Three weeks prior to the show, adrenaline is kicking in. Student performers are ready to hit the dance floor. Singers are ready to sing. Actors are bursting to act. But first, some serious groundwork needs to be established. There are rules to discuss. Information forms to fill out. Schedules to address. Director Roger Castellano '83 begins by sitting the cast down for its first meeting, a major "talk down" session.

Once those hurdles are cleared, costumer Karen Weller - who has been shopping and creating prior to this time - must measure each performer for every costume. And then the cast's real work begins, with Mitchell Hanlon, conductor and musical director, teaching the vocals and then Kym Andrews, choreographer, working with the dancers.