The children’s book series “Junie B. Jones” will be transformed into a musical, starring IU students in the cast. The show opens at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center.
Kayla Marie Eilers, an IU junior studying musical theater, remembers reading the books in her childhood. She will play three characters: Junie B. Jones’ mother, Jones’ enemy May and Jones’ friend Grace.
Rehearsals began when the mostly student cast returned from spring break in March.
For Eilers, the rehearsal process of the show has been her best memory thus far from working in the ?production.
“Junie B. Jones” has a relatively small cast with six actors, and they spent many hours working together with rehearsals Monday through Friday.
“We are together all day, every day,” she said.
One of the challenging aspects of this show was her amount of characters. Because she plays three people, she not only had to adopt the personalities, tones of voice and even postures of a variety of ages, but she also had to deal with quick costume changes.
This was especially the case because Randy White, the director of the show and Artistic Director of Cardinal Stage, tried to shorten scene transitions to suit the short attention span of their anticipated young audience.
Eilers’ costume changes were especially challenging because she said she had five to 10 seconds to switch clothing and characters. To do this effectively, she layered her clothes so she could shed her character along with a layer of clothes and run back on stage in minimal time.
When it comes to her characters, Eilers said her favorite was May.
She said it’s fun to play the mean girl every now and then. However, Eilers said she actually felt she was most similar to the show’s main character.
“Surprisingly, I see myself in Junie B. Jones,” she said. “She’s so spastic.”
Her last major work was at the Jacobs School of Music’s production “South Pacific.” She played Nellie Forbush, the main character who falls in love with a widower. Compared to her characters in “Junie B. Jones,” Eilers said the music styles are, “very different, but in a good way.”
“South Pacific” was more of an operatic production, while “Junie B. Jones” music is modern, she said. Eilers compared it to contemporary musical theater.
Looking forward to her opening production, Eilers said people should anticipate a family-friendly show. There will be some “over-the-top” aspects that will appeal to a younger audience, however the overall show itself will still engage any parents in attendance.
“People should go in there and know that they are going to have fun,” she said. “It’s an all-around ?positive and uplifting show.”
