"La, la, la, la" echoed through the hallowed halls, as singers and actors prepared themselves for their last dress rehearsal. A soft murmur wafted from within the house of the dimly lit theatre.

The orchestra pit was alive with flutes, horns and stringed instruments carefully tuning themselves in preparation for the beginning overture. The conductor shouted out cues and last minute changes to the show's score.

Tuesday night was the last dress rehearsal for the School of Theatre's musical, Carnival. The cast is excited for their opening night tomorrow at 8 in the Playhouse Theatre and is hurriedly preparing.

Stagehands crossed the mosaic-tiled floor of the stage with the props needed to enhance the evening. Colorful balloons, bright juggling balls and hula-hoops were readied in the wings just moments before the lights went down and the curtain went up.

A lone, whimsical clown enters with a toy man on a bike following behind him as he sets the scene for the impending parade that is to follow.

The stage lights begin to rise and the stage comes to life as the set begins to glow like a child's eyes on Christmas morning. Acrobats tumble onto the stage, belly dancers undulate effortlessly and jugglers make their balls dance upon the air. Clowns roll into the audience, bringing audience members along for a fantastical ride of this crew of outsiders.

An orphaned girl soon appears out of the wings and is drawn into this world of charm and fantasy. Lili, played by Julia Osborne, is a young girl from the town of Mira who has been abandoned when her father, her only living relative, dies. He always told her to go look for his old friend in the carnival if she ever needed help. She goes looking for him in search of a job.

However, when she arrives, she finds her father's old friend has passed away, and she is without a job. Played by Brian Caplan, Marco the Magnificent, the carnival's star magician and resident ladies' man, befriends Lili. He pledges to find her a job.

The carnival provides her with a job in his magic show, but Lili finds out she is not quite made for the job because she is too amazed by all his tricks and her curiosity begins to interfere with the show. After she is fired from the position, she attempts to throw herself off of the trapeze, but is talked down by her newest friends, the puppets.

With Lili's ingenuity, she is able to turn around the failing puppet show and helps the struggling puppet master, Paul, played by Jason Shuffler, find his way through a dark time.

Carnival goes through many twists and turns, triumphs and tribulations, and without this remarkable cast the complicated plot could not have been achieved.

The show has many other notable characters, such as Rosalie, played by Liz Baltes. Rosalie is the on-again, off-again love interest and assistant to Marco the Magnificent. Through great humor and wit she is able to make their exasperated relationship come to life.

Jacquot, played by Gabe Ortiz, the assistant to the puppet master, compliments Lili beautifully. He wonderfully portrays his wide-eyed optimism towards the success of the puppet show and makes a wonderful friend for her.

Along with the cast's great acting and singing, the set and props add to the magical ambience of the show.

The traveling carnival is completely equipped with wooden trailers for the performers, a colorful ring for shows and a fully lit puppet booth. The tent of the big top is just amazing; complete with poles, rope ladders leading to the trapeze above and yards and yards of billowing canvas that make up the tent.

After the show, a smattering of applause came from the loyal supporters and the cast emerged from backstage to take their bows. The orchestra played through their entire closing overture just for practice's sake. The house lights rose and everyone was transferred out of their wonderful fantasy world back to reality.

Crewmembers all in black appeared from every corner of the theatre. They began the arduous task of clean up and began to put away the props of cotton candy, hula-hoops and balloons. They then turned to the task of reviewing their actions and how they could improve.

The director pulled aside his crew, including the costume designer and the stage manager, to discuss improvements that could be made. The actors begin to materialize from behind the stage, fresh faced and costume free. Finally, everyone can let out a sigh of relief that the time has come they have all been waiting for — they will soon get to perform for a real audience.

The wonderful set and actors will be available for patrons to see Friday, the official opening night. The 8 p.m. show runs tomorrow to Feb. 23, and there is a 2 p.m. matinee on Feb. 24. Ticket costs for students are $8.50 for evening performances and $6.50 for the matinee, and general admission is $10.50 and $9.50, respectively.