On April 11th, 12th, and 13th, the musical “Chicago” will be shown in the Rod Bushey Auditorium. The musical is about the story of two women, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, who are both on trial for murdering their husbands. The two women pair up to find the fame and fortune they want. 

Senior Jennifer Halliday, who plays Velma, started preparing for the role before call-backs. She watched the movie and watched high school musical productions on YouTube to familiarize herself with the material. But now that Halliday has secured the role, she makes sure she shows up to every rehearsal and focuses mainly on the choreography and her musical solos. She also spends some of her time outside of school practicing her material to ensure that she has it set in stone. 

“There is definitely a lot of dancing for all the main characters, and that’s hard,” Halliday said.

There are a few challenges that she faces, like choreography, but she finds it to be intimidating. Despite Halliday’s experience, she still gets nervous. 

 “Pre-show nerves will never go away, but the best thing that you can do is ground yourself and remind yourself that you can do it,” Halliday said.

The thing that works best for her is to ground herself and remind herself that she can do it. 

“Just like, living up to the characters, because they’re all such iconic characters that are all very distinct,” Halliday said.

Halliday says that it is hard to exactly recreate the personality of her character, but it is a challenge she is ready to take on.

“She’s just such a fun role because she doesn’t really like, care about anything and she’s just very confident,” Halliday said.

Senior Mason Burley, who plays Amos Hart, is Roxie’s husband. He explains that his way of preparing for the role is to put himself in the character’s shoes. Amos is a very sad guy who puts himself down a lot. Burley is excited for this role, his favorite part is seeing all the big dance numbers. 

“The hardest part would probably be my solo song because I’m on stage all by myself,” Burley said.

There are a bunch of different challenges that come with musicals, especially the choreography. Some of the cast are new to having to learn dances and some are new to musicals as well. 

Mrs. Amanda Malo, the director of Chicago, is directing a musical for the first time in 10 years. 

“I wear many hats, I am the director, which means I’m in charge of everything,” Mrs. Malo said. 

She explains all the different aspects of the musical, including casting and blocking, she has a choreographer, Mrs. Lachowski directs the band, and Mr. Funaro is the music director. There is a bunch of coordination involved in the creation of a musical. 

Mrs. Malo looks for students who have a good attitude and are willing to work hard, not just those who have the most talent. 

“I don’t love students that have anxiety. What I love though, is that they still want to push through and try it,” Ms. Malo said.

 Musicals are a lot of work to bring all together, but in the end, it’s worth it. Mrs. Malo is excited to see all of the hard work come together and insists that everyone should go and see it.

“I am in awe of the talent here in Howell High School,” Mrs. Malo said.

The staff and students in “Chicago” put in a lot of hard work and hours into this production, and they are all very excited for all of that hard work to come together.