Moeller Theatre’s Newest Musical: Let it Be

The Outsiders, Amadeus, A Few Good Men, Page to Stage. What do all these have in common? If you answered that they’re some recent highlights from Moeller Theater under Mr. Girard, you’d be right.

              We’re headed towards the end of the second year of Moeller Theater with Mr. Girard directing and so far, it’s been a huge success. He’s brought in actors from all around the school who’ve put on some great shows. Theater’s been much more of a topic of conversation around the school, growing in popularity largely due to Mr. Girard’s leadership and advertising.

              As we move into fourth quarter, there’s one more show for the year coming from Moeller Theater, and it’s especially exciting. Coming this spring is Let it Be, the first Musical directed by Mr. Girard. After recent success with his plays, it’s finally time to see what Mr. Girard will do with a musical. Actors in the program are excited about it; confident it’ll be another huge success.

              Let it Be follows the story of the formation of the Beatles and their early success in Europe, coming to America and playing on the Ed Sullivan show, and all the way to the band breaking up in 1970. It’s filled with some of the most popular Beatles songs like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Hey Jude.” It’s bound to be a fun, lively show featuring some great music and the Moeller acting we all have come to know and love.

              Senior Paul Shaffer has been a part of the theater program since Mr. Girard started directing, most recently playing Colonel Jessup in A Few Good Men. Moving into Let it Be, he’s playing another soldier, this time in Vietnam. When asked about his opinions on the first Girard-directed musical he expressed approval of how the process has gone so far. Although he expressed he isn’t a big musical fan, Paul said that it’s a good musical to start with for the program. “It’s just Beatles music, so it’s fun.”

              Paul also gave some insight into the way the musical has been developing and the general process for rehearsals. Discussing Girard’s stylistic differences in rehearsing musicals vs plays he said, “He’s very improv heavy in terms of movement, so none of the plays are blocked, but for a musical all of it is heavily choreographed.” It’s certainly a new style for Girard, and it’ll be interesting to see how his team adjusts. With his talent and the amount of time and effort that goes into these shows there’s no doubt the results will be an overarching success. These actors certainly know what they’re doing so there’s no doubt they’ll succeed with whatever they need to do.

              Let it Be will show Thursday March 26th, Friday March 27th, and Sunday March 29th, giving students three opportunities to see Girard’s first musical. For newer theater fans it could be an exciting introduction to musicals, with fun music they’ll know and the team they know and love. This first musical should also excite people about what’s coming, opening the doors to future musicals including Les Misérables next spring. As the final weeks of preparation pass, excitement continues to grow for Moeller Theater’s first musical under Mr. Girard: Let it Be.