Three Madison Country Day School students performed alongside professional and community theater companies in the Madison area this spring, gaining experience, winning statewide awards, creating new friendships and enjoying a few curtain calls along the way.
Head Over Heels
Quinn ’28 and Regina ’29 were ensemble members in the Verona Area Community Theater production “Head Over Heels,” which ran in April. The show is a jukebox musical featuring music by the Go-Gos about the royal family of Arcadia who go on a journey in order to save their kingdom.
While both Regina and Quinn have had previous theater experience, neither of them had performed in a VACT mainstage production before. Regina had done summer camps, which she said were “a lot more casual” and often didn’t have full costumes.
Quinn, meanwhile, said she had never performed with VACT before, noting that the experience was different from performing with Children’s Theater of Madison because of the much larger cast and less rigorous rehearsal schedule.
“There are about 60 kids in this show,” Quinn said. “The ensemble is also all split into three different groups, so not all of us are dancing in every group number.”
Balancing school work and prep was manageable, with good preparation.
“If anything, the most difficult thing is finding time to review music and choreo outside of rehearsal,” Quinn said, noting that rehearsals were on Sunday afternoons, so she didn’t have to miss any classes.
Working with a diverse cast of people from around the community was a highlight for Regina. “I loved it when we were finished with learning all our information and I could see how it formed together as a cast,” she said.
Quinn expressed that she loves getting to work with people whom she wouldn’t normally see at MCDS.
“Head Over Heels” was a 2026 Jerry Award Outstanding Musical recipient. The Jerry Awards are the Wisconsin state-wide high school musical theater awards program that recognizes talented students and gives them the chance to go to New York to perform in the National Awards, known as the Jimmy Awards.
In June, Quinn and Regina will be performing at the awards ceremony with the rest of the cast.
Everlasting Faint
Oliver ’32 played Andy Jones, a young boy, in Madison Opera’s premiere of “Everlasting Faint” in February. The opera is based on a 1897 true crime case and tells the story of a woman’s ghost who returns to tell her mother that she was murdered by her husband.
This was Oliver’s first time performing with a professional opera or theater company, although he had performed in shows at MCDS. Despite his lack of professional experience, he was able to take on the challenge of a demanding rehearsal schedule. The “Everlasting Faint” rehearsal schedule consisted of two to three-hour rehearsals after school every Monday through Thursday, as well as full-day rehearsals on Saturday and Sunday.
Oliver’s favorite part of the show was the chance to meet and spend time with so many new people.
“Everyone was understanding about mistakes I would make, and that made me feel welcome,” he said. He also said that he appreciated the opportunity just to audition for a professional company and gain some more experience, even before knowing that he was cast.
Oliver recently played the role of Oliver Warbucks in MCDS’s fifth and sixth-grade musical “Annie Jr.” in May.
In the future, Quinn will be performing in CTM’s annual fundraiser in May and “Sweeney Todd: High School Edition” in August, while Regina will be in “Something Rotten! Jr.” in August as well.
