The Penn State Thespians Present: Amelia Bedelia!

The Penn State Thespians strike again. After their successful showing of Catch Me If You Can, the thespians are tapping into their inner child for their next show. This weekend, the club is putting on a children’s show for the public, Amelia Bedelia!

Amelia Bedelia! tells the quirky story of crazy maid Amelia, who takes everything extremely literally. She is thrown in a situation where she has to teach a class of second graders, without any experience doing so. Coupled with the fact that Amelia does everything to the letter, she gets herself into some…interesting situations.

As a freshman and potential new member of Penn State Thespians, director Molly Basilio is making her directorial debut at Penn State.

“It’s really thrilling and scary at the same time,” says Basilio. “I’m excited to do the show, but as a freshman I’m still figuring out how to direct – it’s my first time actually. But I’m confident that the show will be fantastic.”

Basilio’s journey as director has been no easy task, however. With two of her actors backing out over Thanksgiving break, Basilio has had to think on her feet to put everything together.

“We had to recast in a week,” says Basilio. “They [the cast] have done a phenomenal job learning their lines and the blocking. They all stepped up and did a fantastic job.”

Although the play is based off a children’s book, the thespians have thrown in a surprise musical number. Written and choreographeed by the students themselves, “The Math Song,” based off of Thoroughly Modern Millie’s “Gimme Gimme” will keep the audience on their toes during the show.

Amelia Bedelia! will take place at Schlow Libary on Saturday Dec. 5 at 11am and 2:30 pm, and Sunday at 2:30 pm. Tickets are free for all audience members.

Photo source: facebook.com/psuthespians