Virtual Senior Showcase Videography | Shenandoah University Musical Theatre

Every year around this time, I get the honor of working on one of my favorite projects—the Shenandoah Conservatory Senior Musical Theatre Showcase. This marks the fourth year we’ve taken the showcase virtual, and I couldn’t be more proud to collaborate with such a talented group of rising performers.

This year’s class of 2025 brought incredible energy and talent to the shoot, and as a self-proclaimed musical theatre nerd, this one hit close to home. What makes this project so rewarding is knowing what’s at stake—every student is putting their best foot forward as they enter the professional world. And the pressure is real: in recent years, every single student from these showcases walked away with agency representation.

We spent two long—but incredibly fun—days on the campus of Shenandoah University, capturing each student’s performance with care and precision. I had the opportunity to collaborate with a solid team including Wayne Romeo of Wayne’s Room Studios, who handled on-site audio engineering, and a rotating crew of lighting technicians managing the scenic lighting. My job was to focus on performance lighting and camera work to make sure each student looked and sounded their best.

But here’s the thing about showcases: filming is just half the story. What really matters is the workflow behind the scenes. We’re not just delivering one big video—we’re creating polished individual reels for each student, optimized for their websites, casting submissions, and professional outreach. That post-production process is what helps these talented performers put their best selves out into the world quickly and professionally.

One of the most exciting parts of the project is the premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse in Winchester. It’s a special moment—seeing months of hard work come together in a proper theatrical setting, celebrating the future of musical theatre. Unfortunately, I had to miss this year’s premiere due to a busy season of conferences, out-of-town shoots, and… I got married (more on that later). Still, hearing how well everything went made it just as rewarding.

I’m truly grateful to continue this collaboration with Shenandoah and support the next generation of performers. Watching these students grow and knowing this content helps them take that next step—it’s what makes the long hours and tight turnarounds worth it every single time.