After bringing movie characters to life in “Elephant Man,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Lord of the Flies,” the Actors in Action will be presenting “Bring It On: The Musical,” an adaptation of the 2000 film, “Bring It On.”

“The movie is not a musical,” Theatre Director Ms. Mollie Lief said. “Maybe one or two of the cheers are similar, but they are all original to the musical. People who come to see our show should not expect to see the movie. It’s pretty different.”

There will be many similarities and differences between the movie and the upcoming play.

“Bring It On” (2000) centers on Rancho Carne High School’s champion cheerleading squad, the Toros. When the cheer captain graduates, Torrance, played by Kirsten Dunst, is appointed as the new captain. However, Torrance soon discovers that the former captain stole routines from the East Compton Clovers, which led the Toros to championships. The squad gets caught in a whirlwind of trouble by scrambling to find a new and authentic cheer routine of their own to win the National Championship.

The VNHS musical adaptation is based on the comedy film. Campbell is passionate about cheerleading and becomes captain at Truman High School. However, she is suddenly transferred to an inner-city Jackson High School and loses her title as captain. Campbell learns that the school does not have a cheer squad and decides to form one from scratch. She teams up with tough girls from the school’s hip-hop dance crew to compete in the National Cheerleading Championship.

While the film addresses sportsmanship, the musical also touches on social issues, including self-esteem, socio-economics and the LGBTQ community. The characters from the musical are inspired by the movie characters; Torrance and Campbell are both passionate about cheerleading.

Directed by Ms. Mollie Lief, the play features Natalie Chavez as Campbell, Siena Viviano as Skylar, Genevieve Rochblatt as Kylar, Alexa Abrego as Bridget, Nicholas Bowler as Steven, Linda Melendez as Eva, Enrique Berganza as Twig, Anddy Chuta as Cameron, Darian Calderon as Randall, Gabbie Santos as Nautica, Brandon Large as La Cienega and Elizabeth Talledo as Danielle.  

The Actors in Action are aiming to satisfy audiences with their own original flavor in the  musical adaptation of the iconic cheer movie.