Jenna Laughlin and daughter Zoe, who is performing in Echuca-Moama Theatre Company's (EMTC) production of Moana Jr. Jenna built the boat they are sitting on.
A hand-built boat set to take centre stage in Moana Jr has turned Echuca-Moama Theatre Company’s latest production into a family affair.
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Jenna Laughlin has spent weeks designing and building Moana’s boat from scratch, while her husband Tom will be behind the sound desk.
And when the curtain rises later this month, the couple will have an even bigger reason to watch closely.
Their eight-year-old daughter Zoe will be on board.
When Jenna heard EMTC was staging the Disney musical, she jokingly floated the idea of building Moana’s boat to husband Tom.
“When Zoe came home from her first rehearsal, Tom had put my hand up for the job,” she laughed.
Jenna, a product design teacher at St Joseph’s College Echuca, approached the challenge much like one she would give her students.
She researched other productions, worked with the show’s creative team on a design brief and calculated how to make the boat big enough to carry cast members, but light enough to get on and off stage.
The result has been weeks in the making, built from framing pine, plywood, MDF and poly pipe.
While the frame took only about four hours, cladding the curved hull proved a far bigger challenge.
It’s a family affair: Parent helper Tom Laughlin and daughter Zoe, who is cast in Echuca-Moama Theatre Company's (EMTC) production of Moana Jr. Tom is also the sound operator for the show and his wife Jenna built the boat they are sitting on.
Each strip of MDF had to be individually cut, with varying angles needed to achieve the boat’s shape.
“It was by far the most time consuming and frustrating part,” Jenna said.
But those hours have paid off.
“The kids, cast and crew’s reaction to the boat was unreal,” she said.
And while Jenna is keeping its biggest trick close to her chest for now, she offered one tantalising clue.
“I think the audience will get a nice little surprise too. Hint, hint,” she said.
For Jenna, the project has also brought her connection with EMTC full circle.
Her mother took her to the company’s shows as a child, before Jenna spent years working at Echuca Paramount and seeing first-hand the work behind local productions.
Now Zoe, the youngest member of Moana Jr’s 43-strong cast, will appear as a gate monster and villager in the ensemble.
“Mum did so good,” Zoe said.
“It was so cool, and she makes me proud.”
The boat in action during rehearsals. Photo: Tamara Cadd
Photo by
Tamara Cadd
For Zoe, joining EMTC has been just as exciting as getting onto the stage.
“It’s amazing. I just love the opportunities and being on the stage and part of a show,” she said.
But what is she looking forward to most?
“Just being with all the EMTC family,” she said.
Tom, meanwhile, is no stranger to that family. A long-time sound operator for EMTC shows, he will once again be behind the controls for Moana Jr, while Grace has proudly assumed the role of her sister Zoe’s “number one supporter”.
“Moana has become a family project,” Jenna said.
“Seeing Zoe and Grace, and then the cast of Moana, getting so excited when they saw the boat made me very proud to be able to give back to a great community group like EMTC.”
Moana Jr will take to the stage at Echuca Paramount for five performances from October 23 to 25.
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