Gabby Martin has been in every production of the Cornerstone Community Theater since its inception in 2011.
This time, the eighth-grade student at Park View Elementary School in Ripon is playing the evil Ursula in the Disney Little Mermaid that begins tonight at 7 o’clock at Cornerstone Community Church, 17900 Comconex Road just east of Manteca off East Highway 120.
“It’s been fun playing Ursula, who wants to take over the world,” she said prior to Thursday’s dress rehearsals.
This summer production is once again under the direction of Michealle Hoag, with Emilie Reese serving as the technical director and Kristin Scott as technical director.
Atlantah Flora handled the elaborate costumes for the young cast. “We did a lot of piecing together from Amazon and some do-it-yourself – the focus was modesty.”
That’s especially true when it came to main character Ariel, played by Jenna Kirchner, who has to go through three wardrobe changes.
The eighth grader at Big Valley Christian School in Modesto – she’s from Riverbank – played Ariel in another production of The Little Mermaid.
“This one is a lot different,” Kirchner said.
Josiah Reif plays Prince Eric. This is a bigger part from his previous role as a squirrel in Willie Wonka. “I had more lines to memorize,” said the seventh-grade student at New Haven Elementary School.
One of the younger members of the cast is Chloe Bleachers, who plays Flounder.
The 6-year-old attends Big Valley Christian School and has enjoyed her time with The Little Mermaid.
“This has added to my summer – I’ve also made more friends,” Bleachers said.
Ditto that for Dylan Owens, who is a fifth grader at Cornerstone Christian School.
“I’ve really liked playing Sebastian, who is a good guy and tries to get people around him to do the right thing,” he said.
This is the eighth production by Cornerstone Community Theater.
“Our passion is to provide quality art and experience to the youth of our community,” said Hoag.
The Little Mermaid, in addition, will have two performances on Saturday – 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. – and a 4 p.m. encore on Sunday. Tickets are $10 for general seating and $15 for preferred seating. Tickets are available online at cornerstonemanteca.com/theater or by calling the box office at 209.825.1220.