- The New Musical Lab on Michigan State's campus is debuting a brand new musical this weekend at the Wharton Center.
- Rocky Mountain High is about a high school in Colorado that needs to raise money for it's academics and work to find a way to do it.
- MSU students, high school students and broadway professionals have worked together for three weeks to be ready for the debut on Friday, Sept. 15 and Sunday, Sept. 17.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
There's a brand new musical hitting the Wharton Center stage and it's being debuted by local students from mid-Michigan.
The New Musical Lab on Michigan State's campus is made up of both students and broadway professionals.
“It's a win win situation," said Director Marc Acito. "They get an opportunity to work with professionals and to see how a new musical is really put together. We get of course the benefit of their participation.”
This weekend, the group is performing a brand new musical that they've learned in three weeks.
“Rocky Mountain High is about a high school in Colorado that is sports obsessed, but completely underfunded for its academics," Acito said. "So when the bottom falls out completely for their funding, they decide to use their football field to grow marijuana.”
Students in Rocky Mountain High like MSU Junior Audrey Allen said the show will have the audience laughing and relaxing.
“There are moments of heartfelt things, but honestly, you're just going to leave with a lot of laughs and you're like, what even just happened? I think that's really valuable," Allen said.
However, Acito said there's more to the story than the laughs.
“If you come for the pot jokes, you will end up staying for the debate about budget crises in public schools and the real heart of that and how that affects lives,” Acito said.
But it's more than just the performance for students like Lucy Prush who's a junior at Holt Highy School. It's about networking and building connections.
“I can see what it's like to be working on a new musical and with all the changes that it has," Prush said. "It's also really convenient for networking and that kind of thing because I'm getting to meet a lot of people who are going to go into the industry and who are already in it, and who have lots of good advice and things.”
While also performing in a brand new show.
“One day maybe this will be on Broadway and you'll be like the first thing who gets to see it," Prush said. "So I think it's a really good idea to come.”
“This is the kind of thing that we need right now," Acito said.
Rocky Mountain High makes its stage debut in the Pasant Theater on Friday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online, over the phone or in person.
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