And when the MET says “YO,” we mean our upcoming Fun Company show, “The Young Olympians and the Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever!”

Rehearsals are underway, and I had the chance to attend one of this past week’s music rehearsals being run by music director, composer and fellow YO performer, Thom Huenger*.  Below is a snippet of the cast and Thom at work on the closing number for Young Olympians, which is pretty rockin’:

In terms of how the rehearsals are run, Thom likes to warm up everyone’s voice so they’re primed for singing.  Next, the cast dives into practicing group numbers for the first half of the evening, followed by solo songs for the second half.

Thom has been delighted that the cast as a whole are all fast learners.  When learning some of the songs for the first time, Thom “stepped away from the piano and turned on the backing track as everyone got more comfortable… [by singing the songs] several times all the way through… everyone’s characters began to shine through. IT WAS AWESOME.”

Thom confesses: “I’ve always wanted to write a musical and this has been a great place to start!  I’m also very excited about my music students coming to see their teacher performing being goofy on stage, and making them laugh.”

You’ll be able to hear some of the music live if you come out to Frederick during First Saturday on March 3rd!Young Olympians opens Saturday, March 31st, but stay tuned here for more insight into the process behind the show!

Video footage taken by Vanessa Strickland*
* – indicates MET Company member

Maryland Ensemble Theatre