A & E

Most people in their 30s and 40s will remember "Conjunction Junction," "I'm Just a Bill" and the other educational "Schoolhouse Rock" cartoons that once were a regular part of Saturday morning television programming. The songs were catchy and the storylines were entertaining, but their real purpose was to teach grammar, math, science, history and social studies in a fun, memorable way.

This weekend, those programs will return, when the Valley Players of Ligonier produce "Schoolhouse Rock, Live! Jr." at the Ligonier Theater.

The show's simple plot revolves around a young teacher (Rachel Nicely as "Miss Nicely") who wakes up anxious and insecure on her first day of teaching. When she tries to distract herself by watching television, her worries are eased as various characters jump out of the TV to demonstrate how she can make learning fun with familiar "Schoolhouse Rock" songs like "Interjections," "Interplanet Janet" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly." By the end of the show, Miss Nicely is convinced that she will succeed after all.

Yvonne Stack, who co-directs the show with Jeena Valentine, says the Valley Players chose this production primarily for the quality of the music and because it was different from their usual fare.

"It's a teaching musical, and we hadn't done anything else that would appeal to middle-schoolers," Stack says. The one-act, hourlong show is aimed at middle school students through early high school.

The cast of 26 children, ages 9 to 17, had to learn the choreography as they were memorizing their lines.

"I believe in the concept of learning the movement along with the singing," says Stack, who is the vocal music director at Somerset Senior High School.

Although the "Schoolhouse Rock" songs are easy to remember, "it's not an easy show. The two- and three-part harmony makes it more difficult."

Most of the children have had some experience in theater or chorus, although a few have never been onstage before.

"We have kids from Latrobe, Derry, Somerset, Ligonier and Greensburg, and they are awesome," Stack says.

Stage manager Byron Frank agrees. "The kids have all pulled together wonderfully," despite their varied backgrounds. He adds that the students come from "public, private and parochial schools, in addition to a handful of homeschoolers."

Frank, who played Willy Wonka in the Valley Players' production of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," offers behind-the-scenes support for Stack and Valentine.

"I view my role as making their jobs easier," he says. To that end, he put together a Web site and newsletter to keep the cast and crew on track. "My satisfaction will be greatest at the end of the show, when I know that the kids have given it all that they've got and are standing out onstage, smiling, listening to the appreciation shown by their families and friends."

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