This year's Newtown High School spring musical is promising to be like no other. With the NHS auditorium project ongoing, preparations need to be made to make sure the production is more like a touring company show.

Jane Matson, the production's director, announced that this year's musical will be Evita.

While the venue is yet to be determined, as of Wednesday, January 18, performance dates and times are already set. Performances will be held Thursday, March 23, to Sunday, March 26. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening performances will be at 7 pm. Matinee performances will be both Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm.

Evita, Ms Matson explained, shares the story Eva and Juan Perón's rise to power to become president and first lady of Argentina.

"I chose [Evita], because I knew I was going to be out of the auditorium,' said Ms Matson. "And it utilizes a suggested set instead of a complete set. It utilizes a smaller pit, and I knew I could transport it." Evita is also a musical she has wanted to direct for a long time, she said, adding later that this show is her "baby." The talent and commitment of this year's students, Ms Matson said, also inspired her to choose Evita.

No matter the venue chosen, Ms Matson explained this year's musical needs to be rehearsed and prepared to be brought to the venue just before performances, rather than be built and rehearsed in advance as would normally take place in the NHS auditorium.

"I'm doing the show as if it were a tour. We're treating it like we are preparing a touring company show," said Ms Matson.

Ms Matson sees it as a perfect lesson for the students, "because part of performing is doing touring companies."

"We are preparing the show with the knowledge that at the very last minute we are going to go into a space, we're going to have figure out spacing, figure out logistics, we're going to have to figure all the tech stuff out right at the last minute," said Ms Matson, "like you do when you are on tour."

Due to venue availability, Ms Matson said the show needs to be ready earlier than in other years to allow time to transport the show.

"It has to be completely done. They have to know it by heart, and it has to be ready, almost like its own package, so that we can take that package and put it in whatever venue we end up in," said Ms Matson.

Rehearsals began earlier than they normally would. Music rehearsals started at the end of November, and they would normally begin in December, according to Ms Matson.

'Dramatically Challenging'

All preparations for Evita are taking place in the NHS chorus room and in the school's cafetorium. The stage in the cafetorium is too small, so the group is using the floor in the cafetorium for rehearsals. Many groups use the cafetorium for events and meetings, so Ms Matson said the Evita rehearsals need to be scheduled differently than in other years, when they would have had nearly exclusive use of the auditorium.

"Everybody has been great about letting us kind of barge into the space," she said, "because we don't have space."

Evita has roughly 60 cast members, 20 pit orchestra musicians, and is expected to have between ten and 25 crew members. The number of students involved is a little less last year's spring musical, Disney's Beauty and the Beast, and Ms Matson said that was a conscious decision.

This show also needs a "freestanding set," because the set will not be able to be screwed into the walls or floors of the rented venue, Ms Matson said.

Technical Director Brian Tenney said he is approaching this year's set differently, too. Creating the set, he said, is "dramatically challenging." He is stressing a new level of professionalism with the students this year, due to the need to be in another space.

"We teach the students do be very conscious of where they go, how they use the space, and what it is like when they leave it," said Mr Tenney.

The production as a whole has a goal of emulating professionalism, according to Ms Matson.

"We understand that we are not professionals. We understand this is a high school experience," she said. "The whole goal here is to emulate that professional experience as much as possible. That starts right with the prep of music, choreography, and characterization... It carries through to hanging up your stage costumes [and] thanking your stage manager when they call '15 minutes.'"

One of Ms Matson's goals when she first came to the district seven years ago, she said, was to unite the cast, crew, and pit orchestra, "to realize we are one unit that puts this show on." She said she is fortunate to have Mr Tenney, producer Janice Gabriel, musical director Brett Boles, and pit conductor Kurt Eckhardt, all of whom help her achieve that goal.

Some of the rental needs for the production will be based on the venue, but Ms Matson said there are some that are known.

"We will be renting sound. We will be renting lights," said Ms Matson. "The amount and configuration of what we rent will depend upon the venue."

While she does not expect Evita to cost as much as the NHS 2016 production of Beauty and the Beast - roughly $50,000 - to produce, Ms Matson said the expected rental costs and moving the production will add to the overall expense of the show. Without a known venue, Ms Matson said the cost is hard to guess.

In the past volunteers have helped on productions, in small and large ways, and Ms Matson said that is welcome again this year. Volunteers can opt to spend a few hours on a Saturday helping to build the set or design costumes. Volunteers can also help oversee advertising or other efforts. Ms Matson said community members, whether connected to the school community or not, are welcome to offer their skills to help the show.

Donations and sponsors are also being sought to help offset the production costs. As in past years, according to Ms Matson, the sponsors will be honored at the performances in March.

Ms Gabriel said she is excited to see what the students come up for the production. The best part of the process, she said, is being a witness to the students experience and ingenuity. The students, who always work hard, according to Ms Gabriel, "really stepped it up this year."

Mr Tenney said he is looking forward to the moment he can stand near the back of whatever space the musical ends up in to take in the feeling of a cruise ship coming into harbor and knowing he was a small part of the "big effort."