Melanie, who played Tanya, the self-described “sassy best friend of the main character Donna,” tries to do every possible musical activity available at Newton High. Every musical, band, and chorus performance is her chance to demonstrate her talent. In her view, performances are an endurance test worth sticking out to see the result: “Sometimes practice can be long and drawn out and sometimes you’re just like, ‘I want to go home.’ But then when you wait it out for the performance, you see the reactions in the audience and you take your bows and the recognition for that is really special.”

 

Beau, who played Sky, Sophie’s love interest, feels similarly. “I’ve done musicals for six years,” he says. “Any year would have been a lot more nerve-wracking for me. But this year it felt like second nature.” He chalks this up to the close-knit theater department and the “people who surround you,” and likens the cast and crew to one close family. He says he didn’t quite catch the same vibe when he played football, and since he pushed himself years ago to start performing, he admits he’s grown more confident thanks to his efforts and those of the people around him.

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Chaos. Though the actors are prepared for their roles, they’re not prepared for a visit from a nearly mile-wide tornado that had intensified to EF3 strength. It first touches down on County Highway 13 southwest of Ste. Marie. The audience is ushered into the basement to wait it out while the cast and crew move into the hallway or take shelter in the costume rooms. Similar to the identity of Sophie’s father, what will happen next is a mystery at the time. A new type of suspense has hijacked the musical’s narrative.

 

The threat to Newton High passes, but the tornado is on a trajectory for Robinson. The understandably shaken audience returns to their seats as the extended intermission ends with the return of the cast to the stage. Mamma Mia! is back on. Behind the curtain, Beau awaits his cue with a thought: the show must go on.

 

“Everyone knows each other here,” Beau says. “I used to have some medical problems, and a lot of people would talk to me and try to help me through it. There was a hat day for me whenever I was sick.” He considers Jasper County a place where everyone takes care of their own. “Everyone cares about each other here. We also care about people from other counties,” he says. The attitude of empathy that Beau has absorbed from the inspiration of his parents and assistance from his classmates and neighbors might be the spark that motivates his desire to study physical therapy at Eastern Illinois University next year. When he begins work with clients, he’ll have countless opportunities to improve the quality of life for people in otherwise debilitating circumstances.

 

Melanie admires the closeness of Jasper County and can’t wait to finish her degree in elementary education at Eastern so she can return and give back to the community that raised her. “Our community is willing to help others. Seeing the Crawford County storm… We’ve raised money, we’ve done all sorts of stuff just to help. It’s a very loving community,” she says. Through their support for the theater program, the community has instilled a confidence in Melanie that she believes warrants a return on their investment.

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The damage need not be recounted in detail, but Robinson faced heartbreaking devastation and loss of life. Crawford County Board Chairman Bill Burke commented to the press, “To live it, and actually be right beside it and be trying to work in the middle of it. I’ve never, ever in my life seen anything like it…It looked like a warzone.”

 

The next day, during the Saturday performance, the Newton Community High School theater department raised over $1,730 during intermission for Crawford County tornado victims. By the end of the musical’s run, Newton combined funds with money collected at St. Thomas School and all Jasper Unit 1 schools, delivering $9,320.66 to the Crawford County Treasurer’s Office.

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“Unforgettable” is the word Melanie uses to describe the additional excitement of the now infamous Friday performance. Though this particular memory might be frightening, we’re sure there are more than enough “good feels” and highlights that remind Melanie and Beau the community they live in not only cares for them but others, as well.

 

That’s the thing about theater programs. They’re a microcosm of the larger community they inhabit. The creative platform allows students to express unique perspectives and show off their talent, and it’s this expression, in part, that fosters a deeper sense of unity and solidarity within the community that supports them. Leave it to the creativity and versatility of so-called “theater kids” to turn a performance to remember into an incredible fundraising opportunity and act of charity for their neighbors during their time of need.