The cast of “Songs For a New World” performs a scene during Sunday’s dress rehearsal for the Piqua Music Department production at the Hartzell Center for the Performing Arts.
Mike Ullery | Miami Valley Today
By Haylee Pence
PIQUA – The Piqua High School Musical group will be performing “Songs for a New World” at Piqua High School on four days later this week.
The performances will be at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, and Thursday, March 17 and at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at piqua.org, calling Piqua High School at 937-773-6314, or by stopping at Piqua High School at the Main Office. Musical Director Tom Westfall said, “Tickets are on sale now!”
According to Westfall, “’Songs for a New World’ is a song cycle by Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown […] the show is about that moment in your life when you have to make choices that will affect the future.” The show will be accompanied by Carol Palmer, the Piqua High School music department accompanist, who will be on the piano.
Westfall commented, “The score is rich and lush [and] range from deep moving messages like what a woman does during the American revolution and how she copes with the worry and fear for the men in her life to how Mrs. Claus feels about living at the North Pole all these years.”
The students have been practicing and rehearsing since their return from winter break in January, balancing tough schedules of school, sports, show choir, work, and other activities. Westfall stated, “Some weeks we’ve been at school every night of the week at one rehearsal or another.”
Students and staff have been working hard to bring this musical to life. Students have had the opportunity to “connect to the storylines” and “challenge themselves vocally” according to Westfall. There is a total of 31 students in the cast and half of them are performing solos throughout the show.
Westfall commented, “the songs will leave you laughing and crying” and “these are musical moments that will live forever in the hears of the singers.”
While the songs may not be familiar, Westfall guarantees that everyone will enjoy the evening.
