Morris Plains Youth to Head 'Back to the 80s'

More than 30 Morris Plains children are taking the stage this week at the auditorium to perform in this year's musical, "Back to the '80s."

The play, sponsored by the Morris Plains Recreation Commission and the Morris Plains Municipal Alliance, will be on Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m.

The show will be performed by Morris Plains children ranging from grades 4 through 12, who just participated in the annual five-week theater workshop through the borough's summer recreation program.

Since June, the children have been rehearsing, putting together the set and making the costumes. This week's performance marks the end of the theater workshop.

On Thursday, the performers will get to showcase their talents to the community in a musical filled with '80s music taking place in a high school setting. The kids will sing and dance to some of the most popular '80s songs.

The performance was directed and choreographed by Joe Wohlgemuph, a teacher from Mountain Lakes. For the past five years, the borough has hired him to produce the plays.

The musical director is Skip Yingling, a resident of Morris Plains.

Every year the recreation runs this theater workshop in the summer from Monday to Thursday for five weeks, and puts on a play at the end. Last year, the .

"Every year they outdo themselves," Recreation Director Karleen Leahey said. "It really is a fantastic group that gets together. The kids change every year, a lot of them do come back year after year, but in five weeks—how they put together the singing, the dancing, the costumes, and the back drop—it really is fantastic and it is really a great evening event."

Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5.