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TFS Middle School's Annual Madrigal Delights Audiences

The 2025 Tallulah Falls School Middle School Madrigal provided entertainment reminiscent of a royal court, featuring singing, sword fighting, jousting, dancing, feasting, joking, scheming, capturing scoundrels, playing tricks, and much more.

"This year's performers brought to life a group of fun characters, including pirates, which we have never seen previously in a Madrigal. It truly made this year unique," said middle school drama teacher and performance director Carrie Layer. "The students delighted the audience with dragons, dancing, combat, and plenty of pirate-themed puns. I was proud of the performances, and I believe the audience was as delighted as I was."

Seventh-grader Jaxon Wright of Eastanollee played Captain Bob the pirate. "I got into character by thinking about the setting, the fact that I was a pirate, and I added an accent," said Wright. "It was a lot of trial and error." 

Eighth-grader Quinlan Flanders of Sautee Nacoochee portrayed a court jester. "The Jester has such a fun personality and gets to deliver a lot of funny lines. It's a character unlike the others," she said. Through the performance, Flanders learned to overcome stage fright and how to improvise her lines. "We had to learn how to adapt quickly and keep the show going."

Behind the scenes, students participated in set and costume design, as well as lighting and sound. Eighth-grader Rachel McDowell of Cleveland operated the sound system for the performance, with support from TFS IT/AV Support Specialist Galen Morris. 

"When I started, I had no clue how to work a board, but Mr. Galen taught me everything I needed to know. I learned the functions of each knob, like SEL which helped me change the gain, which expanded the radius of how much noise the microphone would pick up," McDowell said. "It was a little stressful, especially during rehearsal, but during the actual play, I stayed calm because I knew exactly what I needed to do – I was taught well. I learned skills I can use in the future, and I had a lot of fun experimenting with my microphone and playing music on the system.”

The production is a collaborative effort, with teachers and staff creating props, choreographing the royal swords display, and even preparing a meal with assistance from TFS FLIK dining services. Assistant Director of IT Josh Brady has choreographed the sword fights for the madrigal since 2018. “I think it's incredibly cool to be able to do something like this; it's a unique kind of performance,” he said. “I also get to meet students I don’t normally interact with. I love teaching and mentoring kids, and this is a great environment to do just that.”