Music Makers is a musical theater club that has been in existence since 1987 at PCHS. It was founded by Steve Cannedy and Cathy Cunningham. Students involved in Music Makers put on a spring musical every year, attend Illinois Theater Festival in January, and try to attend one or two live musical performances a year. Students begin the process of producing a musical around Thanksgiving, where they audition for their parts, spend December researching and understanding their roles, and rehearsals begin the first week of January. Students rehearse three days a week until their production during St. Patrick’s Day weekend in March.

Recent musicals produced by PCHS students include Mamma Mia, Young Frankenstein, Spongebob Squarepants, Tarzan, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Legally Blonde, Into the Woods, and The Addams Family. This year their performance shall be 9 to 5!

One aspect of the musical that is important to Mrs. Nichols is providing the student actors with a live orchestra. All of her recent musicals, except for Tarzan (because of Covid), have included live musicians. Using pre-recorded music, while easier in some aspects, is predictable and unchanging. Live musicians bring an element of flexibility, emotion, and energy to the performance. Students who want to continue performing after high school will have a solid foundation of knowledge from working with live musicians.