For the fourth year, Crandall has led her ninth grade 'AT' students through the play, who produce it on for an eager audience of students, teachers and parents. The audience this time also included most of her cast from the previous three year's productions. Romeo and Juliet is part of the ninth grade curriculum and all students district-wide study it. Crandall decided that performing it was truly the way to learn it and her students have met the challenge for the past four years. They have memorized hundreds of lines each, learned to throw themselves into the character and portray and project the intense emotions of this play.
Some students show up in the fall with a part already memorized.
However, the immortal Bard lit a fire in many of these students and they plan to continue acting in high school. Romeo starts as a pathetic, whining little boy and ends up as a man. I knew very little about the play, there's a lot more depth and humor than you think. The role of Juliet was shared by Laura Mittendorf and Alisha Dahlstrom, each playing the lead role one night. Playing Juliet is the ultimate fantasy, it's kind of like stepping into a character and becoming that character.