Good Beginnings

 As per PCA Fall Play tradition, students discovered the roles they had been assigned at the "Read Through" party. 

Students met two weeks before the start of the fall semester to share a meal and have the first read-through of the play script. There were smiles all around as the parts were handed out. 

Rehearsals Begin 

Although for now scripts are in hand, lines are being memorized and the process of scene blocking will soon begin in earnest. For now, the goal is for the actors to become familiar with listening for oral cues, letting them know that their line is coming up next.  

Alma Maurer plays the kind used bookstore shopkeeper.

A shopkeeper whose passion in life lies in creating a love of reading in pretty much everyone she meets, finds it more difficult than she imagined to find a story that will pique the curiosity of and awake the joy in a young man whose main preoccupation is playing video games.  

Sister and brother playing mother and son

The room is filled with anticipation as the actors become familiar with the storyline and each part and character in the play. 

Lines are recited a number of different ways and multiple times to ensure that each phrase receives the correct emphasis on each word.  

A line of actors wait patiently for their cue as they follow along in the script. 

Coming Soon!

The costume and prop room - ready and waiting. 

Costumes and props will be added in the next few weeks. The collection of props and costumes from past performances will be explored first, when hunting for supplies for our current production, "The Enchanted Bookshop". 

Local thrift shops, followed by the attics and basements of play parents and grandparents, will then be scoured in hopes of finding the perfect pieces to complete our enchanted tableau. 

Mark Your Calendar

Let's cheer on our young thespians as they perfect their craft and prepare to dazzle an enthusiastic audience in November. 

Be sure to mark your calendar and plan to join us! Here's a reminder of all the details of our upcoming production. 

  

The Enchanted Bookshop: A Delightful Comedy About Friendship, Goodwill, and the Power of Never Giving Up

The Peoria Cooperative Academy high school department is proud to present, The Enchanted Bookshop, by Todd Wallinger. 

This delightful, heartwarming story takes place in A Likely Story, a used bookstore with an owner, Margie, whose unflagging enthusiasm for life is superseded only by her unfailing belief in the the power of reading good stories. 

Margie may be a little scatterbrained, but her heart is as good as gold. She has developed a habit of giving books away rather than selling them, because she "can't imagine a child not owning a book". 

Margie's generosity, however, has put her business is in jeopardy. 

If she doesn't make changes, the shop may close very soon. 

What Margie doesn't know is that the real magic in her little shop happens at night. That's when the characters from her favorite novels come to life.

Aware of Margie's financial difficulties, Dorothy Gale, Robin Hood, Pollyanna, Sherlock Holmes, Heidi, and Tom Sawyer are joined by a host of other well-known story heroes and heroines as they prepare to do whatever they can to help their faithful owner keep the shop open.

However, the Book Fairy has an unbreakable decree.

All book characters must follow two very important rules. 

1. They cannot leave the shop
2. They must never be seen by any humans. 

If they stray from these dictates, these storybook friends will disappear forever. 

The Plot Thickens

When a smuggler interrupts the storybook characters' late night meeting by breaking in and attempting to steal a priceless necklace hidden in one of the books, a difficult decision must be made. 

Can they find a way to warn Margie of the danger? 

And can they do it without allowing Margie to see them? 

Misadventures may ensue! 

This funny, delightful comedy is fun for the whole family. 

The Enchanted Bookshop is filled with important lessons in friendship, goodwill, and the power of never giving up. 

Meet Our Cast

Don't Miss Our Production

Be prepared to laugh, smile, and maybe even shed a tear or two when you attend Peoria Cooperative Academy's rendition of The Enchanted Bookshop. 

Grab an event flyer by clicking, here.