MHS Presents: The Legend of Rockin’ Rudolph and His Gold Nose
Forget about the abominable snowman. Students in Katie McLaughlin’s Life Skills class have a far more formidable foe to fight in their original play “The Legend of Rockin’ Rudolph and his Gold Nose.”
The production, slated for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Performing Arts Center, features the Country Music Monster as its villain, a truly vile creature determined to force people to listen to Johnny Cash tunes.
McLaughlin said her class’s spoof of the beloved Christmas TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” has yet to get on Broadway, but the potential certainly exists. “I think we are good, though,” she joked. “This year’s play is pretty great.”
But then the same could be said of last year’s “Frosty the Hip-Hop Snowman” or “Twas the Night Before a Redneck Christmas” back in 2015.
All 19 of McLaughlin’s Life Skills students contribute in some way to the current production, whether as actors, sound crew, scenery construction, costume design, or being part of a dance group.
McLaughlin said involvement in the play teaches her students valuable lessons, such as working as a team, improving social skills, and completing tasks.
But perhaps even more important the production is a way for her students to find relief from what often are the high emotions of the holiday season.
“This is really a tough time of year for a lot of the kids and their families,” she said.
But those high emotions are transformed to laughter and cheer when students are working on the production, she said.
“They absolutely love it,” she said. “It keeps them excited. It keeps them distracted over something difficult that might be happening in the background.”