Young Talent Abounds in Shorewood

My hubby and I love that we live within walking distance to every school my daughter will go to someday. It makes us feel more attached to the community having schools surrounding us.  It made our house and block even more appealing -- especially since Shorewood schools have a good reputation.

Community traditions often develop and endure generation after generation through schools.  Shorewood schools certainly have their annual traditions and they welcome the entire community.  One of those annual traditions is the theater production at Shorewood High School.  This all-student production is not just for the high school students, faculty and families -- it is for the entire community. And the entire community shows its love for the program by buying tickets and seeing the show. 

This year the students did a production of Ragtime (May 6 - 8 and May 12 - 14).  These kids were fantastic!  They were talented, focused and determined...but most impressive of all, they had so much heart.   There were more then 50 students in the cast and many more behind the scenes -- upper and lower classmen.  And they were doing some really cool stuff with lighting, set design, audio-visual and let's not forget singing, dancing and acting! 

I am not sure if you know what Ragtime is about, but it is a rather intense storyline about race relations, immigration, growth of unions, industrial strife and upper class living in the early 1900s.  Not exactly easy material to digest. Then again, the themes are quite relevant to society today, if you really think about it.   These kids presented the material with a true understanding of its message. Yet I couldn’t help notice the innocence still present in the teens, which, as they projected themselves through their characters, made the message all the more compelling.

Bravo to Shorewood High Drama department and especially the kids that worked their tails off to put on a good community show!  Be sure to check out next year’s production to be blown away by the talent that abounds right here in our Village.

The photos to accompany this blog are available by clicking View Full Size (above thumbnails to right) and moving through the images. A caption is provided for each photo.

All photos copyright Chrissy Rose Photography, LLC.

What is Shorewood's underground scene? What are the hidden treasures?  If you know about something that makes Shorewood special and would work for my blog, please share!