With the spring play less than a month away, students are working hard for an excellent show. This year’s spring musical, Popstars: The 90s Musical, centralizes its music around the renowned 90s songs that we’ve come to know and love. It focuses on two bands battling it out to win The Next Gen Talent Show while also intertwining heartbreak and humor.

Two of the lead characters, Mark and Patrick, are cast by Senior Vinny Sainato and Sophomore Collin Rodgers. The boys agree that they need to finalize the “small ins-and-outs of [their] dances” as expressed by Rodgers. The rival girl band, whose members include Shannon and Charlie, portrayed by Senior Olivia Loftus and Sophomore Celia Fleet, agree that they and their fellow band members have spent an enormous amount of time outside of school practicing; Celia, herself, let out a small shudder when I asked her how many hours she practices (she whispered “that’s so many” when thinking of a good estimate). 

However, the show would not be the same if not for the set hand-built by our cast and crew.

Each Saturday, dedicated students sacrifice three to four hours of their day to construct the props and scenery that will be showcased during the performance. As of now, all the necessary props are in attendance at the school; they only need to be refurbished slightly. All while being guided by their stage managers for quick and effortless scene changes, our diligent crew adjusts these props, and they act as the backbone for creating an engaging environment for the audience.

This year, there are three stage managers: Katelyn Hupp, Katelynn Roberts, (accurately nicknamed K1 and K2 due to the K’s in their names), and myself.

Both K’s find that the biggest challenge is retaining enough cast to move props since there are times of great lack of participation due to students’ other commitments. However, some cast members have stepped up and moved the set for smooth transitions. Even though there have been big hiccups and modifications, we all agree that this musical will be top-notch. 

With opening night approaching quickly, the cast and crew can resonate with Collin’s words of how there is “a lot of pressure and not enough time.” All nights starting at 7 pm, Popstars: a 90s Musical will perform on March 14 and 15 and conclude on March 16. Get ready for three nights of throwback fun!