The house lights slowly fade, and a hush falls over the crowd. The orchestra begins to hum as their glorious harmony fills the theater. Backstage, performers feel a rush of energy, a surge of excitement. The conversations that floated throughout the audience have subsided as the band begins their overture. The time has come for the spectacle to start, and performers take the stage. For Cedar Springs High School students, this is what the last six weeks of rehearsals has led to. A full house full of friends and family to perform to. High School Musical is now coming to life.

Auditions were held back in December to determine the cast of the show. The show sports a cast of fifty student performers and a tech crew of student volunteers. For six weeks now, the students have been rehearsing intensive ensemble dances and vocals, training for opening night. I was able to catch up with a couple of the actors to see how things were going. Ethan Ream, Cedar Springs Junior who is playing Troy Bolton, says he “was ecstatic” to find out he had earned the lead part of the show. “I love being onstage and I love being able to take on the role of another character,” he explained. He found out that he had got the part while he was at work and said “I had a smile on my face for the rest of my shift.” Leslie Hansen, Cedar Springs Junior who plays the part of Gabriella Montez said she was super excited and couldn’t believe it when she heard this year’s musical would be High School Musical. She explained that at first, she didn’t read the cast list correctly and so she thought that she didn’t have a part in the show. Later that a night, a friend congratulated her on role and after looking back through the list, she saw she had gotten the lead. Sophia McMahon, a Senior at Cedar Springs High School, plays Cyndra, an opera singing spot light loving theatre geek. “Because I’m a thespian, I’m just myself onstage,” she explained. “I get to do all of my weird stuff and I’m enjoying it."

Even though all the performers show a lot of love for their production, they’ve endured some difficulties to get where they are. They didn’t have a full set until this last Sunday, just four days prior to opening night. They had to become accustomed to a new stage layout days before they had opened their doors to an audience. Also, this show has the most choreographed dance numbers compared to recent shows put on at Cedar Springs High School. Even the small duet numbers have staged moves and in most songs, all fifty students are onstage or are moving through the audience. The cast have dedicated weekends to learning the dances. After watching a their most recent run, it looks like it hasn’t seemed to phase them much. They sing and dance with such confidence that you would never know that they’ve had any difficulties at all.

The energy that the whole cast emits shows how much they love what they do. They have had t-shirts made with the show logo to advertise and have been sharing show dates like crazy on social media. For some of the kids, this will be the last show they will perform at Cedar Springs High School. Many of the seniors expressed sadness at the thought that this will be their last time onstage, but said they were glad that they ended on such a high note with a show like High School Musical. McMahon even had some advice for kids looking to get into theatre. “Don’t be scared to get weird. We’re all weird here, so let’s be weird together,” she smiles. Whether you’d prefer to enjoy the show from the audience or the stage, this is one experience you won’t want to miss. Hansen advises all the audience members to “get ready for some fun!”

Tickets can be purchased online here, or from cast members and at the door for $10. Show dates include:

Thurs. Feb. 9th @ 7pm

Friday Feb. 10th @ 7pm

Sat. Feb. 11 @ 2pm and 7pm

Sun. Feb. 12 @ 2 pm

Get on out there and support your Wildcats! Break a leg to the cast and crew at Cedar Springs High School this week! “Go Drama Club!”