Maddy and Molly were back to our local community theatre recently as part of the cast for Finding Nemo Jr. This show was adorable and one of my favorite theatre for youth shows, not just because my children were in it!

Auditions were held in April, with callbacks the following day. Both girls were excited to receive callbacks! But the real excitement came when they received phone calls inviting them to join the cast. Maddy was thrilled to be offered the role of Peach the Starfish, a member of the tank gang. And we were so surprised and over the moon when Molly was offered the role of Nemo.

Maddy has loved theatre since she performed in her first show seven years ago. Molly did a few shows and then decided to dedicate her time to drumming, before deciding to audition for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer earlier in the year. She was cast as young Rudolph and remembered how much she loved the stage. She went on to audition for and be cast in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (her first mainstage show), and was so excited to audition for Finding Nemo. She couldn’t believe she got the role of Nemo!

Finding Nemo the movie just had its 20th anniversary! If you are unfamiliar with the story, Marlin is a clownfish who finds himself as a single father to a baby clownfish after a barracuda attacks his wife and their eggs. One egg is left, but it is damaged. This results in the baby, Nemo, having one damaged fin.

Marlin is a bit neurotic about keeping his son safe (as I can imagine one would be after witnessing the rest of one’s family being destroyed). So when it’s time for Nemo to start school, Marlin is a bit nervous. When he finds out Nemo’s class is going to the dropoff, he rushes there to remind Nemo he can’t do the same things as his friends because of his little fin.

This makes Nemo mad, and he swims off to show his dad he can do those things, only to get fishnapped by a diver. In the movie, he is taken to a tank in an orthodontist’s office, but in the musical it is to an aquarium. There, he meets the tank gang, led by Gil. Gil also has a damaged fin and is cooking up a plan to get them all out of the tank and back to the ocean.

Meanwhile, Marlin is frantically searching for his son. He meets Dory, a blue tang who is bubbly, but has a problem with short-term memory. She offers to help Marlin, and together they encounter sharks and jellyfish, ride the EAC with sea turtles, and swim across the ocean in search of Nemo.

In the tank, Gil’s plan successfully helps Nemo escape back into the ocean and to his dad. Father and son are reunited, and with Dory, head home to start over again.

My favorite part of their casting was that all of Maddy’s scenes were with Molly. As Peach, Maddy acts sort of as the “mama” of the tank gang. She’s concerned with ensuring Nemo feels safe after he’s kidnapped. And some of their favorite theatre friends were cast as members of the tank gang, too, so it was extra fun.

This show was a big one, with more than 60 cast members. But it was so much fun!

The theatre’s costumer is outstanding, and it is always amazing to see her creativity at work. Who knew pool noodles could make adorable octopus tentacles? As usual, she knocked it out of the park with the costuming.

And the set, while simple, was so beautiful. The background for the tank gang was my favorite. It looked just like the tank in the movie!

The girls had the best time getting to do this show with some of their favorites on the production staff and some of their favorite theatre friends. They also made lots of new friends along the way.

I was so nervous for Molly since this was such a big role, but she took that stage with no fear and killed it each time! They performed 12 shows in a week, and it was beautiful every time. I cried every time Molly belted out the song “That’s My Dad.”

Since Molly was Nemo, she got to have some fun promoting the show. She even got to go on one of our local radio stations with the theatre’s education director!

I mainly worked backstage for this one, helping the kids with costumes, mics, etc. But we did take Patrick to see it for Father’s Day. Molly bought him an adorable shirt to wear, and he was one proud daddy!

The girls had lots of friends and family come to see them in this one, including some of their older theatre friends who have graduated from theatre for youth productions. Molly’s favorite part of every show was the meet and greet after – she loved having people ask for pictures with her!

I was so impressed with this entire production, but man oh man did my girls shine in this one. Maddy’s sweet voice was perfect in her tank gang songs, and I still can’t believe Molly tackled this big role at only 9. But this show was cast so perfectly! The actor who played Marlin was able to capture his love for Nemo paired with his frantic need to keep him safe. And our Dory was spectacular! Her voice was beautiful and she captured her character so perfectly.

We loved, loved, loved this show! It was beautiful and really was one of my favorite theatre for youth shows. We closed the show on Sunday, and the girls woke up bright and early Monday morning – Molly has theatre camp and Maddy is volunteering at it. We just can’t stay away from the theatre!