This February, the Hillsboro Community Youth Choir and the Hillsboro Historical Society will debut a new musical revue, Hillsboro to the MAX, in two free performances. The revue celebrates the rich history of Hillsboro, from its founding days to the present, using song and dance to bring the town’s past to life. Centering on two sisters, Alexi and Emily, who are traveling to Hillsboro on the MAX to visit their grandmother, the revue uses song, dance, and visits with key historical figures to bring history to life for the sisters and the audience.

The idea for this musical revue started to grow in November 2010, when leaders of the Youth Choir and the Historical Society attended the HACC Leadership Summit focused on Collaborative Marketing. From there, the two organizations worked together, deciding how to combine their groups’ talents to bring Hillsboro’s past to the stage. After receiving a Community Arts & Culture Grant for this project from the HACC, the two organizations were able to work with local playwright, Linda Needham, to bring their vision to fruition.

The Hillsboro Community Youth Choir will perform the revue, as actors, singers, and dancers, playing the roles of key figures from Hillsboro’s past and performing musical and dance numbers appropriate to each time period. For further historical accuracy, Kay Demlow of the Historical Society is providing period costumes for the performers. Hillsboro to the MAX will be performed on February 4th at Cornell Estates in Hillsboro at 2:30 pm and on February 5th at the Venetian Theatre in downtown Hillsboro at 3 pm. For more information, go to hillsborocommunityyouthchoir.org.