The weekend of December 5-8, a group of Lightridge Performing Arts students, from every discipline in the department, went to Disney World, performing alongside various Disney professionals as well as visiting Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom.
The trip had an icy start when the flight containing all orchestra and many theater students was delayed at the airport for three hours due to the snow and poor road conditions. However, the flight eventually took off and all four Lightridge flights made it to Disney’s Hollywood Studios safely by that afternoon.
The following day, spent at Epcot, was the most important day for the Performing Arts department. The Lightridge Orchestra and Lightridge Band played Disney songs together at an Imagination Workshop led by a music teacher and professional musician, who plays in the candlelight orchestra at Disney.
“That was really fun because it was cool to see how the different parts interacted, because in the movie, you just hear the main melody versus hearing the complexities of the rest of the theme,” said orchestra sophomore Sofia Gelston.
The orchestra and band used professional headsets to keep them on tempo as they played A Frozen Medley, which was layered onto a Frozen animation to create the illusion of a professional orchestra.
“That was really interesting to get an insight on how all of that is produced,” Gelston added.
The Lightridge Theater department had a similar experience where they reenacted “I Have a Dream” from Disney’s “Tangled” under the direction of the actor for Disney’s Nemo at Animal Kingdom.
“We went over how to get jobs in musical theater… we went through vocal techniques, actual dancing and moving, and how to sing while you’re moving in musicals with correct tone,” recapped theater junior Jordan Brooks.
Lightridge Chorus had the Candlelight Performance that evening. After sunset, they sang many holiday songs like “Joy to the World,” “O Holy Night,” and “Do You Hear What I Hear.” “The most amazing experience was to work with all the Candlelight singers,” explained chorus sophomore Lily Samson. “We got to meet people from a bunch of different places, and we really got to know what the other people’s experiences are. It was such a joyous experience.”
Lightridge went to Magic Kingdom the following day, and was able to experience the famous Florida rain in a heavy downpour preceding their trip to Disney Springs. Although the weather was grim, the Performing Arts department was still able to enjoy their time at a shopping center.
Lightridge rounded out their trip by enjoying their last day at Animal Kingdom before all flying home. The last flight landed near midnight.
“It was a lot of fun,” said band senior Brayden Bradshaw, who was on his last music trip. “It was a great last place to go. I went in my freshman year and I didn’t go on any rides… so getting to go back to Disney and hang out with all my friends and go on all the rides was really great.”
