From stage to screen

Coal City Theatre Department students will gather—virtually— for one final performance this school year.
At a time when theaters have temporarily gone dark, and everything from prom to promotion have been postponed, Coal City theatre director Jack Micetich was determined to go on with the show. So he came up with new way to present Broadway Revue.
Instead of taking the stage for the annual end-of-year fundraising performance, the students will appear on screen in a 90-minute show to be live streamed on the theatre department’s YouTube channel.
“We weren’t going to let the pandemic stop us from creating, and the students stepped up to the challenge,” Micetich said. Over the course of about one month, students have been submitting audio and video recordings that have been dubbed and edited into individual and group performances.
“It’s been a lot of work for everyone involved, but I think we can all agree it’s turned out great and provided our students another opportunity to do what they enjoy and that’s perform for an audience,” Micetich said.
The show will be live streamed at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14 at 2 p.m. The show will only be available during the scheduled performance times.
“There is no plan to post the show [for long term viewing], so we hope you join us for either of the scheduled streams,” Micetich said.
Although the show will only be available at the designated times, live streaming provides an opportunity for theatre fans across the country to click on the link and view the show.
Broadway Revue serves as a fundraiser for the Coal City Theatre Department and Drama Club. This year in lieu of the usual $10 admission, donations will be accepted as the department continues with its fundraising efforts for theatre education.
Micetich reports that in the past three years the Coal City Drama Club has invested over $30,000 to further education events, master classes and trips, not to mention contributions to fall and spring productions. Opportunities like these are made possible by performance-based fundraisers like the annual end of year revue.
Donations will be accepted via Venmo and PayPal, the information is posted on the Coal City Theatre Department’s social media pages—Facebook and Instagram.
As in the past, the show will feature middle and high school students performing songs from a number of musicals including “Come From Away,” “Shrek, The Musical,” “Hadestown,” “Heathers,” “The Lion King,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Spring Awakening,” and the bound for Broadway hit, “Six.”
Viewers will also see a few familiar faces from past performances, as well as a couple of special guests.
A direct link to the performance will be posed on the theatre department’s social media sites on Saturday, or go directly to bit.ly/CCTDYouTube.
“We hope you join us live,” Micetich said in closing.