Descendants 1, 2, and 3 turned into one musical for the stage.
Burke Theatre’s musical for 2026 is Disney’s “Descendants the Musical“. The film came out in 2015 and gained a lot of popularity, so much so that there are three movies and a spinoff of it, as well as a musical. This adaptation combines all three elements from each movie, mashing it into an action-packed show with all the musical favorites from each film. A stark contrast from the school’s previous chosen musicals, the last being Chicago, this year’s story is more relatable to the teen mind.
Musicals are a big and tedious process which comes with a lot of responsibility and time staying later after school, usually until almost 5:30 pm every day.
“We spend the whole semester doing it, so it feels like a really big relief when it’s over but it’s also just to see all that work come to fruition is really cool, we have some great leaders in out upperclassmen but we have a lot of underclassmen that really stepped up and surprised me,” said Emily Mokrycki.
With this more PG show there will be a few different elementary school kids arriving to be the audience for the matinee performance.
This school year has also brought many younger students into theater, so with this lighthearted show comes a lot of underclassmen. With this it has also shown growth in the skills of the underclassmen, for example Tee Maldon (09).
“Auditioning for the musical I honestly didn’t really care what I got I just knew that I wanted to be on stage so I was not expecting to be Carlos which I am really grateful for being Carlos because growing up watching descendants Carlos was my favorite character so deep down I really wanted to be Carlos,” said Tee Maldon.
Excitement and nerves for a new experience with so many responsibilities come together. There are many differences between plays and musicals that can be harder for new people to overcome. Some of the additions that just don’t come with plays are the rehearsals strictly for singing. Learning each note can be difficult, especially for people newer to musicals and singing.
“I think that musicals are a lot more work, not saying a play isn’t hard work, but it’s a bigger workload. I got casted as Evie, and I have started taking singing lessons because there are some parts that I struggle with. I have never been a lead in a musical before. I was one of the leads in “Enter the Body“, and it was a very different experience. I have to get into a good mindset before rehearsals. I don’t want to be mean to anyone, even if that’s my character,” said Lily Morris (10).
