Photo Provided The public is invited to a production of “Beetlejuice Jr.” this weekend at Bridgeport Exempted Village School District. The elementary school students got a look at an invited dress rehearsal.

BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport High School’s theater group has a new director, and the community is invited to enjoy the antics of some madcap spooks with a production of “Beetlejuice Jr.”

The hour-long musical will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 6. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.

On April 1, the young actors took to the cafetorium stage for an invited dress rehearsal in front of the elementary school students. The young audience was soon laughing at the schemes of the eponymous antihero and the cast of eccentric characters.

Following the rehearsal, the elementary students were excited to greet the cast and crew on their way back to class.

This is theater director Rene Storm’s first production at Bridgeport. She was hired in December along with assistant theater director Meghan Ross, and the musical represents a trial by fire for the cast and crew, with comparatively little time through March to rehearse for the demands of the show. Ross added that the students contended with conflicting schedules and playing multiple roles.

Through the last month, they have rehearsed daily and on the weekends.

Storm said her students’ work will pay off during the weekend performances. She said they recently incorporated the lighting, equipment and effects for a spectacular result.

“It’s really come together this last week. I’m really excited for them,” she said. “Every single member of the cast is extremely talented. They have beautiful voices. They’ve really worked hard with the choreography, and you can tell that they love it.”

She said the students were an inspiration as they rose to the challenge.

“I was really proud of them because the first time we got together and I gave them scripts and files of the background tracks for them to learn, and they learned a lot on their own,” she said. “They’ve been working so hard to bring the show together, and I’m so proud of them.”

Ross praised the students’ professionalism.

“These kids have this crazy ability to just really buckle down and learn things. I was really impressed with how quickly they learned everything.”

This marks Storm’s first time directing a high school musical.

“This is a really special endeavor.”

She brings an extensive background in theater and in teaching and working with young people to the position. Her leadership style is building trust with the students.

“I like to get to know how they work. That’s been one of the things I’ve been working on since I met them,” she said. “There’s a lot of stress with school and what they do, so I try to take that into mind.”

Storm was taken with Bridgeport when she interviewed for the job.

“I was immediately impressed with how enthusiastic the principal and the superintendent were about the arts. I could immediately tell they were very supportive, and I knew that they were really going to push the show.”

Storm said the rehearsal was a special treat for the elementary school students and could possibly kindle an interest in the stage.

“Just to get them excited about theater and what is on the horizon for them.”

Storm has ambitions to create more theater opportunities for students in the coming years.

“I hope it keeps growing, and I really foresee a theater club, a drama club,” she said. “I know that they love it so much.”

Other possibilities include inviting Bridgeport district alumni for an alumni variety show.

Bridgeport High Principal Jack Fisher said his students enjoy including the elementary students in events such as the rehearsal.

“I just think it’s awesome they’re doing it,” he said. “They get to watch these kids perform. To little elementary kids, high school kids look like adults. This is something I think they really look up to and find exciting, and it’s a cool way for the elementary students to start getting in their mind that maybe music is something they can do in the future.”

Elementary Principal Kamaron Sabinski spoke to her teachers afterward.

“They said the students were fully engrossed and enjoyed it,” she said. “That was a huge positive that the kids loved it.”