Jefferson High School in Portland is putting on its first musical in 20 years.
Tabitha Shea is a sophomore at Jefferson, and she's co-stage manager for the school's production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella.'
"It's based off of one of the movies from the 1950s and 1997. It was made for a movie screen, but we're doing an onstage production of it. And it's the very first musical at Jefferson in 20 years," Shea said. "It's the first show that we've had with such a wide production of people. In our last show, we had 13 people and in this production we have 50. It's just like the movie that I saw when I was a kid."
During the show, Shea's role as stage manager keeps her busy.
"I'm backstage, and I'm letting all of the actors help with their entrances. So when you see people move on stage, when you see the set changing, so when you see it going from one place to another, I'm helping direct that, and I'm helping move the pieces sometimes. I'm helping people change into their outfits. I'm helping them stay comfortable in their outfits, because it gets really hot back there," Shea said.
"When I was a kid, I always wanted to participate in a musical at all. They were my favorite, and I've always wanted to do something like that. And I really love the soundtrack for this one in particular. So this is just like an amazing opportunity. I get to work with great people and an amazing community."
Shea says the theater department has made a lot happen with a small budget.
"We've been very low on budget as being a mostly Black student school. We're not given a lot of budget, especially being in the arts."
Jefferson is located in Albina, Portland's historically Black neighborhood, and its student body is 44% Black. It's structured differently from other Portland public high schools, since it doesn't have a specific geographic area that it draws students from. Instead, middle schoolers at Harriet Tubman, Ockley Green, Vernon, and Faubian can choose to attend Jefferson, or they can go to their neighborhood school. Jefferson students can also get dual college credit through Portland Community College while getting their diploma. Around 500 students are enrolled there this year.
Shea says she hopes the theater department at Jefferson can draw in more students and the community.
"Because of stereotypes surrounding our school and our community, people don't usually enroll at Jefferson when it's a great school and a great community. I just hope that [the musical] grows community, it draws students towards our school and towards our theater program so we can continue to grow and continue to put on amazing shows like this one," Shea said.
There are two remaining showings of the musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella,' at Jefferson High School Thursday at 7 p.m., and there's also a Saturday matinee showing at 2 p.m. More information can be found on their Instagram profile, @jefferson_theater, or on the Jefferson High School website.