MSHS is putting on a musical performance this December written entirely by MSHS theater students. This group is composed of mainly seniors, all of which have taken the PPSC Theater Appreciation class previously. Each of these students has been in theater for all four years of high school. This is something the theater department has never done before, creating a completely new musical for their last year in MSHS theater.

This will be a joint musical, meaning they were given songs that already exist and they have to create a story around them. All of the songs are from the 1930s and 40s. “It’s like a comedy team, almost an entertainment team going to entertain the troops who just got out of a battle in World War II,” said senior Rain Malmin. “It’s supposed to raise morale.”

Malmin prefers the behind the scenes part of theater, so this allows her to have an important role while still off-stage. She will also be helping with costuming for the performance. “I actually want to go to college for English literature and go into writing, I want to write novels and short stories,” Malmin said. 

Currently, the team is still working on arranging everyone into roles and developing the musical. They will have actors singing and dancing on stage, requiring lots to coordinate and learn. “We are just now creating all the characters and putting all the songs and everything together. So we don’t quite know who everybody’s gonna be yet,” Ethan Anderson (12) said. 

Alongside writing, Anderson will also act in the musical in a smaller role. “I’m really excited for this kind of collaborative experience. It’s a very unique process, and I love that we get to create something entirely new,” Anderson said. Anderson has had a busy start to senior year, so this is a great way for them to have an important role in the musical without having to dedicate several hours each day. 

“I plan on going into animation and/or illustration, or like concept design, so all of those things have the same thing in common, which is that they kind of combine art and writing,” Anderson said. 

Senior Kai Jacobson is another one of the writers who will also act and sing in the musical. Jacobson will play the role of a soldier, and will also sing Fine Romance by Fred Astaire, a duet with Elsa Baker (12). Jacobson has been in theater all of high school, and his favorite memory was winning first place in the one act competition his sophomore year. “The play was called Suzette Who Set to Sea and I wasn’t actually originally cast in it, but I turned out to be the lead and one of only like two speaking roles, and we won First Place and Best Ensemble,” Jacobson said. 

The musical is projected to be about an hour in length, combining singing, dancing and acting in an opportunity for senior members of the theater program to make their mark. “I really love all the people at Manitou and everybody involved in theater, so it’s fun to see what we can create together,” Anderson said.