APPLETON, Wis.— The Center Stage High School Musical Theater Program is back in-person this year; it’s a collaborative effort among Fox Cities Performing Arts Center and several area-high schools.
Launching back in 2016, the program aims to provide supplemental education, highlighting all things local theater. Pairing students with music professionals, it hopes to be an extension of the arts in schools across northeastern Wisconsin.
Students like Josh Thone of Xavier High School know the importance of these opportunities.
“It’s that feeling of just having so much warmth being around people that are so much like you,” said Thone. “[They’re] so interested in what we do and so I think that’s for me is kind of what sets this program apart.”
Thone is a student of many talents and said being on stage feels like home.
“It was in my blood to be in theater and do it for maybe a career or even thinking about doing it recreationally,” Thone said. “It’s always just been kind of a part of me, it’s my beating heart.”
Theater students, who at first may be strangers, will share a stage this weekend to perform “Encore Cabaret.” The program dubs this a Broadway-scale show.
“It’s just so necessary to education,” said Nandi Dube, another student participating in the Center Stage High School Musical Theater Program. “[It is important] to be able to feel creative and to put your outlook of something into the world.”
Curtains will go up Friday, Jan. 14, and Saturday, Jan. 15, for the “Encore Cabaret.”
Students will continue the program for a final performance in May 2022.
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