Features
Falk’ s Annual Musical Cultivates Student Leadership and the Arts
One of the most cherished traditions at Falk Laboratory School is the annual spring musical. Since the school’ s opening in 1931, dozens of shows have been performed by the student body, the most recent being the May 2025 production of“ Frozen JR.”
Bonnie( Baird) Mitchell, an alumna from the Class of 1944, remembers the local newspaper hungrily seeking photos of her class’ s performances and publishing stories about“ The Nutcracker Suite” and National Book Week plays. Ferne Mosley, Class of 1977, says her days in“ Oliver,”“ Pirates of Penzance,” and“ The Mikado” were“ really some of the best times I had.” And Rob Marshall, award-winning film director, producer, and choreographer from the Class of 1974, enjoyed Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at Falk, saying the school’ s auditorium is“ a wonderful space” with“ very special” significance to his family.
Theater at Falk has been a source of community, confidence, and lasting memories for decades, but its impact on students doesn’ t end there. In recent years, the process has also evolved to foster leadership and align with progressive education principles, particularly student agency and the idea that“ students should be actively, not passively, engaged in learning”( Falk’ s Progressive Education Tenets, 2025).
Music teacher Sophie Esswein says the production perfectly mirrors these principles, relying heavily on student contributions and empowering them to make decisions every step of the way.“ The only thing adults are doing is reminding everyone backstage to be quiet,” she jokes.“ The kids are making it happen.”
Involved from the Start
Years ago, seventh- and eighth-grade students selected the spring musical from a list of options provided by their teachers, but today, their involvement in the decision process is even deeper. In the fall, students select shows, research them, and create presentations for Stephanie Bohanan’ s music class explaining why their show is a good choice for Falk’ s theater program. An essential aspect of the project, Esswein explains, is“ they have to think about what works for the community and present that as part of their argument and research process. With our program, we can’ t do a show that has one hundred people in it, but we also probably don’ t want to do a show that has four featured parts and nothing else.”
After the students present, the eighth-grade class goes through several rounds of voting to narrow the list of proposed shows down to three. From there, voting opens up to all seventh- and eighth-grade students, who are encouraged to follow their personal interests while also considering the strengths and constraints of the school. Esswein says choosing the show this way has led to increased and unexpected participation because students are more likely to get involved when their contributions are reflected in the final decision.
EN AVANT | 2025 ISSUE