LHS Drama “Tarzan” Opens Thursday Evening

The Litchfield High School Drama Department’s production of “Tarzan” will open tomorrow evening and will continue through the weekend. The show can be seen Thursday at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 1st, at 3 and 7 p.m. and on Sunday, November 2nd, at 2 p.m. in the Bernie Aaker Auditorium.

Director Sara Dollerschell says she had looked at a couple of other musicals, but those fell through, and she had looked at doing “Tarzan” a few years ago, so decided to have the students do it this year. She says Halloween does not work well for doing a performance, so they will skip that and some of the students will be playing in the football game against Albany anyway on Friday evening. She says she’s tried to work around all of the students’ schedules for rehearsals.

Dollerschell says it’s a fun, family-friendly show with great music which will make you happy. She says Tarzan’s parents are killed, so he is raised by gorillas and there are two Tarzans in the show, with Deagan Weatherholt playing the grown-up version.

Deagan says he would describe Tarzan as hopeful. He says he had been in some theater productions as a child, but not in high school because it always conflicted with football, but he made it work this year.

Deagan says he’s hoping to have his Tarzan call perfected in time for Thursday night’s opening. Viola Pennertz is in the role of Jane who travels to Africa with her father to study gorillas and she is the first human that Tarzan sees. She says she has also had a busy schedule this fall.

Viola says she is co-choreographing “Tarzan” with fellow dance team member Maddie Beecroft. She says she’s been in numerous school and community theatre productions over the years and her favorites include “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Sound of Music.” Tickets for Tarzan can be purchased at the door or in advance on the Litchfield School District website.