An American Musical
This past month has created a lot of first experiences for Morton students. The most prominent one being the opportunity to attend the famous musical Hamilton. The musical focuses on the United States founding father, Alexander Hamilton, who was responsible for changing the financial and political systems during the early creation of our nation.
Around fifty of Morton’s students were able to attend the matinee show in Chicago. This opportunity itself was brought forth by Morton’s very own Melissa Brassard, who won an essay contest. At the performance, the student’s got to see actors perform songs, poems, and monologues regarding early American history while also having a question and answer session with some of the cast members.
Political Insight
Being politically active is rare amongst most high school students. In fact, most Morton students had never been exposed to the way that their local government functions. On November 14th, 2017, Frank Mrvan was able to change that. The North Township trustee brought a council meeting to Morton for the class of 2018 seniors to experience. At the meeting, Mrvan and the council discussed changes in the retirement program for township employees and resolutions to prevent nepotism within the local government.
The Up and Coming
Edges the Musical
Each year, the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts has a musical in its Black Box theatre. Past shows included a year with Frog and Toad and Songs for a New World. However, this year, HAPA is bringing something new to the table. Edges: The Musical, doesn’t have a plot, instead it is a series of songs that focus on personal growth and self-discovery.
The cast itself consists of just nine students, which is a significantly smaller number than most of the HAPA performance cast lists. As the show approaches, the cast members are beginning to feel the excitement.
Performer Artrell Brown exclaimed, “I’m excited to see how everything comes together with the incorporation of a live band and lights!”
The show will run December 7th-9th at 7 pm and December 10th at 2 pm, tickets are nine dollars for adults and seven dollars for students.
The Holiday Spirit
Christmas time is a big ordeal within the Morton community. To get into the holiday spirit, all of the performing arts majors unite to put on a show for the Hammond community known as HAPA Holidays. This year there will be performances by the Choir, Acting, Dance, Band, Guitar, Piano, and Tech Theatre majors. To end the night, all of the majors get together and perform a Christmas song for the audience. The students have worked diligently to put on a show for everyone to enjoy. HAPA Holidays will be a one-day event performed on December 20th at 7 pm, tickets are five dollars per adult and three dollars per student entry.
Student Spotlight
Within every institution there is talent. At Morton, there’s an abundance of it due to the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts. These students are often distinguishable through their success in their designated major with many talented in more than one area. A prominent example of this is Artrell Brown.
Brown is a Junior at Morton Senior High School. At the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts, Brown is a double major in both Dance and Acting. Although he is not a Vocal major, Artrell finds the time to be involved in the HAPA Show Choir led by Ms. Pruitt-Alley.
Each school year, Brown leads a busy life with performing nonstop. Since attending Morton, he has been involved in musicals, such as Cinderella, where he played the lead role of the Prince, and Scrooge The Musical as Bob Cratchit. As an actor, he has performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Skin of Our Teeth. As a member of the Dance Ensemble, he has performed in each dance show- he even had the opportunity to have his own solo at last year's Spring Dance Concert. Currently, Brown is a part of HAPA’s Edges: The Musical cast of nine performers.
As a dedicated performer, Brown makes it his priority to dedicate his time and effort into everything that he does.
“The most stressful thing about balancing everything is missing rehearsals. I’m not only missing out on one rehearsal but most of the time up to three,” Brown explained.
However, Brown doesn’t allow a sick day affect his performance quality, he always ensures that he makes the time to catch up on any choreography or rehearsals that he missed.
“As a performer, I can emotionally move people and give them valuable advice through my artistic impact. Sometimes, audience members leave our shows in tears, which means that we’ve made them feel something. Performing is an outlet for myself (and others) to help others feel good,” Brown stated in regards to why he loves performing.
Like most performers, Brown wishes to pursue performing in his future.
“Performing is something that I consider a part of me- it’s helped me find who I am as a person,” said Brown.
Teacher Highlight
Behind every great theatre show, there is a phenomenal Tech Theatre crew. In 2007, Morton was granted the presence of Ms. Melissa Brassard. At the Hammond Academy for the Performing Arts, Melissa Brassard is the Technical Theatre director. In doing so, she teaches Technical Theatre, Video Production, and is the sponsor of the International Thespian Society.
Brassard is an Indiana University Bloomington graduate. During her time there, she dedicated herself to the arts through being the assistant house manager at the Indiana University Auditorium.
Through her endless hours of dedication in the classroom and in the theatre, Brassard has been a major influence on the lives of our HAPA performers. With her time and effort, each production that reaches the HAPA Mainstage or Black Box Theatre is phenomenal beyond belief.