Northridge High theater takes on difficult themes with "Hairspray: the Musical"

When Northridge High School's theater department embarked on a journey to perform "Hairspray: The Musical" for their winter show, they did not realize that the show would mean so much more to them than they could ever have imagined.

"The themes in the show are very hard themes to talk about and settle with," said senior Brianna, who played Tracy Turnblad. "Dealing with those themes so consistently became a challenge because we were taking it to heart, and you could feel that students were feeling all of the themes in the show."

Director Jana Coates said the students met with school administration, district leaders from the Office of Equal Opportunity, and other members of district leadership to work through their concerns with putting on the show. However, when they were given the option to not do the show, the students were the ones who said they wanted to do it.

"The students decided they were going to tell the story no matter how difficult it was," Coates said. "They've been brave; they've been very brave."