Stuart Little: A Performed Play by Theatre Class
Photo submitted by Sarah Troy.
What is it?
Stuart Little is a live action comedy. It was a movie originally released December 17, 1999 based on E.B White’s book created in 1945. Hamilton High School drama class recently put on this mini play production, incorporating all characters and most scenes. The play was put on December 11-12, 2025. The play was put on in front of 2nd grade-4th graders in the district’s four elementary schools: Woodside, Lannon, Marcy, and Maple.
The process of the play/how the play is put on:
The process of making this play covered the span of around 4 weeks. To start, Mrs. Troy, the class teacher, hosted auditions from which she chose the characters. From there, it was run by one of the students in the class. The process escalated quickly: going from reading lines in a circle to memorizing lines on the stage. The class was able to gain access to the Hamilton prop shop, in which the crew created some props such as boxes spelling “Stuart Little”. In addition, there were many large and small scale props such as a ring and ice skates used by various performers. While others were making or finding props, many were running lines every day in class as props started to trickle in for usage. Once all the props were ready, as well as lines memorized, full run-throughs occured—three to four days prior to the show. Dress rehearsals were put on before performances, in which everyone was responsible for creating their own costume: by making it, borrowing it from someone else, or pulling it out of a closet. For the performances, cast and crew were transported by two vans and select cars. The props were all made to fit in cars, including walls that were used to form a ‘stage’ in the gyms. The group spent 15 minutes before and after every show prepping and cleaning up respectively. Overall, this process was a short but long one, coming together just in time for show days.
What is Stuart little about?
Stuart Little follows a mouse named Stuart who is adopted by the Little family in New York City, his bralong with his brother, George. The story embarks on humanous adventures involving Stuart, seeing him such as teaching, finding a missing friend, outsmarting a cat, and meeting new people. It follows themes of friendship and ways to do tasks even with unique qualities.
Our take on performing the play:
As actors involved in the play, it was an amazing experience, and was very enjoyable performing in front of many audiences. It is an opportunity that was fun, though a bit stressful. To future freshmen involved in drama, the Intro to Theatre class is a very good start to theatre.
Interviewing of characters involved:
We asked the cast and crew members of Stuart Little what made them feel motivated to present this show to the audience. Here are some inspiring responses:
“I remember being an audience member in elementary school, looking up to the actors. I learned from that young age that I wanted to do theatre in high school, and so I always watched for the high school drama students, looking up to them. I love the idea that I could possibly be on the other side of that, inspiring other little kids to do theatre.” —Lauren Steighner, Senior
“Their reactions were the best part. I feel like every roar of applause and every laugh gave us more confidence.” —Bradyen Lutterbach, Freshman
“Well I love being onstage and remembering that the audience is kids who wont judge and are very sweet. I was happy to perform…” —Bella Schram, Freshman
The Hamilton High School Drama Class put hours of effort, creativity, and teamwork into Stuart Little. With hopes of inspiring and presenting a play many children can imagine, our class felt accomplished seeing the smiles and laughter on their faces. All of us, both the cast and crew, felt that every prop and line that took time to piece together was worth it in the end, because of the joy radiating from the crowd.
