Magic Is Everywhere

Jennifer Heaton and Andrew Edwards met as cast members in the first Urbana Park District Summer Youth Musical. After years of performing, choreographing, and directing shows for the program, Jennifer became frustrated with the lack of shows appropriate for a cast of predominantly younger people (especially tween/early teenage girls and trans/non-binary performers). She enlisted composer and music director Andrew in the task of crafting a musical specifically for a large cast of 7-to-18-year-olds, with parts that give every cast member, from the leads to the chorus, moments to shine. And thus… “KALA: A Musical Faerie Tale” was born.

CAST

FEATURED ROLES (* denotes roles that may be played by adults in community, college, or professional productions):

ELEANORE (NORA) FORD - girl, 13 years old: A young woman who seeks excitement and a place to fit in. Her family moves a lot, so she is new to her community.

ABIGAIL (ABBY) - girl, 11 or 12 years old: Nora’s sweet and quirky, but naive friend.

SAMUEL (SAM) FORD - boy, 9 years old: Nora’s rambunctious younger brother.

MAX - boy, young teen: A bully. Head of the popular crowd. Power hungry and unpleasant.

SASHA - non-binary, young teen (older than Nora): A mysterious and appealing character.

MRS. (MELANIE) HATTERLY* - The ghost of an unkempt woman of unclear age. She is the stuff of suburban legends, but she knows truths that no one else can understand.

KALA* - An ageless, powerful faerie.

SIR XAVIER ALEXANDER POLKA DOT PLUSH* - The fun-loving, but unintentionally dangerous leader of the Fetefae.

OGBERT - mid-to-older teen: A huge and intimidating ogre who really wants to be a tooth faerie. He was kicked out of the ogre army for being a softy and a coward.

SHAYLAH - girl, 8-10: Appears first as a vicious sphinx (with voice-altering technology), but she turns out to be a young girl in disguise. She is exceptionally smart, but she has a tendency to lie.

DORF, URG, STINKY, BLUG, & POCK - The speaking and singing members of the Ogre Army.

MR. (JOHN) FORD & MRS. (MARIAN) FORD* - Nora and Sam’s adoptive parents. They are well-intentioned, overprotective, and doting.

SUPPORTING ROLES

MAX’S FRIENDS - The popular crowd from Nora’s school. They are not nice to anyone who is not in their group. (They later become the BOGGLEGOBS (see below).)

THE KIDS - Kids of all different ages. (They later become the BOGGLEGOBS (see below.) A great way to bring elementary and middle school students into the production.

THE GROWN-UPS* - An assortment of adults who are frozen by magic. (Non-speaking/Non-singing - great for parents and teachers who’d like an easy walk-on role.)

THE FETEFAE (6-12 performers) - A wild group of faeries who care only about having fun.

WIND WASPS & SPATTER SPRITES (6-12 performers) - Wicked faeries who bring on the most dangerous parts of a heavy storm (Dancing (non-speaking/non-singing)).

OGRE ARMY* - Kala’s army of scary ogres. They are big and tough, but not very smart.

GARGOYLES* - Shaylah’s holographic protectors.

BOGGLEGOBS - Evil, hateful faeries created by Kala from captured children to replace the Ogre Army.