Final Preparations Underway for Churchill's Blast 25: Mixtape

When Churchill students return to school Tuesday after the long holiday weekend, over 130 of them will get busy polishing the vocal, dance, musical and technical elements of Blast 25: Mixtape.  The 25th anniversary of Churchill's renowned musical revue opens this Friday, February 21, and will also be performed February 22, 23, 28, and March 1.

Seniors Adam Settlage and Amy Dalrymple, both veterans of numerous Churchill productions, gave the Potomac Patch Blast 25 blog some of their impressions of their high school careers and their final Blast.

Adam points to his winning performance in the Churchill's got Talent show two years ago -- singing Gotta Keep Your Head Up -- as his favorite memory.  "It was a wild experience that I didn't expect to happen and it was the beginning of me building confidence performing at Churchill," he said.  In this year's Blast, Adam is performing Haven't Met You Yet which he is also choreographing.  "With lots of student choreographers this year, its pretty hard, but also interesting and fun," notes Adam.  "That's going to add something different than past shows."  Adam tells the Patch blog that he just wrapped up his college musical theater auditions.  "Whatever opportunity I will get, I will do as much performing as I can in college."

Anyone who has seen Amy dance would not be surprised to hear her say, "I've been dancing since I was two and it's a big part of my life."  A dance captain for the Churchill show choir Showstoppers, Amy is also choreographing three numbers in Blast and singing the lead in The Heat is On and Moves like Jagger.  Churchill audiences last saw her on stage as Tiger Lilly in Peter Pan.  Amy's favorite Blast memory was during her freshman year when she took part in the shooting of a music video of Rhythm Nation.  "We went to a big warehouse with all that smoke and those cameras...it was really cool because we were diving into Blast and all the awesomeness of the show."

To support Amy and Adam and all the other students and share in the "awesomeness" of Blast:25 Mixtape, please purchase your tickets online at www.wchsarts.com.  Online ticketing ends the midnight before the day of each show, but tickets can also be purchased at the Churchill box office one hour before showtime.  The February 21, 22, 28 and March 1 performances will be at 7:30pm and there is a 2:30pm matinee performance on Sunday, February 23.  See you at the show!