Students back in show biz

For the first time in years at Ensign Intermediate School, the play’s the thing.

The Newport Beach campus, which will present Disney’s “High School Musical” on Friday and Saturday, hadn’t put on a theater production since its last drama teacher retired half a decade ago. Moreover, with the Robins Hall theater closed at nearby Newport Harbor High School, the school didn’t have ready access to a stage.

This year, though, three parent groups — the PTA, the school foundation and the Navigators, a fathers’ support group — banded together to raise $4,500 for a show in the school gymnasium.

When the first performance kicks off on Friday, there may not be a curtain to lift, but it will still signal a new day for the Ensign community.

“The kids are working hard,” Principal Ed Wong said. “We’ve got a lot of the community involved. So we’ll hope that it goes well.”

Parent Wendi Kehoe, who is producing the play, said she chose the Disney musical because it was a recognizable name for many. In all, 40 students got parts in the cast, with one set of actors slated for Friday and another for Saturday.

The gym is an ideal location for the play, in which characters play basketball and go through a stage audition. Kehoe and director Dale Jones, who has directed plays at schools around Orange County, ran into one difficulty, though: Of all the students who tried out for the play, a mere four were boys.

That led to a few creative decisions, such as making the play’s all-male basketball team into a coed squad.

Eighth-grader Ryan Dutch, one of the brave males in the cast, said he looked forward to acting in his first play — even if he hadn’t expected to.

“My mom kind of made me, but I’m glad I did,” he said.