Plant City High Drama To Present Bilingual Version of 'Aladdin'

PLANT CITY, FL -- The award-winning Plant City High School Theater Department will present a bilingual version of Disney's "Aladdin" April 5-7 at the Plant City High School Auditorium.

The performance is the drama department's first production since winning a $10,000 grant from NBC Universal.

In March, 50 high schools out of 1,000 applicants were awarded R.I.S.E. America grants from NBC. The awards were inspired by the television network's drama, "Rise," about a high school theater department and how it inspires a small town.

Through R.I.S.E. (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression) America, NBC awarded $500,000 to theater programs around the country to help fund equipment, classes and production expenses.

To qualify for the grant, high schools were required to have an existing theater program or a champion of theater arts in their teaching staff in cases where a school's theater program was cut because of budget constraints.

Each school submitted a video celebrating its theater program and a 500-word essay explaining why the school should be awarded the grant and how the theater students would use the $10,000 should they win. Plant City High School was the only Florida school to receive an award from NBC.

Plant City High School English Carla Plummer approached the school's theater department last year about presenting the bilingual production of the much-loved fairy tale about the young genie, Aladdin.

Students in the drama department embraced the challenge of presenting a production in both English and Spanish.

"Aladdin: Dual Language" will be presented Thursday, April 5 and Friday, April 6 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, April 7 at 2 and 7 p.m.

Tickets, which can be purchased an hour before the curtain goes up, are $10 for adults, $7 for students and $5 for children age 13 and under.

The proceeds from ticket sales will go toward next year's Plant City High Theater Department's production of "Little Shop of Horrors" and will help send students to theater competitions.

Video via Plant City High School