By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Isabella High School juniors and seniors will present Tim Kelly’s “Hollywood Hillbillies” play on May 7 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $3 at the door.

IHS teacher Nelda LeCroy said the production of a spring play has been an annual event for the senior drama class for several years, but this is the first year that the junior speech class is participating as well.

Junior speech class teacher Chrystie Mims said participating as juniors will help students be more prepared as seniors next year.

“The have worked very hard,” Mims said. “A lot of them have a lot of lines.”

LeCroy said the drama class previewed several scripts before selecting this one from Eldridge Publishing Company.

Students enjoyed “the country setting. It’s about hillbillies, so they get to talk really country, dress really country,” LeCroy said.

Mims said her students “love the country accents and the down-home feel. It has been fun to watch them get into character.”

The comedy mentions a variety of mountain critters with characters impersonating at least one, Mims said.

In the play, a town is struggling as a highway is slated to be constructed through town, making it nonexistent. A Hollywood crew also comes to town to shoot a movie. In the end, everything works out for a happy ending.

“There is a lot of physical comedy,” LeCroy said.

Work on the play began in January.

Student Cole Reeves, who plays Sheriff Tom, said he liked the part because the character is “really goofy.”

“It’s been fun to work with everybody else … and watch them do their parts because they have a lot of funny parts, too,” Reeves said.

He said memorizing a lot the lines was the most challenging part of the production.

“I had always wanted to be a part of the senior play, so now this year I get a chance to do it,” Kiara Ford, who plays Matilda Quail, said.

She said she enjoyed doing the accent, but staying in character can be challenging.

Noelle Fjeldstad plays Henrietta Paxwax, a friend of Matilda Quail. Fjeldstad said she liked the part because at one point the two women hit people with their baskets.

She has also enjoyed seeing everyone being funny as they get into character.

In addition to acting, students are also learning the basics of theater production, including sound effects and lighting.