Grade 4 Unlocks the Magic of Storytelling in Once Upon a Remix Production

The magical world of fairytales took an imaginative spin as Grade 4 students offered a new perspective on the timeless classics of Three Little Pigs and Cinderella with their own creatively adapted scripts in their cross-curricular stage production of Once Upon A Remix for families and fellow Lower School students.

As the lights dimmed, the students took center stage in the Taylor Performing Arts Center wearing all black outfits for the original telling of Three Little Pigs. In a new twist, the students acted out a re-telling of the tale with their own details including a robot instead of a wolf and houses made of cotton candy and frozen Twix bars with high-tech security for protection. Musical superstar Taylor Swift even made an appearance.

The second story of Cinderella told the age-old story of a girl living with her evil stepmother and stepsisters who lost her shoe on a night out and was later rescued by the prince. Students were dressed in costumes to portray the different characters with props to elevate the story. The narration turned into the alternative version where Cinderella attends a Prince concert instead of a dance and is dressed by her fairy stylist.

The production closed out with a musical performance of Only the Theater for Me with music teacher Rachael Jungkeit on the piano before students engaged in a talk-back. The students shared the detailed process of how the production came to be start-to-finish. Theatre teacher Lisa Daly noted that the students brainstormed all the creative decisions on their own with a little bit of help from ChatGPT. In language arts class, the students learned about the history of fairy tales, their elements, and ways to deconstruct the original tale to create a “remixed” version.

Following the performance, students and their families headed to the Dining Hall for an art show and reception. Across several tables in the front were Storywheel creations made by the students in art class with teacher Sue Bennett 1973. For their art installations, students were asked to take either their favorite scene, character, or prop from the fairytales and use their own materials to depict it.