Seniors Reagan McComas and Gracious Ndungu are directing Cinderella: Youth Edition for their Senior Project. The play will take place on April 28 and 29.

Reagan and Gracious hosted auditions on Tuesday, January 17 from 4-6 pm. They sent out a link in the John Carroll Weekly Update for people to sign up to audition. They had planned to cast 20 to 30 people in the show.

Most recently, Reagan and Gracious performed in JC’s winter musical Elf. Both Reagan and Gracious have been involved in theatre for 10 years.

They both shared that their favorite part of performing is “connecting with the audience and telling a story from a different point of view.”

Gracious said they chose to direct a play for their Senior Project because “we always looked up to seniors who did shows for their Senior Projects. Since we both have a passion for theatre and performing on stage, we thought it would be exciting to experience theatre from a director’s standpoint.”

They considered many factors when picking which play to direct. They considered the group of people who would audition, the amount of time they had to put together the play, and the cost. In the end, they decided on Cinderella because they both love the show.

Cinderella is the story of a Disney Princess who loses her glass slipper and finds her Prince Charming. After the tragic death of her father, Cinderella is left with her stepmother and two stepsisters.

On the day of the Royal Ball, Cinderella is forced to stay home and do chores while her evil stepmother and stepsisters go to the ball. Her Fairy Godmother does some magic and gets Cinderella ready for the Royal Ball, but the magic expires when the clock strikes midnight. While at the ball, Cinderella meets Prince Charming but has to leave before midnight. On her way out, she loses one of her glass slippers. Prince Charming uses the slipper to track down the mysterious lady he met at the ball. When he gets to Cinderella, the shoe fits, and they live happily ever after.

So far, Gracious and Reagan have already made a considerable amount of progress to prepare for their play. They said, “We have purchased rights, reached out to production staff, brainstormed ideas, and have prepared and reviewed audition materials.”

In order to make this production go as smoothly as possible, Gracious said, “We plan on having rehearsal schedules in advance and keeping a clear line of communication.”