The original plan Friday was for a News 12 crew to meet briefly with the cast and crew of Somers High School's fall production during their lunch period for a quick story to promote this weekend's showings.

The quick visit, though, turned into a bit of a party as the students were granted some extra time to help News 12 produce a live two-minute segment in which they let their personalities fly and reminded News 12 viewers they treat this production as a service to the community.

They are performing the 2004 play "Almost, Maine," a series of stories about love and loss in the fictional town of Almost.

Actor Fiona Sledzik praised her co-stars for their commitment during the live segment.

"I think our cast has a really unique perspective," she said. "We're really passionate and we really care about the show that is hard to find in a high school production. Please come see it and it's going to be an amazing show."

As part of the segment, the cast and crew was dancing and singing, not to give a preview of the play ("Almost, Maine is not a musical), but to pump themselves up for an important afternoon of preparation and Friday evening's opening.

Jenna Yager, who is running audio for this weekend's showing, said the camaraderie in the theater program has made them all better actors and production technicians.

Yager laughed when she mentioned the "Paper Plate" award, a gag gift to be given to an underclassman at Saturday's wrap party at a local diner.

"It's mainly just to make fun and poke fun at everything that was going on during the production," she said.

Tickets cost up to $8 and are still available for showings Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.