Broadway authors and theatrical executives will travel to Gowanda for Gowanda Middle School’s performance of Dear Edwina Junior, which marks the milestone 15,000th Broadway Junior show to be performed since the program’s launch in 1998.

     The celebration at Gowanda is especially meaningful since that school performed the very-first Broadway Junior production of Anne Junior in 1995. Dear Edwina Junior gives the Do-Re-Mi’s of Do’s and Don’ts and redefines etiquette lessons with its story about a 21st Century “Miss Manners” in training. Broadway Junior, a division of Music Theatre International, abridges classic Broadway musicals into special editions for ages 8-14 to perform, and offers the vast majority of students their first experience with one of America’s truly unique art forms: Musical Theatre.

     Dear Edwina’s authors, Zina Goldrich (who wrote the music for the show) and Marcy Heisler (who wrote the lyrics), will travel to Gowanda Middle School to attend the performance and congratulate the cast and crew of 150+ elementary and middle school students. Gowanda faculty member Cindy Ripley - whose class performed the first Broadway Junior production, Annie Junior - is overseeing the show, which is produced and directed by a team of over 150 students.

     “Broadway Junior is a program that is designed for teachers and students, and it wouldn’t be a success without the input and creativity of teachers like Cindy Ripley,” says Tim McDonald, project director of Broadway Junior. “Over 1.5 million students have now performed Broadway Junior shows since Gowanda premiered Annie Junior. We are delighted to be able to share this success with the school that helped us bring theatre to schools in the first place,” he adds.

     Ripley adds, “It takes a lot of heart and passion to create good musical theatre. I have seen how theatre can transform students and how they learn from the experience of producing a musical. I’ve seen a lot of low-quality offerings throughout my career, and believe Broadway Junior supplies age-appropriate material of the highest caliber, which has the integrity to keep Musical Theatre alive,” she explains.

     Need to know how to properly set a table? How should one deal with a “Frankenguest?” Miss Post-Gowanda would like to present 13-year-old Edwina Spoonapple. Edwina addresses the world’s etiquette challenges in number after hysterical musical number, in the same way School House Rock! Live, the musical based on the Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon, teaches history, grammar, math, science and politics through clever, tuneful songs.

     Edwina Spoonapple would do just about anything to be a part of the Kalamazoo Advice-A-Palooza Festival. While her siblings both have proof “up on the fridge” of their accomplishments, poor Edwina has nothing. When a talent scout from the convention visits her hometown of Paw Paw, Michigan, she trots out her musical advice-giving show live from the family garage in hopes of finding her place in the spotlight.

     Gowanda Middle School will perform Dear Edwina Junior on Wednesday, March 17 and Thursday, March 18 at Gowanda High School Auditorium located on Prospect Street. People may call 716-532-3325 for more information on the show or to buy tickets.