Front Page Sounds: Where local talent meets the headlines

I’m excited to announce another first for the Leader. This week, we introduce Front Page Sounds, a video feature that highlights local talent. It will be a multi-media story online at myleaderpaper.com and through our social media channels. I hope you enjoy it.

For Front Page Sounds’ first effort, the Leader partners with Spotlight Community Theatre to showcase the group’s performance of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which opens tonight for a four-day run.

The idea for Front Page Sounds is simple. We at the Leader want to capture and share local talent with you, our readers. Don’t worry. The Leader will continue to publish stories in print and online about upcoming local performances. This new project will add video and sound recordings to our journalistic endeavors.

It’s an idea that’s been brewing in my head for a while. Last spring, I attended a Twin City Area Chamber of Commerce meeting, and a pair of stand-out performers from Festus High School performed songs from “Les Misérables.” As I listened, I thought how lucky I was and how many Leader readers would love to hear the performances also. I also thought if people heard that “teaser,” they certainly would be moved to attend and experience the whole show. Perhaps, I thought, there was a way the Leader could help support local arts through some sort of multi-media project.

At the Leader, we kicked around the idea. Could we do it? Would anyone want to be part of a local arts feature? I checked in with my friend, Courtney Wisely, “Fiddler” director and Spotlight founder. If anyone might be game, I figured it would be her. She was in.

Initially, I wanted performers to come to Leader World Headquarters where they would crash our workplace and perform in our office.

However, Wisely suggested that we really didn’t want the “Fiddler” cast of 47 to descend on the Leader office.

Instead, we crashed their rehearsal. A Leader team that included me, Carrson McDaniel and Katelyn Mary Skaggs, showed up with our equipment, did a couple of quick interviews and then recorded the local theater group as they prepared for the show. We (mostly Carrson) edited the interviews and songs together into a video/audio package to share with you.

Whether you see the show in person or enjoy a snippet from Front Page Sounds, you are in for a treat. The cast is outstanding and well worth your time.

For more information about the show or the community theater group, go to spotlightjeffco.org.

We will be looking for other opportunities to highlight local performers. As local schools and musicians prepare for performances, perhaps they can stop by Leader World Headquarters in Festus to be part of Front Page Sounds: Where local talent meets the headlines.

If you know of a local artist who might be interested, please reach out to me at peggyscott@myleaderpaper.com.