St. John's Prep Takes 'Hadestown' To The Hennepin Arts Spotlight

COLLEGEVILLE (WJON News) -- Theater students at a local high school have been picked to take part in an annual showcase next month. St. John's Prep will get to show off its talent at the Hennepin Arts Spotlight Showcase on June 9th. The two-day showcase features high school theater acts from across the state in one big show each day. St. John's Prep qualified with their production of Hadestown.

SJP has also been picked in the past for Footloose and The Little Mermaid.

Theater Chair at St. John's Prep, Brandon Anderson, says it is an honor to go, but also presents a new challenge:

"We're trying to do a medley of like five songs in three minutes so we can't really do a full number so it's how it is integrated and this year we're able to work with the lighting technicians so it's all student driven with everything, so we're able to like if you needed a sound que, if you wanted to have a specific light change or anything so in some ways yeah it's like putting on a mini-show."

Anderson says it is a lot of work for all the schools that are at the showcase.

Tech, Sartell, Becker, and Little Falls were also picked for 2026.

He says it is kind of like state for theater, and the feedback is invaluable:

"All those opinions are really valuable to see, especially if there's something that's similar that is being said to a student to help them improve, and even me as a director, understanding like, oh, this. Because sometimes I'm not backstage a lot of the time, I'm out in the front and having that technical evaluator backstage to share some of the things that they're observing about how the students are able to wrangle and organize."

Anderson says the spotlight showcase is not an award but is more about whether a school is able to use their resources effectively to put on a show and how to grow their program. The Spotlight Showcase takes place on June 8th and 9th, and tickets range from about $25 to $56.

SJP's Isaac Miller was picked as a Hennepin Arts TripleThreat as well.

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