Rehearsals for the 2018 Greenbelt Youth Musical celebrating the city’s 80th anniversary are in full swing. Now in its 18th year, the open-enrollment program invites students from grades 7 to 12 from Greenbelt and surrounding communities to participate in bringing an original musical production to life at the Community Center.
This year’s musical is part of the Greenbelt Legacy 80th Anniversary celebration, which began in 2017 and continues throughout this year. Entitled Time Will Tell, the musical tells the story of a Greenbelt teenager who is transported back in time to 1937, the city’s first year. She joins the cast of Greenbelt’s first youth musical and grapples with her modern notions of gender and equality against those of another period.
The musical was written and will be directed by Chris Cherry, the city’s performing arts coordinator. Cherry started the Winter Youth Musical tradition and has written every show since its inception.
This year, instead of featuring original music, the show’s score will be comprised of popular songs from the 1930s. “Greenbelt had the great fortune to be born in a peak year for American popular music,” Cherry said. The show’s unique soundtrack has led Cherry to approach some aspects of production differently. “Because the music is so catchy and dancing was such a big part of the social life, we decided to divide the choreography.”
Read more of this story in the February 8 News Review