The theatre program put on their annual musical on May 14 – May 16. This year, the students in the musical theatre class performed the musical 13. 13 follows a young boy named Evan Goldman as he struggles with moving cities, middle school drama, and his upcoming Bat Mitzvah. The cast began rehearsing in early January. As the performance dates drew near, the rehearsals became longer and the cast became more anxious.

“I was little worried leading up and through the final dress rehearsals,” Riley Nelson ‘17 said. “But we really came together in the end. The last two performances were especially fantastic.”

Although the musical is typically performed on the main stage at the McNeil Performing Arts Center, the past two musicals have taken place in the black box theater.

“The main stage is always really cool because it’s a big theatre,” Anna Carey ‘15 said. “But black box is fun because you can really see your audience.”

Not only did the cast members enjoy themselves, but they also received good appraisal from the audience.

“I felt that [the shows] went very well,” Jill Jackson ‘15 said. “We got a lot of good positive feedback from our audiences.”

The musical also gave the students an opportunity to bond with one another.

“[The musical] strengthened ties that already existed in the theatre program,” Nelson said. “I met a lot of new people, and the people who I already were friends I became better friends with. It was a really nice bonding experience.”

The musical was the last performance for the seniors of the theatre program. They had made lifelong bonds through theatre and learned a lot from each other.

“[The last performance] was bittersweet because we had such an amazing cast; we were all very close; we were all very good friends,” Jackson said. “It was fun to go out with a good show, but it was also sad because it was our last together.”

Theatre held a profound impact for many of the seniors. Several of them had dedicated numerous years to theatre.

“I’ve done theatre since seventh grade so it’s been pretty much all I’ve done through school,” Carey said. “It was really sad for it to be the last musical, but I have a lot of great memories.”

While the seniors were sad about leaving the high school theatre program, several students are planning on furthering their theatrical careers in college.

“It’s been fun, I’ve learned a lot about myself as a person and as a performer. I’ve learned a lot by watching the others in the cast with me,” Jackson said. “I’m actually going to audition for the musical major at Abilene Christian University next year.”