Cast, crew, and a crowd will gather in the auditorium Thursday at 7 p.m. for the opening night of the theatre department’s fall musical, Bright Star. 

The award-winning musical reflects the ups and downs of life by diving into the years of main character Alice Murphy, as she grows up in the South through the 1920s and 1940s.

“It’s really just a story about a woman who is telling her story to different people,” sophomore cast member Ciara Willis said. “It switches between moments in her life from the 1920s and the 1940s, and she pretty much has gone through a lot of struggles in her life. I don’t want to give any spoilers but a lot of crazy stuff happens.” 

But the production is about more than what is seen on stage.

“The students in the Technical Theatre classes built everything from scratch, and I am thrilled with the finished set,” tech director Laura Darce said. “ I feel like it communicates the sense of family and ‘Coming Home’ which is the design concept for the production. The audience should feel that community spirit from the time they enter the auditorium until the end of the show.”

Rehearsing since September, there were productional obstacles to overcome. 

“The lighting and sound was the biggest challenge,” Darce said. “The students and I had to very quickly use advanced equipment in a very short period of time. [But we were] able to make it work.”

Junior and lead costume manager Kenna Hall hopes audiences will enjoy the show as much as the rest of the production team does. 

“I really like the show,” she said. “I ended up seeing it at a community theatre and I really really fell in love with it. I did costumes since I also did that the previous year, and I really liked costumes. [Behind the scenes] is really hectic, because a lot of times I am covering quick changes, but so far I think we are doing pretty strong.”