ASHWAUBENON (NBC 26) — Nearly 100 high school students from across Northeast Wisconsin are spending their summer together as they prepare for a regional collaborative inaugural musical production.
NEW Heights is a new collaborative designed to give students entering and exiting high school a summer musical theater experience. The group's first show is a production of "Legally Blonde," set to run Aug. 7-9 at the Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center.
Evie Kupsky, who has the starring role in the show, said the experience has been a highlight of the summer and that the mix of students from different communities has added to the experience.
"Getting to know people from all over is so awesome," Kupsky shared. "We're all very, very talented, and we're all very happy to be here."
NEW Heights Chair Brent Brayko said the group was created to ensure students across the region have equal access to high-quality performing arts opportunities — including those whose schools may not have the resources to mount a production of this scale.
"A lot of times, you'll see the arts kind of be the first on the chopping block if there's school budget problems," Brayko noted. "The arts programs will kind of fall away."
Brayko said one of the program's goals is to give students performance skills that they can take back to their hometowns in the fall.
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NEW Heights was also formed to help students make friends with teens outside their communities. Brayko said he hopes the students support their new friends at school productions this year.
Kupsky shared that making friends has been the best part of the summer.
"We truly are like a powerhouse, and I think that it's going to be an amazing show," Kupsky said.
Tickets for "Legally Blonde" are available through the Ashwaubenon Performing Arts Center or the NEW Heights website.
