The theatre staff are sure to make this musical good enough for the history books. photo by Evelyn Jackson
The Spring Musical is just around the corner, and TJ’s theatre staff is hard at work!
For the spring 2026 musical, the TJ Theatre Department will feature the 20th Century Fox movie Anastasia. This tale depicts a twist on the real events of the Russian revolution, where Russian citizens revolted by killing the entire Romanov royal family. The play follows a storyline in which the princess of the royal family, despite her historically accurate death, lived. In Anastasia, the protagonist Anya is in search of her family while recovering memories of the past. The storyline focuses on two male Russians set on bringing Anya to the Dowager Empress. The two are looking to collect the prize money by tricking the Empress into thinking that Anya is the long lost princess Anastasia. Little does everyone know that Anya is the real lost princess, and she is simply being brought closer to her long lost family and bright future. Throughout her journey, Anya faces many challenges and subsequently catches feelings for one of the Russians, Dmitry.
Director and drama teacher André Moss is especially fond of this year’s musical due to the fact that Anastasia was one of his favorite movies as a child. Moss explained how the animated version had a special place in his heart, with the film’s unique animation style and music. This year’s musical has a lot of components to make the production special. With help from Moss, music teacher Tambyr Reed, and instrumental teacher Robin Morrissey, Anastasia will include fantastic music numbers, sets, costumes, and makeup. Along with these staff members working hard on this musical, TJ students will mainly be in charge of running the show.
After auditions and hard consideration, junior Sonja Calhoun was chosen to play the lead of the musical, Anya. Calhoun has been invested in theatre since she was five years old. She was trained at the Actors Academy of Performing Arts for two years. “I have been wanting to play this role forever because she is similar to a Disney princess, but she is independent and strong, and she is a great example for young girls.” With Calhoun’s dreams and passions coming to life, the musical is sure to be a hit.
The rest of the cast consists of sophomore Josh White who is playing the male lead Dmitry, junior Will Cordova (Vlad Popov), junior Quin Sihon (Gleb), junior Rachelle Camilo (Countess Lily), and Junior Simone DiFalco (The Dowager Empress). The crew who is incharge of handling lights, sets, makeup, and costumes consists of junior Ethan Smolinkski (Production Lead), junior Amelia Danielson (Costume lead), junior Evelyn Jackson, junior Keagen Figuero (Lighting Lead), junior Kit Leatherman (Make-Up Lead), senior Cooper Brown, sophomore Archana George, sophomore Miah Torres, senior Bruno Estala (Sound Lead), and Junior Celeste Escobar (Stage Manager).
Attending school musicals is an efficient way to grow closer to one’s classmates and build a strong sense of community. This year’s musical will be held on March 6th at 7PM, March 7th at 7PM, March 8th at 12PM, and March 8th at 5PM. Going to the showcase would be greatly appreciated by the theatre staff and students, as the entire production takes multiple months of preparation and practice to prepare a fantastic performance for the TJ community.
