Rock & Roll Revival at James M. Bennett High School kicks off Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. promising a weekend packed full of performances with songs from the 50-90’s.
The event began in 1999 by Meg Schomann who took an interest while her children attended JMB. After several years of success, the PTA took it over in 2002, making this year’s show their 15th.
Director Christie Wersen followed a similar role as Schomann, taking charge while her children Shiloh and Alex were in school and then continuing on to the future. The Werson children graduated in 2004 and 2005 and each year they come back to help.
Auditions for the production began in October and rehearsals, seven days a week, started in January.
“It is a lot of work but the kids love it, it really does take a village to put this on,” Christie said.
Courtesy: JMB Rock & Roll Revival
The three-day show has a cast of 135 people, in addition to 10-12 adults helping with music and building sets. Professional Choreographer Katie Nuttall and Music Directors Alex Werson and Larry Wersen have worked together to make the show top notch.
According to Christie, this is the PTA’s biggest fundraiser at Bennett High and the money is distributed towards various needs throughout the organization. For the most part, Christie says all seven performances sell out the 880 seats in the auditorium. Last year, the PTA was able to take away $40,000 from the $106,000 event.
“The whole community likes to come out, not just the students and parents,” Christie said. “It’s a different show every year with different performers.”
Along with Friday’s performance at 7 p.m., the cast will take the stage Saturday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., and then again Thursday-Saturday at 7 p.m. with a final performance on Sunday at 2 p.m.
For ticket or show information, please e-mail jmbrockandrollrevival@gmail.com or call Chris Wilde at (410) 430-8634. Check out show news on Facebook at RockRoll Revival.
Courtesy: JMB Rock & Roll Revival
