The idea for In BeTween came about after we had the wonderful opportunity to speak to a group of young actors aged 11-15 about our shared love for musicals. These teens were passionate about musical theatre as an art form, but lamented the limited bank of material deemed appropriate for their age range to perform. (And we especially noted the lack of material written by women.) With only a handful of musicals written for this middle age range, their options are slim. They’ve been typed-out of any roles for “kids”, but they’re not quite old enough to be seen as young adults yet. And there are only so many times a person can sing “What It Means to be a Friend”. So we set to work writing a brand new show just for them.

In BeTween is a love letter to those kids stuck in the middle. Inspired by one of our favorite musicals, A Chorus Line, the show begins with a group of students waiting in a hallway to see the cast list for the East Willowbrook Community Center’s spring musical. They all come from different schools, grades, neighborhoods, and backgrounds to audition for the spring production in the hopes of being cast in their first professional musical. Tragedy strikes when a message rings out over the intercom system: Mrs. Wilkins, the community theatre director, will be an hour later than expected to post the cast list because of a family event. The kids are distraught because none of them can drive, so they’re stuck waiting in the hallway.