As this year’s long winter comes to an end and the weather slowly starts getting warmer, students know what’s coming up: the Spring Musical! This year’s musical is Beauty and the Beast, which was chosen by a group decision.

“A lot of it had to do with the vocal range of our boys, as a lot of them are baritone and most musicals since 1970 feature a tenor lead. So we had to go through hundreds of different titles,” Amy Bushey said, who will be directing the musical this year.

There is a lot more that goes into the making of the musical than most people realize.The musical will be held at Bullock Creek Middle School, and it’s the first time Bushey has ever directed a musical there.

“It’s going to be an adventure,” Bushey said, “just building the set and figuring out the logistics of it all will be a challenge”

This year, 55 people are involved in the cast of the musical, but that doesn’t include all of the backstage crew members.

“We have 14 kids in orchestra, and probably about 15 kids backstage,” Bushey said.

The stage manager this year is Juliet Merillat.

“It’s difficult to work backstage and you have to have a good stage manager,” Bushey said, “but Juliet is really calm and professional, and has a way of making everything just happen.”

Marillat is a senior at Dow High, and enjoys her roll as stage manager.

“My favorite part about being the stage manager coming together with not just the cast but also the lighting and sound people to make the show run smoothly,” Mariallat said.

According to Bushey, Juliet and her backstage crew are “what really makes the show happen live.” The combination of the backstage crew and the cast work together to produce the musical for everyone to come see.

By: Eline Ferket