The spring show of “Cats: Young Actors Edition” at Pearce High School was one of the first stagings of the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical by a teenage cast and crew.
The New York Times recently profiled the play and Pearce Theater Director Heather Biddle, a 2021 RISD STARS Teacher.
Biddle said the Pearce theater department was offered the chance to stage the play as a way to reach middle school students because the show was originally formatted for students in grades five through nine.
She said the coverage by The New York Times was a “tremendous accolade for a group of kids who really have had very little opportunities due to the pandemic.”
“Performing a show for an audience is part of the RISD curriculum, but none of us could’ve ever imagined that one of our shows would end up being profiled in The New York Times,” Biddle said. “This show built a community for our performers. It was the students who committed to making this show the very best it could be. Most of the show was student-driven from music direction, choreography, set design, lighting, costuming and sound. We can’t wait to watch these rising juniors and seniors grow in the years to come!”
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