It’s not uncommon to hear sounds of excitement in the hallways at Krieger Elementary School. It’s less common to hear what one student squealed Monday afternoon:

“Look at my tail!”

The excitement will only increase Wednesday and Thursday evenings, as a combined cast of fourth and fifth grade students from Clinton, Smith and Warring elementary schools put on a production of Disney’s “101 Dalmatians Kids” at Krieger. Both shows are free of charge and begin at 6 p.m.

In all, 46 students are a part of the production, between cast and crew. Krieger Library Media Specialist Dorothy Luongo is directing with Smith teacher Andrea Boccio serving as assistant director. The show is an abridged adaptation of the classic 1961 Disney animated film, with added musical numbers.

The play represents the continuation of the district’s emphasis on providing theater performance opportunities at the elementary level at Krieger. From 2022 to 2025 the school held schoolwide productions each year and, twice during that span, hosted additional elementary-wide musicals. Despite Krieger becoming a grades PK-2 school this school year, it was again the site students have come to for rehearsals each afternoon for the past few months.

The process began with auditions in mid-December and culminates this week. Monday marked their first dress rehearsal, and a first chance for everyone to see each other in costume. Many were of course, dressed in various combinations of white clothing with black patches and spots. There were also plenty of tails and ears to go around, as well as an iconic black-and-white wig for a certain puppy-snatching villain.

As Perdita, the matriarch of the dalmatian family, Andriana Papamitoukas has a white dress with black polka dots, as well as white gloves, floppy dog ears and a tail.

“I like that I get to experience working with other people,” the fifth grade student said Monday. The cross-school play each year is not only an opportunity for students to gain experience practicing a play and performing in front of an audience, but also to get to know students from other schools they may not have previously met.

While Papamitoukas attends Smith, one of her pups, Hanaira Washington, is a fifth grader at Clinton.

And, Papamitoukas does think of them as “her pups.” She said the “Twilight Bark” scene – in which dogs communicate across long distances to share news – is her favorite in the play. Why? “We finally find out where my dogs are,” Papamitoukas said in character.

Sure enough, moments later, Washington called out “Mom!” to get her attention before rehearsal began.

Washington, who has performed before, said she is excited to "finally" be a main character for this production. Her favorite scene, she said, is the chase late in the play.

“We get to run around the cafeteria,” she explained.

The actors spend several scenes moving through lanes of the crowd, which promises to add to the experience.

Both shows begin at 6 p.m. and stretch roughly an hour. While the plays are free of charge there will be concessions available sold by the Smith PTA.