Tabor Academy’s 2026 Winter Musical will bring Mean Girls to the School by the Sea, with performances on February 19 and 20, 2026, from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Fireman Center for Performing Arts. As the centerpiece of Tabor’s performing arts calendar, the winter musical traditionally draws a packed house of students, families, alumni, and local community members. More than just a couple of nights onstage, the show represents months of work by actors, dancers, musicians, designers, and technicians whose efforts culminate under the lights in Hoyt Hall. This year’s choice, Mean Girls, will be a contemporary, high-energy story about high school life.
For most people in the audience, the winter musical is a polished two-hour performance. What they do not see are the months of work by actors, dancers, musicians, designers, and technicians, adding up to 45+ students, whose efforts culminate under the lights in Hoyt Hall. As a faculty member and stage designer, Mr. Babbit explained, the show is really built long before opening night, by the unified efforts of many different groups of students and faculty working behind the scenes.
The process starts with the actors, the most visible part of the production. Before anyone steps into a final role, they go through several rounds of auditions. Once the cast list is posted, the real work begins. Actors first focus on singing, learning vocal parts, and blending their voices, since “music” is the heart of a Musical show. Only after that foundation is solid do they layer in choreography, learning to move, dance, and sing at the same time. By the time the curtain rises, every scene has gone through countless repetitions that all build up to a flawless show.
Behind the actors is the costume team, whose work enhances how each character appeals to the audience, just like the rhetorical devices’ indispensable function in a piece of writing. They are responsible for making sure every costume both fits the body and matches the personality of the role. That can mean adjusting hems, repairing seams, or choosing pieces that reflect a character’s status or mood. Their delicate costumes make the world of the show feel more vivid and intriguing, and also help the actors feel comfortable while acting, for they to unleash their full potential.
Overseeing the technical side, Mr. Babbit and the tech crew handle everything from set construction to sound and lighting. He begins by designing the stage construction on his computer with specific specs. That design is then built in the workshop space, positioned to the right of the main stage, an area most audience members may never visit. Once the set is ready, the crew will test its rigidity and install electronics. Within the group, the sound and lighting team, run by two experienced seniors, manages the fifteen individual microphones worn by actors and operates the lights above the stage. Their work happens all at the large control panel at the back of the audience section, helping every line be heard and enhancing the overall atmosphere of the show along with the band and the actors.
Speaking of the band, music constitutes the core of the Musical performance and completes the show. For this year’s musical, Tabor is once again inviting a professional band from outside the school. Unlike last year’s orchestra performing Singin’ in the Rain, which leaned heavily on string instruments, this year’s ensemble will have a more rock-and-roll style, with drums, electric guitars, and other rhythm-section instruments. That shift in style will give the show a different, upward energy.
Taken together, the actors, costume team, tech crew, and band form the unseen engine of the winter musical, turning an empty stage into one of Tabor’s biggest events of the year.
