Perpich News

Perpich Arts High School Musical Theater Ensemble Presents “Life: A Woman’s Journey”

December 5, 2022

The Perpich Arts High School Musical Theater Ensemble presented their fall semester show, “Life: A Woman’s Journey”, over two nights and a matinee on December 1st and 2nd, 2022.

What happens when eight intelligent, thoughtful, caring, and determined young women get together to create a musical theater revue? You end up with a show like “Life: A Woman’s Journey”.

The members of Company – the PCAE Musical Theater Ensemble – put together the show to highlight the diversity of women and their experiences, while exploring themes common with all women’s lives – heartbreak, overcoming stereotypes, sisterhood (given or chosen), sex, finding validation, and many other examples of the trial and error as they discover themselves and learn to love the women they are today. The show included music from Legally Blonde, Mean Girls, Into the Woods, 9 to 5, The Prom, and many more.

Rachel Steen (Musical Theater 2023) commented on the work ethic needed for this show, which the students started working on the first week of school. “We have to show up and pretend the story is new every single time that we do it. Kevin [Hohlstein] hopes that we will all get the chance to do a four or five month show run because you have to learn how to show up everyday like it’s a brand new story. How do you show up for an audience member who has seen it 13 times but still finds something new each time?”

Brynn Howitz (Musical Theater 2023) believes the group’s rapport is visible to the audience. “This group has made a strong connection and, because we are a smaller group, you can see that on stage” she said.

Steen added, “These women are amazing. I love working with them. We’ve been through thick and thin with each other; we’ve cried together, we’ve been in pain together, we’ve talked together through a lot of stuff, and it’s been nice to have that community.”