Roseville High School drama teacher Ashley White is teaching a musical theater class for the first time this year. Among the many new developments the drama program has been experiencing lately, the introduction of musical theatre as a class has left White excited for what’s to come.

“It’s really exciting and thrilling to the see the drama program grow and flourish,” White said. “We have more classes this term; we are now offering not just beginning and advanced. We also offer musical theater class – and we’re offering intermediate drama which is themed improv comedy, so it’s really exciting to have this many more students involved in and have the shows and have more classes.”

White’s passion for musical theater makes her glad to have the opportunity to be teaching it at RHS, leaving her even more excited to see the class excel.

Griffin Sims, a senior at RHS, also attends the drama class and has noticed the recent influx of new developments within the drama department.

According to Sims, he has seen a positive change concerning his peers’ work ethic and is pleased with the quality of the work being done. He feels that the changes have bettered the program in certain ways.

“It’s taken a little bit more seriously, not really by everyone but by ourselves; we have a better program, higher quality plays,” Sims said. “It’s pretty advanced – not too many people were expecting something along the lines of this.”

The drama program’s recent growth astounded White. From the extreme popularity of their most recent play, Grease, to the clamour for the musical theatre class, White is enthusiastic about the new opportunities for the program’s expansion. She sees it as a chance to reach a wider audience of people equally passionate about drama.

“It’s just a really exciting time with our program,” White said.

Senior Emily Botnen appreciates the history her teacher has been incorporating into the course.

“I really like the class,” Botnen said. “So far it’s been really fun, I’ve been learning a lot about the history and how many genres have had a lot of different impact on the history. And different composers and different shows that I never would’ve learned about if it wasn’t for the class.”