When I heard that a local acting group would be staging a musical of Narnia, I knew I had to go see it.

It's not every day that a musical version of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe comes out. As excited as I was to see Narnia, I had initial doubts. Could Pandemonium Productions pull off the classic story and turn it into a musical without ridiculing the story itself? Could they sing and act well even with a cast ranging in age from teenagers to children as young as 8 years old?

As it turned out, Pandemonium outdid itself. I sat in my chair and delved deep into the world of Narnia, where fauns, beavers, birds, a lion and humans sang through their adventure. The older actors showed their experience as they sang and acted quite well, even when other things went wrong. Even the younger actors put on a show as they fought to keep character when the audience roared with laughter.

The only time I felt the show was losing its momentum was when a younger actor forgot her line; during 10 seconds of silence, the actor was confused and lost, but the child struggling to remember her line was still cute.

The musical selections were well thought out. They followed the plot and gave the play a bit of flare. The singers picked for the solos were good choices, as they all had strong voices and led the audience through the scenes with emotion. A couple of standout singers/actors I thought did very well were Lily Day, who played Susan Pevensie; and Desiree Herburger, who played the White Queen.

Overall, I must applaud Pandemonium for its production of Narnia. My initial doubts of the play were resolved and replaced with an overall sense of pride for the cast. The music selections, soloists and cast truly outdid themselves in Narnia. I recommend for anyone of any age to go see Pandemonium's next production, whether to have a good time or to just support your local theater group.

Yujie Ding is a sophomore at Santa Fe High School. You can reach him at gnrocks2846@gmail.com.