From Staff Reports
In Summary:
Orange County Public Schools will present its inaugural Summer Production Series with In the Heights on June 26-28 at Edgewater High School. The free districtwide program brought together more than 90 students from across Orange County—including Apopka High School's Leiana Miller—to perform, build sets, design costumes, and operate the production. District leaders hope the initiative becomes an annual tradition showcasing the strength of OCPS performing arts education.
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When the lights come up this weekend at Edgewater High School, audiences will see far more than a Broadway musical. They'll witness the debut of Orange County Public Schools' first-ever Summer Production Series, an ambitious districtwide collaboration uniting more than 90 students from across Orange County to produce Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights.
Related: OCPS earns national recognition for music education for 10th consecutive year.
The performances, scheduled for June 26-28, mark the culmination of a three-week intensive program that brought together high school students from throughout the district as actors, musicians, stage technicians, designers, costumers, and crew members.
Made possible through a grant from The Phoenix Foundation of Central Florida, administered by the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, the program was offered free of charge to participating students, removing financial barriers that often accompany summer performing arts opportunities.
Unlike traditional school productions, where students work almost exclusively with classmates from their own campus, the Summer Production Series assembled performers and technicians from schools across Orange County into a single company. The experience mirrors the professional theater world, where casts and crews regularly come together from different organizations to create a production.
The artistic team leading the project includes several award-winning OCPS theater educators. Their involvement reflects the district's growing reputation for excellence in theater education, following Orange County Public Schools' recognition last year as a Premier Community for Theatre Education by the Educational Theatre Association.
The production features In the Heights, the 2008 Tony Award-winning musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda that earned honors for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations. Set in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood, the story celebrates family, tradition, community, and the search for opportunity while exploring what it truly means to find a place to call home.
Those themes make the musical a fitting choice for Orange County's inaugural districtwide production.
Beyond its performances, the Summer Production Series demonstrates the value of arts education in connecting students from diverse schools and backgrounds. While audiences often focus on the performers on stage, dozens of students have spent the past several weeks building scenery, assembling costumes, preparing lighting and sound, managing stage operations, and performing in the orchestra.
Leiana Miller, a rising sophomore at Apopka High School, performs as a member of the ensemble cast. Miller joins students from throughout Orange County in helping bring the vibrant Washington Heights neighborhood to life through large musical numbers, choreography, and community scenes that form the heart of the production.
Photo from OCPS.
Among those students is Leiana Miller, a rising sophomore at Apopka High School who performs in the ensemble cast. Miller joins students from throughout Orange County in helping bring the vibrant Washington Heights neighborhood to life through large musical numbers, choreography, and community scenes that form the heart of the production. For students like Miller, the program offers an opportunity to sharpen their performance skills while building friendships and collaborating with fellow theater students from schools they might otherwise never meet.
District officials hope the program becomes the first of many summer productions.
"The OCPS Visual and Performing Arts team is so appreciative of the partnership with The Phoenix Foundation and the Foundation for OCPS for providing this incredible opportunity for students," said Christopher Cause, program specialist for Theatre and Dance at Orange County Public Schools. "In the Heights is the perfect show to kick off our Summer Production Series. It's a story about hope, community, and finding your home. Over 90 students have rehearsed, bonded, and worked so hard over the past three weeks to deliver exceptional performances this weekend. We cannot wait for people to join us."
For the students who have spent weeks rehearsing together, opening night represents more than the end of a production. It marks the beginning of a new tradition for Orange County Public Schools—one that showcases not only theatrical talent but also the power of collaboration, creativity, and community.
In the Heights will be performed June 26-28 at Edgewater High School as the inaugural production of the Orange County Public Schools Summer Production Series.
Key Points:
- Orange County Public Schools is launching its first-ever Summer Production Series with In the Heights.
- More than 90 students from high schools across the district participated as cast, orchestra, technicians, and crew members.
- Rising Apopka High School sophomore Leiana Miller is part of the ensemble cast performing in the production.
- The program was made possible through funding from The Phoenix Foundation of Central Florida and the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, allowing students to participate free of charge.
- Performances will be held June 26-28 at Edgewater High School.
