Following Camp Broadway, there were a few slow weeks for The Plaza Arts Center.
However, last Monday, the building came alive again with the sounds of cheering and singing as the cast and crew of the Broadway Intensive program returned for the fourth year of presenting a summer musical on The Plaza stage in Eatonton.
It truly was like a big family reunion. Hugs were exchanged, stories were told, but the one common element for everyone in the building was that they were ready to go to work.
Director Henry Scott has a way of getting everyone focused and excited. This was made clear on the first day when he promised to give 110 percent daily, and each young person at the table agreed to do the same.
The Broadway Intensive program is a two-week intensive presented in collaboration between The Arts Barn and The Plaza Arts Center. Virtual auditions are held in the spring before young people from 10th grade through 25 years old come together daily at The Plaza for two weeks, during which time, an entire musical comes together.
To put things in perspective, this is a community non-profit working with several professional people in the performing arts to produce a Broadway-level production in just two weeks – a difficult task by all measures.
The set is built, costumes are made, lines and songs are learned, and movements on stage are blocked out, and at the end of the prep work, hundreds of people sit in the audience and enjoy everyone’s hard work and talent on display.
That’s what the annual Broadway Intensive is all about – bringing something amazing to the people.
This year’s production is called “Working,” a musical based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel and adapted for the stage by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz.
“Terkel’s best-selling book of interviews with American workers paints a vivid portrait of the workers that the world so often takes for granted: the schoolteacher, the phone operator, the waitress, the millworker, the mason and the housewife, just to name a few,” Music Theater International’s website states. “Nominated for six Tony Awards, this classic has been updated for a modern age, featuring new songs by Tony Award-winning Lin-Manuel Miranda, as well as favorites by Stephen Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, James Taylor, Micki Grant, and more.”
This year represents the 50th anniversary of the book that inspired the musical. A celebration of the American Dream, this musical play is the perfect way to get an inside look into the working lives of neighbors, friends, and family members.
“Working” stars talented young people from all across middle Georgia. Support them and see for yourself July 12-14 and July 18-21 at The Plaza Arts Center (305 N. Madison Ave., Eatonton). Order tickets to “Working” online at plazacenter.org or by calling 706-923-1655.