FHS PRESENTING ‘FROZEN, JR.’ THIS WEEKEND

JEREMY WALTNER – PUBLISHER

An enchantment story that has mesmerized millions of children and delighted families around the world is coming to the Freeman High School stage this weekend.

“Frozen Jr.,” an adaptation of Disney’s hit animated film of 2013, will be presented in the high school gym Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Admission will be at the door.

Twenty-seven students in grades 9-12 will help tell the story that revolves around sisters Anna and Elsa and the cast of characters they meet on the journey from the kingdom of Arendelle to the snowy terrain of North Mountain.

“We wanted to get them excited about something,” said artistic director Iwona Lewter, who is working with musical director Sonja Waltner and technical director Sheila Wipf in leading the production; all three are on staff as music instructors at Freeman Public. “I thought about the Disney princesses and those famous musicals, but I thought maybe that would be too challenging. We thought it would be easier to learn because it is popular.

“I mentioned “Frozen,” and they were like, ‘Yes, yes!’”

The decision to stage a musical this year follows the every-other-year format Freeman Public has been on in recent memory, although Lewter says there was some question as to whether staging a show in the midst of an ongoing pandemic was the right thing to do. With Covid, she said, there were no guarantees.

“We were wondering if we would have the actors,” she said. “What if we went online and had to practice (virtually) and couldn’t even perform?”

But the team of directors made the decision prior to Christmas break to forge ahead with the production and auditioned the show at the beginning of the second semester in January. Rehearsals have been held the second period of the school day since — and, recently, during evening hours — although illness and busy student schedules have been a challenge. Early this week, the cast was short a number of student-actors who were away with other school activities and was forced to used stand-ins reading lines out of a book.

“That has been hard,” said Lewter, “but we’re making it work.”

Directing high school students is much different from the theater world Lewter lived in in her home country of Poland, where she was a professional actor and also a teacher working with actors trying to make it big as a professional.

“It’s really competitive,” she said. “There are five main drama schools — like conservatories — and it’s really hard to pass an exam to get in because thousands of people are trying to do the same thing. And they only take 20.”

“You don’t go to one of these schools and then maybe try to get a different job,” Lewter continued. “You go to the school to become a professional actor and make a living out of it.”

That’s what Lewter did, but after coming to the United States in 2010, she decided she wanted to teach music and theater here, so she earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Sioux Falls in 2017. She is in her second year on staff at Freeman Public.

She admits there has been a learning curve working with high school students.

“There is a challenge,” she said. “I’ve even had conversations with a co-director who said, ‘You need to give them more positives.’”

That’s hard for her, Lewter said, because in the world of professional theater, the only feedback a director offers comes in areas where work is needed.

“I’m used to being scolded all the time because we have to get better and better, so if I’m not talking to you about stuff you’re doing, that’s good,” she says. That’s a challenge on my side — that I had to be more supportive, because kids need it, and they need to hear it. I’m getting there.”

Lewter is also reminded that students need to be encouraged and reminded about the importance of theater in building life skills — and not just those she is working with in “Frozen Jr.”

“I teach eighth graders, also, and they can’t really find the reason why they’re doing it,” she says. “So I tell them theater opens up their imagination. It sets their imagination free. When they work on characters, they’re really working on themselves. They can find those little doorways in their own mind and open them up to possibilities.”

Lewter also notes that theater builds public speaking skills, confidence and cooperation.

“That is so important in life,” she says. “When you get a job, if you don’t care about your team or aren’t a good team player, you will not keep that job for very long.

She also notes that Freeman Public has been talking about mindfulness in the classroom, which translates well into the world of theater.

“You have to keep your mind so focused,” Lewter says. “You have to remember your lines, you have to know your character, where to go next; you have to listen to your partner and respond to your partner. You have to execute. There are so many things happening. It’s a mental workout.”

The process of staging Frozen Jr. has been a positive one for Lewter, from the chorus work early on to the blocking and character development. It’s been a work in progress that should pay dividends when the show opens on Saturday night and then closes the next afternoon.

“They have started finding little things on their own,” she said early this week. “Some of them aren’t waiting for me to direct them or to block something; they look for it themselves and then do it. I can’t expect that from them from the beginning, but I’m seeing it and that’s exciting.”

Those who see “Frozen Jr.” this weekend should see it, too, along with the projection that sets the mood for the 60-minute production, minimalist set and lights and sound all run by a quartet of Freeman Public students.

For a perspective from one of the leads, see the 5-Minute Interview on page 6B.