Starting November 12 at the Lakeway Christian Academy Performing Arts Center, the school will present the play “Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”.

I spoke with Chris Morelock, director, about what makes this piece unique compared to past performances.

Chris Morelock came to Lakeway Christian Academy in 2019 to direct LCA’s first play, Peter and the Star Catcher. He loved working with students and decided to embark on the project of starting a theater program at Lakeway Christian Academy.

After years of professional work in theaters, Morelock became an English teacher. He felt in his heart a vocation to return to the theater, but from a different point of view. Morelock said working with the students in the first play inspired him to continue directing and pursue an active theater program.

Since 2019, Lakeway Christian Academy has moved to our new campus and now has access to the Performing Arts Center. The theater program produced 4 projects including; “A Christmas Carol”, “Peter and the Star Catcher”, “Digging up Dessa” and a pilot episode for a sitcom; “Amplify.”

Next week Morelock and the cast of Narnia have their opening night. Narnia will be the first live performance in the new Performing Arts Center.

Last year, A Christmas Carol, could not be played live to make COVID restrictions. Fortunately, this year the Lakeway Christians’ Theater Program will be able to present the play to students and staff of Lakeway Christian Academy and members of the Lakeway community.

An interesting aspect of the play is the use of a giant puppet. The puppet will represent Aslan the Lion in order to represent him as the great, strong and wise lion. Morelock chose this character to be “larger than life on stage” because he sees Aslan portraying God in this play. One of the reasons Morelock chose Narnia is because of the Christian themes and gospel references throughout the show. The puppet was designed by a Virginia puppeteer to create a huge moving lion. The lion’s movements are provided by the three actors supporting the puppet.

The lion’s head, with the voice of Aslan, is William Casey, the lion’s heart is the London ruble and the lion’s back is supported by the professor of ACV, Dr Kevin Barrows.

These actors should unify the structure of the puppet with William’s portrayal of Aslan. After months of hard work and practice, Morelock believes they can be successful.

Madeline Jones, student and costume director, told me about how she felt about upcoming performances and unique aspects of her department: “The costumes were rented from a professional company in South Carolina, the theater Logos.

They really look amazing and I’m so excited to bring the characters of Narnia to life! This will be my 18th production and one of my last at Lakeway Christian Academy, but I’m excited to play with such an amazing cast and director. There will be some surprising elements in this production that I can’t wait for everyone to see. I’m so lucky to have amazing parents who help design and build the sets that really make this production spectacular!

The cast and crew of Narnia are thrilled with their show next week and can’t wait to see their hard work, energy and talents shown to the community. They hope you will come and support the Lakeway Christian Academy theater program and enjoy the show.