“Dear Winston: the Musical,” created by 18-year-old, Sawyer Hosea, is in the final stages of work and touch up for the final performances on June 2-4 at the Charles Mack Citizen Center. The musical is about the journey of Zack, who is down on his luck and adopts a dog, Winston, who is kidnapped by Damon. The musical follows the journey of finding Winston.
Hosea describes the music to be a perspective on those with different mental health issues surrounding their lives and how they deal with them in different situations.
Hosea describes his inspiration to start in eighth grade with his friend, Jackson Maltsbarger, to write a musical together as they had been doing theater for a couple of years at the time. Hosea describes how the same week his dog ran away was when they decided to work with the idea. However, being a high school student has created a limited budget for Hosea to get his ideas in the works. But that has not stopped him from pursuing that dream.
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“I am beyond excited,” Hosea said, describing being able to put on the production of his musical. “I have been waiting for years.”
Hosea describes how it feels unreal for his musical to be ready for the community to see in the next few weeks. His future plans are to keep creating and keep working towards new projects in the future.
Maltsbarger, helping with the advertising as well as having a role in the musical, is happy to be helping something grow for the future. “It is absolutely amazing to help him,” Maltsbarger said, talking about his collaboration with Hosea. Maltsbarger has used his communication and business skills to help put on the production, and he plays the role of Ray, a crocodile, as well as one of Damon’s sidekicks.
After speaking with some of the cast, they are happy and pleased to be a part of the production. Mitchell King, in the role of Barney Abey, describes how letting students create and not be constrained by rules from high school allows for more creativity. Kalista Heizer, playing Pickles the Cow, describes how it is fun to create a personality for her character around herself because no one has ever played the role before. “It’s really fun to explore a comedic character,” Heizer said.
