INNISFAIL - Every year the young students at École John Wilson Elementary School create their own holiday season magic with a song.
This year they did it through bugs, or rather bugz.
For two shows each on Dec. 18 and 19 -- one in the afternoon and the other in the evening -- students from grades 1 to 4 performed the musical A Bugz Christmas for the community. The musical was originally composed by American writers John Jacobson and John Higgins, and adapted locally by Jill Cummins, the school's kindergarten to Grade 4 music teacher.
The much-loved musical has been enjoyed by the young and adults across North America, with the premise that it is a playful infestation of sorts, with carpenter bees building the sets and silkworms making the costumes. However, a crisis unfolds when the termites chew up the Christmas tree decorations and eat the lights, leaving the tree dark.
"All the little bugs are sad that they're not going to have any lights," said Cummins, the concert's organizer who began producing the musical with the children at the beginning of November.
"So the fireflies come and light up the tree and save the day," she added. "They decide they need to involve everybody and that no one should be left out of Christmas and it has a happy ending and the kids are really excited about it."
Each show, which featured both singing and acting, ran between 30 and 40 minutes in length, depending on whether the French immersion component was added. With the generous donated help from Red Deer's On The Mark Productions, which included lighting, sound, setup and teardown, the musical dazzled with visually creative sets.
Cummins said each class had its own lines and songs. They also each had to decorate a bug that was represented in the show. As well, said Cummins, the Grade 4s put their name in a draw to get one of the acting parts, which could have been lines for a termite, bumblebee or butterfly.
"It is the music the kids really get into. There are a couple of songs where we have the opportunity for special lighting, little finger lights for the fireflies for the grades 1s and 2s. The grades 3s and 4s get to a part where they are angry termites," said Cummins. "The music is something the kids really like, and as long as there are songs they like to sing over and over then it is a good show. It is cute. The premise is cute, the little bugs. It is different."
However, what was really important, said Cummins, was that the musical was an opportunity for the young students to participate in a production that was outside traditional shows but still having a wonderful meaningful Christmastime message.
"It is different. There is no Santa. There are no elves. It is a different type of Christmas concert but yet it is still very Christmassy," said Cummins. "It is not a traditional Christmas story but it also really suits the kids because kids are little and it talks at the end about being kind to everybody, even little bugs, just remembering that we are little too and just spread that kindness."
