The Starlight Theatre Company (STC) musical theatre program gets ready to perform yet another musical that has big dance numbers and a catchy song that they’ve been practicing for weeks. The STC works hard during class every B day to make sure their musical is satisfactory. Ready to give the audience a show, the STC musical theatre program knows that their musical will leave the audience waiting and wanting more next year.

STC’s musical theatre program has been working on Broadway’s well known musical “Chicago,” known for its musical numbers and choreography.

“It’s set in the city of Chicago around the time of prohibition and focuses on a woman coming into her own who emotionally reacts and murders her current special friend,” musical theatre teacher Marco Bazan said. “She goes to jail and meets other married murderers.”

“Chicago” this year is one of the many STC’s musicals that the cast has had fun producing, while also being one of the many musicals that fits right for the students this year.

“[Chicago] fits right for the group,” Bazan said. “It’s hard to find a show that fits for all the students and because our class is predominantly female, trying to find a musical for the group and the roles apart of the musical really fit our students.”

The majority of the characters in the musical include different women who each have a unique background story that contributes to their character’s personalities.

“I play Hunyak who is a Hungarian immigrant that is one of the six merry murderesses accused of murder, but is the only one who is truly innocent,” senior Rebekah Wood said. “I really wanted to play her because she has an interesting accent and dance number with ballet which is very exciting to be apart of in this musical.”

The cast of characters also includes men, like the ensemble, that play important parts that contribute to the storyline of the play.

“I am in the male ensemble and we are pretty short on boys [this year],” junior Kaedon Solana says. “I am just about all the ensemble roles; I play two policemen, a man who gets killed, and the men in cell block tango.”

The scenes in the musical are known for their songs that will ring in your head for hours and choreography that’s unlike any other.

“My favorite part is definitely numbers like ‘All That Jazz’ because it is one of the iconic dance numbers,” Bazan said.

Producing the musical with the acting, singing, and dancing has and will always be fun part for the cast of students.

“I always look forward to the musical that the class puts on, because it is a fun way to end the year by being apart of a class musical with a smaller cast and a chance to be apart of something that allows me to play different characters, and learn new skills,” Wood said.

Solana admitted that “Chicago” wasn’t his favorite musical he has performed in during his time at Bowie, but the process of developing this play has been a blast.

“I can’t say that this is my favorite musical I’ve worked on but it is definitely one that I will remember because of how much fun the process has been and how student driven it is,” Solana said. “It’s incredible to see how creative all my peers are and how absolutely talented they are.”