The production of a successful musical is a long and rigorous process, most of which is done behind the scenes. The official process begins with auditions and consolidation of the cast. However, even before that, cast hopefuls have to learn the music they will perform in their audition.

This year’s fall musical, Grease, will be co-directed by drama teacher Jason Hagg and choir director Mindy Fry. In an effort to make auditions more fair, Fry set up workshops to teach students the music that they would be singing at the audition, a practice carried over from her direction of musicals at Mill Creek Middle School. The workshops and practice sessions were meant to take the pressure off the traditional auditioning process.

“She made sure that everyone had a fair chance,” Hagg said. “That’s a huge deal for me.”

After auditions were completed, the official cast list was released and posted outside of the theater in the music hallway. The list is headed by junior Kennedy Forshey as Sandy and junior Zac Matthew as Danny.

Hagg believes that with the additional help from Fry, the cast will be already be a step ahead when rehearsals start.

“There were parts of the songs that were different, with big step-ups or step-downs, that if a kid were singing, they all would have missed,” Hagg said.

With Fry, the cast will be able to take on the tougher music.

The musical opens Nov. 9 and closes on Nov. 12.