The high school theatre troupe postponed their performance of the play “The Miracle Worker” until next Friday and Saturday, the 24th and 25th, due to a lead cast member’s family emergency. The play will still be performed at the Henegar Center in Historic Downtown Melbourne as planned.

The play was going to be held downtown because of a scheduling conflict at the school auditorium. With the show’s delay the scheduling won’t be a problem, but they will still perform at the Henegar Center.

“We went over there and started to do blocking and do things to accommodate to the smaller stage they have for us upstairs,” director Maureen Fallon said. “Once we’ve done that, it would be double the work to come back and try to adjust it again. It’s just more practical to keep it there.”

The play was postponed from its original performance dates last minute on Monday, but the troupe found it easy to adjust to the change.

“It gives us more of a chance to get polished and ready to go,” junior Eva Johnson, a supporting actress, said. “Our tech’s going to be higher quality, I think our performance will be higher quality overall.”

Fallon agrees.

“I think it’ll be a little more solid,” Fallon said. “[Without the lead] it would’ve been a whole other upheaval, so waiting a week actually makes people feel more secure, and the cast is intact and we are able to make the adjustments we need to make.”

Adjustments have included building a smaller set and getting used to the different movements in the “black-box” theater, which is about half the size of the school auditorium’s stage.

“We’ve re-blocked and everyone gets used to where they’re going,” Fallon said. “You just have to stage things differently.”

The actors have adjusted to the smaller stage, but the theater seats 85 as opposed to the average 100 to 125 people the school theater hosts per show. Fallon said they are sticking to their original plan of two shows, even though they will have a smaller space to accommodate people who would like to watch.

“We won’t have as many seats, so there will be a little bit less people per show,” Fallon said. “But they’re being very kind and accommodating us, so we’ll work it out.”

Tickets are on sale now at showtix4u.com. Look up “The Miracle Worker” or “Melbourne” to find the show.