This past weekend our Poland Players put on a production of their spring musical, the show was called “Emma: A pop musical.” As two writers who have experience acting in plays and helping out with different shows, we wanted to give our opinion on the musical. 

The show starts out with a wedding between two nerdy teachers at Highbury Prep, they are surrounded by students and singing. 

 We then meet a  high school senior at Highbury Prep, her name is Emma. She claims to be a matchmaker among students and teachers. She was the one who brought her teachers together. 

Throughout the show, Emma (played by Gabriella Calderon) tries to help different students find the love of their lives. Specifically, she looks to help her friend Harriet (played by Ellen Ethridge) find a boyfriend. 

Emma speaks with her friend Jeff Knightley (played by Ben Harrell) often, who the audience learns is secretly in love with Emma. However, Emma is too focused on finding the perfect match for everyone else that she is unable to recognize Jeff’s love for her.

After trying to set up Harriet with the school’s politician, Phillip Elton (played by Logan Flament), the student body gets word of a new student who is interested in enrolling in Highbury Prep. 

New girl, Jane Fairfax (played by Olivia Loftus), sets foot on campus, and is instantly accepted by her peers. Concurrent with Jane’s arrival, another student comes back from his life of fame and stardom- Frankie Churchill, the student turned rockstar. 

The students swoon over Frankie while trying to get Jane to fall in love with the school, and throughout the mix of new students, Emma is still trying to matchmake everyone. 

Ultimately, Emma realizes that being a matchmaker is outdated and that people can find their own true love by themselves. She instead focuses on starting a fundraiser to help people in need get scholarships to attend their school. 

In the end, the main roles in the cast become coupled together with their true loves. There are many dance breaks and different songs throughout the show. 

The show was based off of the book Emma by Jane Austen and follows a loosely similar plot. Many of the characters in the show were based off of characters from the book. 

All of the songs are popular or previously well known pop songs, so the audience had a lot of interaction with the show, even if they did not understand the reference to the book Emma. 

The singing was phenomenal, all of the songs were performed very well and the dancing was very organized. The layout of the musical scenes was very put together. 

The scenes and backdrops themselves were very engaging and just incredible. The work put in by the students was very evident, as everything ran smoothly and efficiently while still entertaining and capturing the audience’s attention. 

All in all, the musical was very successful and something different than had been done in previous years, which attracted a large audience and made things more interesting for everyone involved. 

Great job to all of the Poland Players, cast and stage crew! It was a great show!