The Moorestown High School theater will present “HONK!,” a musical version of “The Ugly Duckling,” on March 4 through 6 and March 11 and 12.
Junior Adam Connor plays the lead character, Ugly.
“He goes through this whole journey through the duck yard and across the farm to … He finds himself on the way, too, because he learns that he’s a swan and he meets all these great people who help him to learn more about himself,” Connor said.
“It’s just been really awesome to do this with all these people and to learn so much.”
Junior Sofia Giannetto plays the character of Ida and senior Julia Iredale plays the Cat.
“Ida is Ugly’s mom and she’s basically … her whole purpose in this is that she’s trying to kind of make her different son feel as normal as he can among his normal siblings,” Giannetto explained. “It’s a really meaningful role that I feel like a lot of people will find some meaning and some joy in.”
Iredale described the Cat’s role as that of a villain.
“The main theme throughout the show is that the cat wants to eat Ugly, but he tricks Ugly into thinking that he wants to be his friend, and Ugly obviously believes him because Ugly has no friends,” she said.
Iredale and Giannetto enjoy playing different parts.
“I haven’t gotten to really play a motherly figure before, so this has been fun for me to kind of figure out how to play the part, and I think it’s just something new and something fun that is going to help me grow and help me figure out what I enjoy doing as an actor,” Giannetto said.
“I’ve never been a villain before, but it’s really fun getting to be the person that everyone’s afraid of, because I think in real life, I’m pretty different but I think it’s really fun,” Iredale noted.
Director and choreographer Erica Harr connects with the musical’s theme – for a special reason.
“My sister is autistic; she’s on the very severe end of the autism spectrum,” Harr said. “For me, I see the show through the lens of the world of autism and people who are neurotypical or who are different than others.”
“There’s lot of moments in this show where you’re watching this mother kind of be told, ‘Give up on your kid,’ and so that all rings very true because that was very much my parents’ experience in a lot of ways,” Harr added.
Harr also looks forward to the show.
“I’m excited for an audience to see a show that maybe they’re not as familiar with, but that has such a beautiful lesson to learn,” she said. “It’s a really special show with a really beautiful message of loving people for who they are.”
