By Staff
Shrail Heinrich S.W.A.M. sponsor
"Cats" may have been a hit on Broadway, but on April 5, the S.W.A.M. "Rats" trapped the winning performance at the Alabama Destination ImagiNation (DI) State Competition.
S.W.A.M. members (team name represents the first letter of each teammate's name) Stephanie Horton, Wes Kirkpatrick, Anna Thrash, Morgan Young, and Olivia Simons were awarded first place for their eight-minute musical skit depicting the story of a troupe of rats struggling to gain fame.
In this Theatre Smarts challenge, S.W.A.M. thought outside of the box and creatively solved the problem before them by implementing technical, mechanical, and theatrical skills with adult assistance.
This particular challenge required scenery that moved without the apparent help of a team member and an unexpected disruption the entertainers had to handle.
The 11 and 12-year-old S.W.A.M. members worked for months to create a set that gave an illusion of a brick alley theatre. They wrote catchy songs and choreographed dances to tell their story.
However, in the middle of the live performance, an unexpected alley cat pulled one of the rats from the stage. As with any professional performance, no matter what happens, the show must go on!
The alley cat was the only obstacle. Unlike most DI teams, S.W.A.M. is not school sponsored. With team members attending three different schools, they also had to find a way for the team to go on.
The team's efforts paid off at the competition when Madison's S.W.A.M. team placed first in the middle school division of the Theatre Smarts challenge.
The independent team who realized the importance of staying together team will now join more than 800 students from across the globe on May 21 at the University of Tennessee Global Finals competition