Flying carpets, a street rat craving a princess’s attention and an all-powerful genie set a familiar scene at Springfield High School.

The story of Aladdin was told once more on Friday night, March 28. Along with the excitement of seeing a Disney film on stage, one of our very own Southeastern students, James LeJeune, was the one who brought it to life.

According to LeJeune, the play has been the biggest and most successful so far out of all four years he has directed at Springfield.

The director has their hand in just about everything by being a part of all the decisions in the play. LeJeune had to work with the actors in developing their characters, go over the blocking which is telling the actors where to move. One of LeJeune’s prime duties was guiding the actors.

“I went to high school here, and I got involved when I was a senior,” LeJeune said. “Then, when I went to college, I got involved with the theater program; then, I came back here to kind of help out. They needed a director, so I kind of fell into it.”

For this play in particular, there were certain obstacles the cast needed to overcome, and creative solutions were called for in order to get this accomplished. One of the interesting problem-solvers LeJeune used was creating an entourage of three actors for the genie and to serve as a representation for the magical elements that took place in the story.

“The main thing was I knew how hard it would be to translate all the magical aspects to the stage. I had seen performances that added extra [actors] at one point, in one of the Broadway shows where they danced around,” LeJeune said. “I thought the best way we could do it would be to add more actors, to give them that elemental, what one person can’t do on stage because you can’t really fake it. Giving him that comedic entourage–that’s what we call them, Genie’s Entourage. I told them from the beginning they were going to steal the show, and they definitely did that.”

This was not LeJeune’s first time directing. In fact, he prefers directing as opposed to acting.

“I would have to go with directing,” LeJeune said. “Acting is wonderful; it’s a rush I’ve never felt. Being able to have your hand in everything instead of just telling your part in the story, I think that’s what I like to do.”

So far, LeJeune has done seven to eight productions. He is also developing his own theater company with hopes to build it up in the future. In addition to the company, each year he directs a play with Springfield High, which is mainly composed of freshmen and sophomores from high school along with some middle and elementary schoolers.

“They really took to our program and our method and how we do things,” said LeJeune. “That work ethic, they really latched on to it. Learning that at such a young age will translate to a lot of success for us. It was probably the best group of kids I’ve ever worked with.”

Overall, LeJeune considers his latest production to have been a satisfying success.

“It’s a rush; I love it. It’s crazy; I’ve worked with so many people, so many good people, collaborating on something that reaches so many people,” said LeJeune. “To get to tell that story is awesome. It’s better than what I’ve ever done.”