Front, from left, Carley Capobianco of Sutton, Frankie Valverdi of Grafton, Rutvij Holay of Grafton; Back, from left, Manisha Madhavan of Grafton, Sarah Polagruto of Grafton, Emily Mossey of Grafton) and Juliet Dwyer of Grafton.
Photo credit: Contributed photo

NORTHBRIDGE, Mass. - Dancing, singing and fun antics will take center stage when Apple Tree Arts offers its winter mini-musical, “Flakes “on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 19, 2 p.m. at the Singh Performance Center, Alternatives Unlimited, 50 Douglas Road, Whitinsville.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children five and over, and free for children under four. Tickets will be sold at the door.

The north wind brings a blizzard of snowflakes, music and choreography to the stage. The 14-cast members shimmer, shake and act as Flakes which are snow white in color or as Snirts that are off-white in color. The show’s diverse music features rap songs, Broadway-style tunes and Latin-inspired numbers.

The actors learned dialogue, stage blocking, dance numbers and songs in the past 10 weeks of rehearsals. The elementary school-aged students created snowflake designs to decorate the scenery, too. Actors are from Grafton, Sutton and Clinton.

The 30-minute musical is co-directed by Lisa Scarlett, theatre arts director of the community music and theatre arts school, and Laurie Baker, early childhood music and theatre arts teacher. The two co-directors have worked on many shows together such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “Squirm” and “The King and I.”

Volunteer assisted with the production in many ways. Parents helped to promote the show, coordinated refreshments and created the marquee. Connie Hopkins sewed the costumes.


Founded in 1989, Apple Tree Arts serves over 1,000 children and adults annually with early childhood music courses, adult music classes, private music and voice instruction, ensembles and theatre arts programs.  For more information, please contact Apple Tree Arts, a non-profit 501 (c) organization at (508)-839-4286 or visit