Seth Paine students sing and dance their way to Madagascar on stage

Students from Seth Paine Elementary held a dress rehearsal Tuesday for their upcoming performance of "Madagascar: A Musical Adventure JR."

Based on the popular DreamWorks animated motion picture from 2005, the audience takes a journey with four zoo animals from New York's Central Park Zoo to the island of Madagascar. Sixty-three students have been rehearsing since October. Alex the lion (Boston Blick) is the main attraction at the Central Park Zoo. He and his best friends, Marty the zebra (Brennan Monaghan), Melman the giraffe (Jack Byrne) and Gloria the hippo (Sammie Panarese), have happily spent their whole lives on display before an admiring public. But Marty's instincts for the wild get them all in trouble when he escapes the zoo with his three best friends chasing after him. The zoo animals find themselves in the wild for the first time, on the island of Madagascar. There they meet a tribe of funky lemurs led by the flamboyant King Julien (Evan Kamin), and a predatory band of hungry "foosas."

Seth Paine Elementary School's performance of "Madagascar: A Musical Adventure JR." is at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21 and 22. Both performances will be held at the Lake Zurich High School Performing Arts Center, 300 Church Street, Lake Zurich. Tickets are $9 in advance at http://sethpaine.seatyourself.biz/.

The shows are expected to sell out, but a limited number of tickets may be available at the door for $10 each.