It always amazes me when I attend one of these. That local school kids can put on such an exceptional performance combined with all of the choreography and building of stage sets-is a great testament to our system of public education.

As a grandparent of kids so involved, it makes me not a disinterested observer. When I go to one of these performances, I am all in. I keep my handkerchief close by as I know that at some point in the performance, I am going to tear up.

One aspect of it is that “musicals,” as we know them, are primarily an American phenomenon. They are a Broadway thing. People from all over the world come to New York every year just to experience the latest American musical.

You never know what the Broadway crowd is going to cook up. I was especially impressed a few years back when the musical “Hamilton” came out. I thought it would be a flop. How could anyone make a conservative “straight arrow” banker like Alexander Hamilton into a Broadway star? But they did it! It has been one of the biggest hits ever.

For the student participants in these local school musicals, the whole experience has to be unforgettable. Our grandson explained it this way:

“When we first started rehearsing, nobody knew anything about the play, had never heard most of the songs, and many of us had never done a dance routine. We thought we could never pull it off. Then, one day, it hit us-we realized that we actually could do it. Then it all came together.”

And did it ever! The standing ovation at the end, said it all. Handkerchiefs throughout the crowd came out of pockets. You would have thought it was Broadway itself.

Of course, the unheralded hero in the whole show was the teacher/director who had taken this raw material of untested talent and molded it all into a show. The choreography, the beauty of the stage set, the lighting, the musical accompaniment, the singing-without a director, it wouldn’t have happened.

The “Americanness” of it all also hit me. Here we were, in a public school, in an audience coming from all different directions and outlooks, cheering and appreciating what these kids were doing. It was beautiful. You don’t find this happening in many foreign countries.

Sometimes, I find the storyline in these musicals to be a bit hoaky and syrupy. But that doesn’t matter. The power of music combined with a play – outside of opera, there is nothing that compares to it.

Kudos to our schools, kids, teachers, and parents for sponsoring again the Great American Musical!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com