The week of April 19 through 23, the Buford High School theatre program performed the musical “Bright Star.” The show had three live performances, running Sunday through Tuesday. This show was the full length version of the show that won the State One Act championship earlier this year. “Bright Star” was a hit with audiences at BHS, and it was very exciting for a return to normalcy with live performances.

“Bright Star” tells the story about the love of a family and their triumph over darkness. The show is full of surprises and turns, as the characters find their pasts and futures intertwining in an emotional and powerful way. The cast of the show featured a few of Buford’s own bright stars, with stellar performances from Isabelle Wiggs as Alice Murphy, Grayson Gilbert as Billy Cane and Asher Thornton as Jimmy Ray Dobbs. Other notable performances came from James Morgan as Mayor Josiah Dobbs, Mara Eva Cline as Margo Crawford and Mason Fenno as Daddy Cane. 

The award-winning cast also featured excellent performances from Luke Riza, Monroe Harless, Grace Johnson, Mauricio Garduno-Rea and Sydney Holton. Audiences were particularly moved by the showings of Kennedi Nichols, Dylan Appling, Jack Hall and Ashton Persall. The show was brought together by an ensemble of Morgan Shaginaw, Mariana Borja, Ava Herrington, Nick Buffo, Olivia Ellison and Jordan Davis, as well as Piper Hill, Emily DiMaggio, Lizzie Patchen, Morgan Sullivan, Maddie Allison and Marina Espy.

Audiences were very impressed with the show, and they were also excited to be able to watch a live performance by the BHS theatre program. Many of the audience members were teachers and BHS staff showing support for their students. AP literature teacher Bethany Phillips had high praise for her students. 

“It was great to see a bunch of my AP students in a different environment and to see their talents on display,” she said. 

The cast was just as excited as the audiences to get the opportunity to perform live for the Buford community. Senior Kennedi Nichols was thankful for the audiences. 

“It was just very exciting to get an opportunity to perform live theatre again.” Nichols said. “It really means a lot.”

The BHS theatre program has had a very successful year amid all the challenges of the pandemic, and we would like to congratulate them on an excellent performing season.