ThesCon Show Descriptions
Note: Please be aware of the wide variety of subject matter addressed in this
year’s ThesCon performances. Some topics may induce negative feelings,
anxiety, or trauma. The intent of our Content Advisory is to allow Conference
attendees the opportunity to make informed choices when selecting tickets,
along with the guidance of a parent/guardian and their Troupe Director. It is
the responsibility of the Troupe Director to advise their students through the
ticket selection process.
CONTENT ADVISORY KEY:
A - Alcohol/Substance abuse
D - Themes of suicide or death
H - Themes of hate, intolerance, prejudice, or racism
L - Mature language
S - Sexual situations
V - Violence
SHOW SESSION 1
Beetlejuice JR. | Warner Robins High School
RiverCenter: Bill Heard Theatre
Music and Lyrics by Eddie Perfect
Book by Scott Brown & Anthony King
Based on the Geffen Company Picture, with a story by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson
Musical - Lydia Deetz is a strange and unusual teenager, still grieving the loss
of her mother and obsessed with the whole “being dead thing.” Lucky for
Lydia, she and her father move to a new house haunted by a recently
deceased couple and Beetlejuice, a delightful demon with a real zest for life.
When Lydia calls on Beetlejuice to scare away anyone with a pulse, this
double-crossing specter shows his true stripes, unleashing a (Nether)world of
pandemonium. (D,L,V)
The Spitfire Grill | Flowery Branch High School
Springer Opera House: Woodruff Hall
Music and Book by James Valcq
Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley
Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff
Musical - A troubled young parolee yearning for a fresh start follows her
dreams to Wisconsin, based on a page from an old travel book, only to find a
small town with a gritty heart aching with longing and regret. Unexpectedly
discovering the healing power of community while working at the Spitfire Grill,
Percy reawakens the entire town’s capacity for rebirth, forgiveness and hope.
Set to a melodic folk-inspired score, The Spitfire Grill is a joyous celebration of
human kindness. (D,L,V)
Horse Girls | Northview High School
Springer Opera House: McClure Theatre
By Jenny Rachel Weiner
Play - Horse Girls is a play about preteen girls, their insecurities and their
obsessions. The Lady Jean Ladies Horse Club is meeting in 12-year-old
Ashleigh's bedroom when they learn horrible news, news that will change the
club (and their lives) forever. (D,V)
Pippin | the Weber School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Mainstage
Book by Roger O. Hirson
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Musical - The story of Pippin is told by a traveling troupe of performers, led by
the charismatic Leading Player. The ensemble cast tells the story of Pippin, a
young prince who longs to find his “corner of the sky.” Pippin dabbles in
bloody battle and savvy political maneuvers, only to discover that true
happiness is more complicated than he thought. In the end though, he finds
that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but rather in the
un-extraordinary moments that happen every day. (D,L,S,V)
SHOW SESSION 2
Ride the Cyclone: High School Edition | Gainesville High School
RiverCenter: Bill Heard Theatre
Musical - Ride the Cyclone is a hilarious and outlandish story: the lives of six
teenagers from a Canadian chamber choir are cut short in a freak accident
aboard a roller coaster. When they awake in limbo, a mechanical fortune teller
invites each to tell a story to win a prize like no other - the chance to return to
life. Buckle Up for the Ride of a Lifetime. (D,L)
Once Upon a Mattress | Greenbrier High School
Springer Opera House: Woodruff Hall
Music by Mary Rodgers
Lyrics by Marshall Barer
Book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller and Marshall Barer
Musical - The musical version of “The Princess and the Pea.” The story is set
in a fairy tale kingdom where manipulative Queen Aggravain disapproves of
every potential bride for her middle-aged son, Prince Dauntless. Unfortunately,
the rest of the kingdom is also banned from marrying until the prince weds!
Red | Forsyth Central High School
Springer Opera House: McClure Theatre
y John Logan
B
Play - Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko and his intern, Ken, challenge each
other to ask big questions about art: what it takes to create it and what its role
should be in the world. (L)
The Drowsy Chaperone | Providence Christian Academy
CSU Riverside Theatre: Mainstage
Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison
Book by Bob Martin & Don McKellar
Musical - The Drowsy Chaperone is a story within a story narrated by the Man
in Chair, a musical theatre fan who is feeling blue. To cheer himself up, he
shares the recording of his favorite musical with the audience. The story
unfolds with a colorful cast of characters, including a self-absorbed showgirl
who plans to give up her career to marry an oil tycoon, a couple of gangsters
disguised as pastry chefs trying to stop the wedding, a chaperone who is
always a bit tipsy and drowsy, and a ladies man who falls victim to mistaken
identity. This show will have you laughing and singing along, and it ends with
a heartwarming reminder of why we love musicals. (A,S)
The Lion in Winter | Haralson County High School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Studio Theatre
By James Goldman
Play - What family doesn't have their ups and downs? The Lion in Winter is
about King Henry II and his attempt to establish a line of succession during a
family gathering at Christmas in 1183. His efforts unleash both political and
personal turmoil among his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their three
surviving sons, the French king, and the king's half-sister Alais, who is Henry's
mistress.
SHOW SESSION 3
Jekyll and Hyde | Denmark High School
RiverCenter: Bill Heard Theatre
Conceived for the Stage by Frank Wildhorn & Steve Cuden
Book and Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Music by Frank Wildhorn
Based on the story by Robert Louis Stevenson
Musical - An evocative tale of two men: one, a doctor, passionate and
romantic; the other, a terrifying madman - and two women: one, beautiful and
trusting; the other, beautiful and trusting only herself - both women in love with
the same man and both unaware of his dark secret. (A,V)
Queens | Lowndes County High School
Springer Opera House: Woodruff Hall
By Kristen Doherty
Play - King Henry VIII is trapped in purgatory, bound to his throne by a sinister
Fool and the ghostly People in White. Here in his gilded cage, he is forced to
relive the sins he committed against his queens, mistresses, and people of the
court, over and over again, for eternity. (D)
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee | East Paulding High
School
Springer Opera House: McClure Theatre
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Additional Material by Jay Reiss
Music and Lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Musical - An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents vie for the spelling
championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing hilarious and touching
stories from their home lives, the tweens spell their way through a series of
(potentially made-up) words, hoping never to hear the soul-crushing, life
un-affirming "ding" of the bell that signals a spelling mistake. Six spellers
enter; one speller leaves a champion! At least the losers get a juice box. (L)
Matilda The Musical | Franklin County High School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Mainstage
Book by Dennis Kelly
Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin
Based on the book, Matilda by Roald Dahl
Musical - The musical centers on Matilda Wormwood, a precocious
five-year-old girl with the gift of telekinesis. She loves reading, overcomes
obstacles caused by her family and school, and helps her teacher reclaim her
life.
John Lennon and Me | Mill Creek High School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Studio Theatre
By by Cherie Bennett
Play - John Lennon & Me is about a terminally ill young girl who is in a
hospital for sick kids. Star, a passionate Beatles fan and Hollywood-wannabe,
is creating the best life she can while battling cystic fibrosis, an inherited
disease that almost assures a young death. (D)
SHOW SESSION 4
Alice by Heart | Milton High School
RiverCenter: Bill Heard Theatre
Music by Duncan Sheik
Lyrics by Steven Sater
Book by Steven Sater & Jessie Nelson
Musical - Alice by Heart centers on Alice, a young woman confined to a
London bomb shelter during the Blitz. Amidst the chaos and fear of wartime
London, Alice finds solace and escape in the fantastical world of Wonderland.
As the war rages above, she and her fellow shelter residents embark on a
journey through an enchanting, surreal landscape where the boundaries of
reality are blurred. (A,V)
Little Shop of Horrors | Sequoyah High School
Springer Opera House: Woodruff Hall
Music by Alan Menken
Book & Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Based on the file The Little Shop of Horrors by Charles B. Griffith
Musical - The meek floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new
breed of plant he names "Audrey II" - after his coworker crush. This
foul-mouthed, singing carnivore promises unending fame and fortune to the
down and out Seymour as long as he keeps feeding it, BLOOD. (D,V)
Macbeth | Adairsville High School
Springer Opera House: McClure Theatre
By William Shakespeare
Play - A modern take on Shakespeare's classic tale of the lust for power and
the lengths that people will go to get it. (D,V)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | Lambert High
School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Mainstage
Book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, & Willie Gilbert
Music and Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Based on How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Shepherd Mead
Musical - A comic send-up to corporate America, gender politics, and ambition
served through a historical lens - we've come a long way, or have we? Set in
an expensive NYC corporate office in the early 1960s, we follow a window
washer rising to executive status with the help of a 'how to' book, finding love
along the way. (H,S)
The Insanity of Mary Girard | Sonoraville High School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Studio Theatre
By Lanie Robertson
Play - In 1790, Mary Girard is committed to an asylum. Having become
pregnant by another man, her husband has had her declared legally insane.
Mary sits in a chair as the "furies" dance around and impersonate people from
her past. By the end of this haunting and highly theatrical piece, she is insane.
SHOW SESSION 5
Peter and the Starcatcher | Lakeside High School (Dekalb)
RiverCenter: Bill Heard Theatre
A Play by Rick Elice
Music by Wayne Barker
Based on the Novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Play - Based on the 2004 novel Peter and the Starcatchers, written by Dave
Barry and Ridley Pearson, this swashbuckling adventure by Rick Elice
becomes a prequel to J.M. Barrie classic story of “Peter Pan” and features
pirates, a tempest, a shipwreck, and most importantly: an orphan boy in
search of himself and family. (L,V)
Chicago: Teen Edition | North Forsyth High School
Springer Opera House: Woodruff Hall
Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins / Script adaptation by David Thompson
Musical - In Roaring Twenties Chicago, chorine Roxie Hart murders a faithless
lover and convinces her hapless husband, Amos, to take the rap...until he
finds out he's been duped and turns on Roxie. Convicted and sent to Death
Row, Roxie and another "Merry Murderess," Velma Kelly, vie for the spotlight
and the headlines, ultimately joining forces in search of the "American
Dream": fame, fortune, and acquittal. (D,L,S,V)
She Kills Monsters | Archer High School
Springer Opera House: McClure Theatre
By Qui Nguyen
Play - She Kills Monsters tells the story of high schooler Agnes Evans as she
deals with the death of her younger sister, Tilly. When Agnes stumbles upon
Tilly’s ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ notebook, she finds herself catapulted into a
journey of discovery and action-packed adventure in the imaginary world that
was her sister’s refuge. This high-octane dramatic comedy laden with
homicidal fairies, nasty ogres, and ’90s pop culture offers a heart-pounding
homage to the geek and warrior within us all. (D,H,L,S,V)
Urinetown The Musical | Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts
CSU Riverside Theatre: Mainstage
Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollmann
Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis
Musical - “Urinetown” is an imaginary place where water is so scarce that you
have to pay to pee! This Tony Award-winning satire pokes fun at capitalism,
socialism, bureaucracy, corporate mismanagement, and petty small town
politics. (D,V)
Nunsense | Chestatee High School
CSU Riverside Theatre: Studio Theatre
Book, Music, and Lyrics by Dan Goggin
Musical - A zany musical comedy involving five nuns who are holding a
fundraiser to bury several nuns that died from eating soup accidentally
poisoned by the convent cook. (A,L)
