Musical theater is an art form that goes beyond singing and dancing. Behind the scenes there are fabulous minds choreographing every routine, writing every line, and composing every song. Crafting a musical theater production is a feat that requires immense time, dedication, and talent, and Liberty’s very own senior Emilia Hartford has taken up the challenge of developing her very own musical. 

Writing a musical is undoubtedly a lot of work and getting started can be the hardest part.

“I’ve actually been brain-childing this show for the last six months. I shuffled through a ton of bad ideas and then one day I just started thinking of titles, which I think is one of the best ways to start writing something,” Hartford said. “If you think of a title that sounds cool, you can come up with a story for it.” 

This is how Hartford developed the script for “Love and Aliens”. A thrilling adventure whose plot is summed up in the name, Hartford has developed a story that an audience of all ages can enjoy. 

“‘Love and Aliens’ is an epic tale of three aliens coming to Earth and discovering emotions, specifically love. It’s a cheesy, lighthearted musical that is meant to uplift the audience,” Hartford explained. 

Though she’s been at it for months, writing a musical doesn’t come without its challenges. As a first time playwright, Hartford has come across bumps in the road – but that doesn’t stop her. 

“The biggest challenge is definitely the sheer amount of stuff I have to get done. It is an immense amount of work to get all of the songs and script done,” Hartford said. “It’s like 45 pages of pure writing. Luckily I have two free periods in the day where I can have dedicated time to work on it.”

Hartford has been hard at work putting all of the pieces together. From set design to casting to composing all of the music, there’s many pieces of writing in a musical that the average person doesn’t immediately think of. 

Make sure to come see Love and Aliens in February at Liberty!