These Saskatoon high school drama students were performing for a packed house. Then the power went out.

A Saskatoon high school drama production took an unexpected turn when a massive power outage took the lights out in the middle of a packed house last week.

But as they say in the theatre, the show must go on.

This dark tale has a happy ending thanks to the creativity of the cast and crew, as well as the audience.

On Dec. 3, Bedford Road Collegiate drama students had a production experience that they will never forget. At first, their school production of Seussical the Musical was going as planned.

“We were just about to start the second act, the power cut. Then everybody was kind of in a frenzy. all of these like little kids, you know, they got up and they were wondering what was going on,” cast member, Sara Pelletier, told CTV News.

Those little kids, almost 300 elementary school students, filled the theatre for the matinee show.

• Get Saskatoon's top stories delivered to your inbox every weekday morning

Then there were a few tense moments, with a packed house not knowing what was happening.

That’s when Sara Pelletier jumped into the spotlight, powered by cell phone light, and used her drama skills. She improvised, pulling out some crowd participation favourites.

“After I got the kids attention, you know, and they were all excited, like, what's going to happen next? As we started dancing, you know, they were all excited and so full of energy that they just kind of rolled with it,” she said.

Buses for the young crowd weren’t scheduled until the end of the show, so the director, teachers and cast realized there was no early curtain — even with a power outage.

Brendan Fehr played in the band, which is a key element in the show, which features about 30 songs. Sitting in the dark holding their instruments, they waited for direction.

“We were wondering what was going on, what would happen, and basically we'll see what happens next,” said Fehr, a Grade 12 band member.

Quick analysis determined that instruments like the clarinet, violin, cello and saxophone were able to continue, but the electric piano and electric guitar couldn’t. The music director had to jump in and create those musical sounds to help the band.

“We needed to do something to keep the magic alive” said Justin La, the music director.

So, the cast of about 30 students kept on.

“We finished on a song that ended with the lyrics, ‘anything's possible’ and I think that really highlighted the heart and the humanity that the students brought to the show,” La said.

It’s a memory that will likely take center stage for a while.