On Friday Manhattan High School’s Advanced Repertory Theatre class and MHS Thespian Troupe #941 presented a “Salute to Broadway,” a revue containing different musical and non-musical Broadway pieces performed by Manhattan High students. Donations were accepted at the door to benefit the MHS Drama program, but another purpose of this event was for every student involved in drama to be able to expand knowledge and experiences in drama. The audience was to be entertained by experiencing a salad of emotions while watching the show.

“To prepare myself, I had to memorize and rehearse my monologue, and I learn a lot from this kind of experience, such as how to prepare for things in a short amount of time and to know all the different talents that students have, and to see how they get to excel on them,” senior Alyssa Frey, who performed a monologue from “The Diary of Anne Frank” in the show, said.

Salute to Broadway included not only acting and music acts, but acts involving other fine arts, like dance, as well.

“The most difficult part is to dance with less people. We need to fill out more space, but we love that we get to have our own moments to showcase and have our moment to shine,” senior Samantha Adams, who performed with some fellow dancers in Salute to Broadway, said.

Whether or not a piece was from a famous or nonfamous Broadway show, drama students were able to choose what they wanted to perform, and prepare themselves to do it, though most chose well-known Broadway pieces.

Freshmen Emma Lansdowne and Ashlyn Gillespie, who performed a scene as sisters from “White Christmas” in Salute to Broadway, found that doing the show was a good experience and helped them exercise their drama skills.

“I really like performing on stage. I’ve learned that you just need to be confident, loud and portray your characters. I thought we did really good.” Lansdowne said.

Gillespie explained that though performing in Salute to Broadway is similar in aspect to many other dramatic experiences, it was exciting and enjoyable.

“I feel excited about it. Is not different from performing any other kind of piece, but I enjoyed it a lot,” Gillespie said.

Junior Savannah Smith felt the process of preparing for the show was a beneficial learning experience for aspiring dramatic performers.

“We learned a lot about how to prepare for auditions and I think tonight went wonderfully,” junior Savannah Smith, who performed a monologue from “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe,” said.

The show was a success, according to drama teacher Linda Uthoff, thanks to all the drama staff working as backstage management, projections, set design, lighting, sound, costumes and all the actors/actresses that participated on the show.