Nemo, Dory, Marlin and a sea full of young cast members are on stage the next two weekends at Village Square Theatre for “Finding Nemo Jr.” The live musical based on the Disney movie features 95 cast members all under the age of 20.

Director Candice Pipkin says this is “a full musical but condensed.” It’s a junior play with young people. They play is about an hour and a half long filled with songs and lines recognizable from the movie as well as original lines and songs not in the movie. 

Pipkin said there are songs written specifically for this musical.

For instance, “Big Blue World” is an original song. The song is referenced more than once in the play and is significant to the play’s theme and partners well with Dory’s famous line, “Just keep swimming.”

While there are new lines and songs, the play has plenty of “funny lines and funny punch lines” recognizable to anyone who has seen the Disney movie. The line made famous by the shark, “Fish are friends, not food,” is echoed in the play and also made into an original song.

When Nemo is stuck in the fish tank, he sings an original song, “Where’s my dad?” 

Speaking of the fish tank scenes, the set workers went all out in bringing the fish tank from the dentist office to life. It was Pipkin’s idea to have the fish tank set up in the bottom front of the stage, giving depth to the tank. 

“I always have crazy ideas. It’s cool how the scenes come together,” Pipkin said. 

Another one of her ideas which adds a fun element to the play is having the singing stingray roll around on stage in roller skates. Professor Ray is the stingray and wearing skates shows the audience the stingray is floating through the ocean.

“One of the best parts of opening night is having it come to life,” Pipkin said. “[The cast] drives off the audience response and responds to the laughs they get. They go from being scared to death to proud and having fun.”

In addition to the numerous cast members, Pipkin says there are also a couple of musicians providing live music. She says the piano and bass player were hired by the theater for the play.

With the actors, musicians and numerous volunteers working behind the scenes, it “takes a village,” Pipkin said, playing off the theater’s name. 

While Pipkin admits that working with children and young people provides a different sort of challenge, she loves getting to work with them as well as the veterans and newcomers. There are fresh faces who get a chance to see what it takes to be involved in a play.

Speaking of village, the theater located behind the Sonic on Columbia Avenue loves providing opportunities for kids to see plays they may not otherwise have an opportunity to see. 

Families and people who work with young people with various intellectual and developmental disabilities or just have extra needs can call the theater and watch a pre-show for free. The theater is also offering the same opportunity to foster families.

“All they have to do is call and ask,” Pipkin said.

The theater also makes regular outings to Lexington Medical Center’s Extended Care, providing snippets of shows to elderly people who may not be able to make it to the theater. 

The next show for the theater is Mary Poppins starting May 3.