For the first time, students in the Backlight Theater Company are writing an original musical. As of now, members of this musical are in the brainstorming portion of this process and are debating between two ideas for the plot of the musical. 

“One is a dystopian vision of the future with high school kids that breakthrough and save the world. And the other one is [an] updated view of the past where the heirs to the throne are fighting for the newly vacated king. The king is dead and the heirs to the throne are gonna figure out who gets to be the new king,” Mr. Kevin Phelan, the musical director, said. 

Apart from the students on stage, many students work backstage to create the show and allow it to run smoothly, such as in lighting control and set-building. 

Currently, due to the overall school closure, all meetings for the musical are over Zoom. Students work from home to write the script and lyrics of the upcoming musical. Additionally, to keep everyone on track, those who are working on the musical receive a checklist of what needs to be done in that month. 

“We have a multilevel list, and we have different checkmarks for what needs to be done by each month…[we meet] over zoom,” Connor Papantony (11) said.

Papatony also gave an approximate timeline of the musical’s production process. 

“By the end of December, we should have a full script and by January/February we’re gonna be revising it,” Papantony said. 

Creating an original musical and making it online instead of performing an already written musical has garnered a significant change to all participants, and varying opinions about it have come up.

“It’s completely different…they’re not something you can compare…it’s going to end up being really really interesting and special,” Anett Vaysberg (10) said.

A unique feature the theater has is called the “ghost light.” This light stays on at all times to represent VHHS’ pledge for equality and for everyone to stand united.

Ultimately, a lot is going into this completely original musical, and the people that are a part of it work hard to create the best possible production for the audience while going over several hurdles brought by this pandemic.