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Our seniors had a musical as freshmen (Shrek in 2019), and now this one.

Two musicals in four years, which isn't much in a place with a tradition of an annual big spring musical.

To say that the shut down has had a huge effect on our students and us would be an understatement.

Personally, I lost my mother in the fall of 2020 to COVID-19.

As a school, we lost critical continuity in performance and tech. We forgot how to do things we hadn't done for a while.

We are now very, very glad to be back.

And while we are back, we are different.

Our school's district has new borders, and we are rebuilding our community.

Rebuilding is not always smooth or easy.

But Hairspray is a celebration of all kinds of diversity, and while its attitude may seem light, it is a fantasy about the power of love uniting everyone.

The real villains in 1962 didn't embrace anyone who looked like Motormouth, Seaweed, Edna, or Tracy.

There is still work to be done.

Right now, in the midst of the struggles in the world and in our community, this is a time in which we need and deserve celebration!

Thank you for joining us!

This production had more than its share of bumps and challenges. Some of that is because of COVID-19 and the Omicron wave at the end of last year, sending our auditions online and our early rehearsals as well. It was difficult at first for us to hear each other, and see each other, because at first we could not be in the same room together, so we wroked on this virtually, and then once we were together, we had to be masked and were very careful about the size of our rehearsals and our distance.

For the most part, the nature of this story separates our cast into two sections. Only when all of the scenes and songs are performed together does the entire company feel like one group.

Congratulations to our new music director, Ms. Carolyn Freel, Atholton's choir teacher. It's been a delight to work with her! She is a creative, talented, and stalwart colleague! Thanks as always to Ms. Stephanie Girwitz for numerous production dutires including choreography. And the support from our AHS Drama Boosters, AHS custodians, and our administrative team has been stellar!

We hope you enjoy the show!

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