The Rehearsal Room, playing at Chief Sealth International High School May 11, 12, and a special Mother's Day show on May 13 was written and directed by local teacher and theater professional Laura Drake.

It blends songs from the 60's to the 00's in a pastiche of comedy and dancing. The show is loosely patterned after the television show Glee in that songs arise out of the real feelings and circumstances that teenagers face.

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To get the underlying idea for the scenes, Drake first interviewed the potential cast members with a video camera seeking their take on issues in their life. From there she wrote a script and chose songs that would work with the themes that emerged.

Drake, who operates a West Seattle summer theater camp called Stage Struck has a long background in theater and dance is also a specialist at Highland Park Elementary where she has taught for the past 8 years. She has appeared in stage productions in Minneapolis, Seattle, Los Angeles and in major films and on television.

The whole show has a running time of about 90 minutes but in that time manages to fit in 14 songs ranging from Seasons of Love (from the 1996 musical "Rent" to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce, to "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper.

"Chief Sealth is a really diverse school," said Drake, "It's a diverse neighborhood and I live in this neighborhood and I wanted to do something that would spotlight all the kids and bring in as much diversity in the cast as I could. That's why I picked the songs I did. These are songs the kids already knew or related to. I wanted to be inclusive and very in the now with this show."

The show starts promptly at 7 pm, May 11 and 12 and at 2 pm on Sunday, May 13 at Chief Sealth International High School, 2600 SW Thistle St. Seattle.

Tickets: Adults $8, Studens $4. www.sealthdrama.eventbrite.com and Like them on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/ChiefSealthDrama