Later this month, students at the Baldwin County Virtual School are set to perform their big spring musical, bringing the hit DreamWorks animated movie "Madagascar" to life on stage.

However, you may be wondering; how does a school with primarily virtual, remote students put a live production together? According to D.D. Payne, director and teacher, there is a lot of thought and coordination put into to choosing the school's annual musical.

"It's interesting, I was at Foley (High School) for 23 years before this, and going from a huge school to a small school you look at the show selection in such a different way," Payne said. "We usually have a smaller cast, but you have to choose a show that can be expanded since you don't know who your students will be from year-to-year. Students reapply every year, so the show has to be flexible in size, ages and gender."

According to Payne, while all classes at the school are online with most students logging on virtually for their lessons, there are some students who choose to physically come to the school's Daphne based campus daily.

"It's all how the kids want to do it, the classes are on the computer and we (teachers) meet with the kids virtually as needed and log online to teach the weekly lessons," Payne said. "They (students) can reach out as much as they want for extra help. Some kids will come to campus every day to sit down with their teachers and for the social aspect of it."

According to the official Baldwin County Public Schools website, the virtual school is the state's first virtual high school, serving approximately 300 students from grades 7-12.

While classes are offered in an online format, Payne said that students in the theatre troupe (Pelican Players) attend show rehearsals in person three days a week.

"Most people don't know that we have all kinds of extracurricular programs," Payne said. "For the (Pelican) Players, we have one student-directed one-act show in the fall, a spring musical and we participate at the Trumbauer Festival at Troy University."

Payne added that while there will only be one community performance of "Madagascar" on March 22, the troupe will perform the show during the school day for approximately 250 younger students throughout the county.

"I'm most excited for people to see the incredible talent we have in the cast, most people don't think about Alabama and theatre but it is incredible the talent we have in the walls in schools in Baldwin County," Payne said. "I hope people will take the time to go and see a really entertaining musical, I think they will be really surprised. The set is totally designed and painted by students, and it's a learning experience for all of them. They are so proud when they see the finished product on stage, it is something I can't even really teach them."

For more information on tickets, email dpayne@bcbe.org.