South's musical will have you tapping your toes

The costume room at South Middle School is bursting with yellow rain slickers these days. The better to outfit all 72 cast members for this weekend's lively musical, "Singing in the Rain."

They each will don the jackets in the toe-tapping finale, when the entire cast tap dances its way across the stage to the show's title song, "Singing in the Rain."

The show opens at 7 p.m. today, and continues with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $6 and may be obtained by calling the school, at (847) 398-4250 or purchased at the door.

Director Patty Dixon, heading up her 15th show at the school, says outfitting so many students was one thing, but teaching them all to tap dance was another.

"Almost every musical number in the show is a huge dance number," Dixon says. "We have some very talented dance students this year, and I wanted to find a show that would showcase their talents."

She points to one of its huge production numbers, "Broadway Melody," which she describes as a show within a show, but the musical also features such standards as "Fit as a Fiddle," "You Stepped Out of a Dream," and "Good Morning."

Principals include eighth-graders Tori Alesi, Connor Fitzgerald, Matt Fisher and Jackie Dunderdale, all of Arlington Heights.

However, along with the cast members on stage, another 22 students are working behind the scenes, while parents have volunteered to do everything from design the sets and make the costumes, to find the props and round up sound equipment.

A group of parents even stepped up to design the rain system used for the show's title number.

South staff members involved include Greg Schultz, a language arts and Italian teacher at the school, who moonlights as a videographer. He filmed and edited the silent and "first talkies" film sequences seen in early scenes of the show.

A former student, Kathryn Harris of Arlington Heights, who had the lead in "42nd Street" 12 years ago at the school, returned with her master's degree in music to serve as vocal director, while parent Patty Crusius of Arlington Heights serves as accompanist.

"The students love working on this show, not only because of all the singing and dancing," Dixon says, "but because it is so comical. Middle schoolers love comedy."