Middle Township H.S. Alumni Return for Benefit to Save School’s Musicals[AUDIO]

High School musicals have a rich tradition of giving fledgling teen actors and singers their first chance to really experience performing on stage, and their audiences the first look at the stars of tomorrow.  Unfortunately, with arts funding being cut as school budgets are slashed, many schools are now facing a future without... high school musicals and plays.  Many program and faculty cuts have been made to reach these lower budgets and the arts have been largely deemed expendable.

The way it's been explained to me, while arts programs have consistently shown their value, both academically and socially, schools are now set up only to succeed on standardized test results. The benefit of the arts are harder to calculate, being numerically intangible.  For this reason, arts programs in many South Jersey high schools are in jeopardy. I understand the realities of the bottom line, but how short-sighted and what a shame!

Middle Township High School is one of those schools feeling the budgetary pinch in its arts program.  Funding for school plays has been mostly eliminated, with only a small stipend being budgeted for the musical director, choreographer and producer.  The real expenses of putting on such a high-cost production;  rentals, royalties, costumes, props, sets and musicians approaching $20,000 a year, have been left to student and community fundraisers.

Realizing what is about to be lost at their alma mater,  more than 80 performers from the past 20
years of Middle Township High School  musical productions will gather together
on the Middle Township Performing Arts Center stage as part of a reunion show
benefiting the musical program.

Saturday February 25th, at 7 p.m.,  musical theater alums of MTHS from all over the county, who value the experience their time of stage gave them, will return to the school, joining present students  to try and save the musical program.  Featured performers from the past 20 musicals at Middle Township High School will take the stage again to recreate their signature musical moments.  Scenes  from popular Middle Township High School productions of the past such as The Sound of Music, 42nd Street,  The Music Man, Les Miserables and others will be interspersed with opening and closing numbers featuring past and present day members of the Middle Township musical program performing together for the first time.

The  musical program hopes to raise $7000 from the Alumni Night program; money which will help the musicals survive for another year  at Middle Township High School.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, and $10 for students and are available at the Middle Township High School PAC.  Call 609-463-1924 for more information.

It was a real pleasure having members of the cast for Saturday's benefit show in Friday on the Lite Rock Morning Show.  To hear their live performances, click the link...

Middle Township High School musical performances