Pine-Richland Middle School eighth grader Loren Prisuta, 13, has been cast in the national tour of Hits! The Musical. The show opens March 1, 2023, in Concord, New Hampshire, and continues through May 8, visiting 48 cities in the United States.
Hits! The Musical stars 29 performers ages 10 through 22, including 19 singers and 10 dancers. Loren describes the show as a marriage between a musical and a concert. The family-friendly show takes the audience on a musical journey through some of the biggest hits in pop, rock and Broadway from the 1960s through today, including popular favorites such as Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Hero, I Will Always Love You, Singing in the Rain and more. Loren is cast in different parts of the show, but declined to share her specific song titles, noting that she wants people to come to the show and be surprised.
“For me, this is bringing joy to others through the arts and through doing what I love to do,” said Loren. “This is like a dream! It’s crazy this is a job, that I can possibly do this for a living someday, that I can make people happy and inspire others to go into the business.”
Loren first auditioned last July in Pittsburgh, one of more than 7,000 nationwide. She was required to perform a song of her choice (Anyone by Demi Lovato) and a short dance number. Within a half hour, Loren received a callback and was asked to perform one song from a list (What’s Up by Four Non Blondes) as well as another song of her choice (Right on Time by Brandi Carlile). Three days later, the executive producer invited Loren to attend the final round of auditions in Tampa, Florida, in mid-August, with 100 singers and dancers. In addition to performing What’s Up again, Loren also sang a version of I Will Always Love You arranged for her by Christie Jeter of Jeter Backyard Theater. Loren described the four-day process as “quite intense” and said it included interviews so that the directors could see her personality and how she interacted with the other kids. After making it through the mid-week cut, auditioners were placed into groups, taught 30 minutes of the show, and then performed in a local theater for their parents.
After being cast, Loren attended a month of rehearsals in October in St. Petersburg, Florida, and has been learning songs on her own. She will soon depart for a month of rehearsals in St. Petersburg. The cast then travels to Asheville, North Carolina, for a week of technical rehearsals before traveling to Concord to open the show.
Loren has an extensive performance background. She started vocal training when she was eight years old with Keely Singer of Singer Studios, and currently trains in classical voice with Molly Slater of Molly Slater Music Studio. She is in her ninth year studying dance at Wexford Dance Academy, including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical/contemporary and tap. Loren has been a member of the Jeter Backyard Theater since age five and is in her third year of piano lessons with Leckey Music Studio. This past summer, Loren was cast in iTheatrics Academy’s summer workshop for School of Rock Young Performers Edition in New York City. Loren aspires to have a performance career, either as a recording artist or Broadway star.
Hits! The Musical debuts in Pittsburgh on March 11 at the Benedum Center. Tickets are available at https://trustarts.org/production/87444.
