ensemble members in Davenport Junior Theatre's 20,000 Leagues Under the SeaFans of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - either the novel or 1954's live-action Disney movie - should be excited to attend Davenport Junior Theatre's debuting stage version of the adventure classic, running February 15 through 23. Just as long, says playwright Aaron Randolph III, as those 20,000 Leagues fans aren't also 20,000 Leagues purists.

Author Eileen Boggess (third from top right), director Jessica Sheridan (bottom left), and Davenport Junior Theatre's Mia the Melodramatic teamThose familiar with Davenport Junior Theatre might find its forthcoming production of Mia the Melodramatic a bit ... well ... familiar. After all, the show concerns a children's theatre company that finds kids starring in and producing plays for other kids, and even comes complete with its own mascot in the form of an energetic, floppy-shoed clown.

Rest assured: Any similarities between the fictional children's theatre of Mia the Melodramatic and Davenport Junior Theatre itself are completely intentional.