Cast hopes to inspire and heal

PRESCOTT – When “Songs for a New World” opens at Prescott High School Friday, May 21, it will be a triumphant, joyous moment for theater lovers, the cast and the directors.

When the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in “High School Musical” being cancelled last year, directors Thomas Speltz and Brittany Kamrath, along with the cast, were heartbroken. But not this year. This year is “Songs for a New World” is an unconventional musical, Speltz said.

“It’s not a typical, conventional musical with a plot line that runs throughout,” Speltz said. “It’s a song-cycle musical, a grouping of songs that have been written around a theme or idea.”

This type of arrangement is popular due to its universality, Speltz added.

“Each song is a slice of life of a story,” Speltz said. “It’s from the point of a view from the character.”

Each character is going through a life journey, the “timelessness of self-discovery” at a critical moment, reflecting on the past, present and future, past mistakes, things they’ve learned and things for which they yearn.

“Each song is its own mini show that provides an opportunity for individuals to reflect on experiences the actors are sharing with us,” Speltz said.

The goal is for the audience to see themselves in the performers’ stories and reflect upon that, to walk away more optimistic about the world. Speltz and Kamrath feel that is especially important, considering how 2020 collectively affected everyone.

“The title says it all,” Speltz said. “Their future does hold something great.”

Besides providing hope and inspiration, this musical was also chosen for practical purposes, Kamrath said. It works well with COVID restrictions. Each performance stands on its own, so no matter what, the show will go on. The characters aren’t all onstage together. In traditional musicals, the characters and plots intertwine and depend on each other. In this show, there would be no domino effect from a COVID curveball.

“No matter what, we weren’t going to be let down and it’s not reliant on one person,” Kamrath said. “Each character leads their own story. They’re each so special and so hard-working.”

Performers auditioned in early April and have been rehearsing for seven weeks. The directing duo wanted to be sure a production could happen this year, since last year’s cancellation was heart-breaking.

“This is huge,” Kamrath said. “To see those kids back up on that stage, it makes me tear up every single rehearsal.”

Last year, when COVID hit and school initially shut down, the cast of “High School Musical” kept rehearsing virtually as long as it could, with hope that they’d be able to perform. No one knew from one week to the next what would happen, so they held out hope. But it wasn’t meant to be.

“This is a new theater program,” Speltz said. “This is our fifth year. We’ve been growing every year, but coming to a grinding halt was terrifying.”

Speltz’s career also came to a grinding halt. He is a full-time theater composer and director. This show is his first time stepping back into theater professionally since the pandemic began.

“I dropped everything and said yes,” Speltz said when Kamrath contacted him.

Kamrath credited the school district administration for its unwavering support.

“They wanted this to happen for our kids, our community,” but meaningful and thought-provoking.”

If you go …

Kamrath said.

While theater is meant to be entertaining, the pair wanted this show offer something meaningful too: The opportunity to heal, reflect, and come together.

“We’re not ignoring the fact that we’ve been through a lot of trauma,” Speltz said. “We want to acknowledge it and heal from it.

“Theater is important to society and culture. It stood the test of time as an art form. I always knew it would survive, just when and how we got to perform again, it needs to be not only entertaining Actors will perform without masks, but the audience will be required to mask and social distance. Tickets are available on the Prescott School District website; 100 seats are available per show. If the shows don’t sell out online, a limited number of tickets will be sold at the door. Cost is $5.

Show times are 7 p.m. Friday, May 21; 7 p.m. Saturday, May 22; and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 23. The show is 52 minutes long, with no intermission.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Halle Anger, Rian Engeldinger, Mackenzie Hegland, Kyle Holtan, Carter Lubich, Sydney Magee, Madison Matzek, Shayanne Stenroos and Sophie Tibayan.

Creative team:

•Music & lyrics by Jason Robert Brown

•Director: Thomas Speltz

•Music Director: Britanny Kamrath

•Lighting Designer: William Larson

•Recorded Score Musician: Victor Zupanc

•Student Choreographer: Shayanne Stenroos

•Marketing & Publicity: Andrea Herzan, Mandy Matzek and PACT

Photos courtesy of Thomas Speltz