The theater department is one of Bearden High School’s proudest.
Every year, students eagerly await to find out which fall musical and spring play will come from the reputable program. This year, the Bearden auditorium will get a true classic in the musical theater world – The Music Man.
The selection of the fall musical is a long process that starts after the musical theater students for the next year have been confirmed.
“We kind of just took all of April to look at that group and see what we thought,” theater teacher Mrs. Lauren Andrejko said. “There’d be a lot of different possibilities for us to make that puzzle fit.”
Between Mrs. Andrejko’s theater expertise and Mr. Stephen Brown’s choral knowledge, they are able to decide on a musical that best suits the cast, while giving the students the opportunity to experience a variety of genres.
According to Mrs. Andrejko, this year’s senior members have had the opportunity to star in “a modern age adaptation,” a witty 2000s murder mystery, and now, “a golden age number.”
Mrs. Andrejko fondly compared this year’s cast to that of 2019’s production of Crazy for You, saying that they had, “very strong character actors, strong comedians, and a very strong group of male actors and very beautiful female singers.”
The decision that year was neck-and-neck between Crazy for You and The Music Man, and with the cast this year mirroring those same qualities, the decision this year became almost a no-brainer.
And the cast has not disappointed, falling into their roles nearly perfectly.
“Every emotion they show, every physical thing they do with their body is showing that they are this character in that moment,” said senior Annabella Brady, who will play Marian Paroo.
Not only is the cast working to embody the story, Mrs. Andrejko and Mr. Brown are also doing extensive research to ensure that they adequately represent such a classic story.
They are both reading a long list of books to give them the full context and background on the creation of the original show on Broadway and the 1962 film adaptation, ranging from work written by the musical’s creator and autobiographies of some of the original stars.
Her students always have to do their own background research also.
“It’s a period piece basically,” Mrs. Andrejko said, “so they’re having to research and get into the life and times of the early 1900s and middle America.”
Opening night for The Music Man at Bearden is Nov. 9.