Miss Linda’s School for Dance Act 1 Theatre Company is presenting Disney’s “The Lion King Jr” on March 22-24 at West Elementary School at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at www.thestudiocentergf.com for $10. It is being co-directed by Linda Fuller, Aubrey Rearden, and Emily Merritt. The music director is CMR’s orchestra teacher Steve Olson.

“The production is going wonderful. It’s a little challenging for a group of young artists because a lot of the songs are not in English,” Merritt said. “Actually I would say 99 percent of the songs are not in English, so it was challenging at the beginning to learn a different language. But I think our students really worked hard to overcome that challenge and really understand what they’re saying, and they’ve done a really good job doing that.”

Merritt also explained how others can sign up for future productions as well as classes offered at the studio.  Students can sign up for all of the classes held at the studio online, and Merritt said theatre productions are performed in both January and September.

“We have all sorts of dance,” she added. There is ballet, tap, and jazz, and she said they offer classes for adults as well.

“ I teach all the acting classes along with Aubrey and Steve, and we do young classes for really little guys,” Merritt said.

Breanna Goodfin, who plays the role of Mufasa, said that theater is a way that she expresses herself.

“I have a very creative personality so it’s just some way to get that…energy out. It’s fun. I’ve loved doing it ever since I was in kindergarten,” Goodfin said. “ I love how the group works so hard, and we just all work together and have a lot of fun.”

“I think the most challenging part is just focusing all the energy into a positive learning environment and just not getting overly stressed,” she said.

Goodfin said there are challenging parts to theater.

“If something is irritating me or if I’m not getting my lines or something that I just need to remain calm and just keep going no matter what,” she said. “That’s something I struggle with.”

Adair Arnold, who plays the role of Sarabi, and Kayden Plummer, who plays the role of Sarafina, are both new classmates in the theatre company, and they have specific reasons for wanting to be in the show.

“Cause I just want to try something new basically,” Arnold said, admitting that learning the choreography was a challenge.

“I’ve been doing musical stuff ever since I could sing,” Plummer added. And despite the fact that she said getting up in front of a large crowd can be difficult, she enjoys performing.

“It’s something that I really like to do. I really like Shadowland (Nala’s solo).”