locations, we had moving set pieces. It took a lot of practice to get the timing and positioning right for all the set pieces for each scene.” 

Despite these challenges, the show came together extremely well. Between the set design, the performers, and the music, the audience was drawn in by the show. This allowed the  theater program to deliver the cliche message of living a day in someone else’s life, while also making the scenes easy for the audience, both adults and teens, to relate to.

 “The musical has the characters facing more realistic and relatable challenges that give the musical a deeper meaning that isn’t quite as visible in the movie,” said Deere.