Saint John's Prep to Perform Original Musical For Final Show

COLLEGEVILLE (WJON News) -- The Saint John's Prep theater department is wrapping up the school year with an original production.

'That’s Just the Way It Is' is a biographical musical written by Saint John's Prep Theatre Director Brandon Anderson.

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Anderson says this is a true story based on his uncle Terry's journey of self-discovery as he searches for acceptance of his rare genetic disease.

So my uncle has a rare multi-system genetic disease called Tuberous Sclerosis. It's kind of like Lou Gehrig's Disease but how I would describe it is that with Lou Gehrig's the muscles don't work, and with his condition white lesions form on the brain which means the electrical signals are not getting to the rest of his body. So it's been a slow progressive disease throughout his lifetime.

The show will take you through Terry's life and the obstacles he's had to overcome.

Anderson says this show was originally written ten years ago, but evolved into a musical over the last four years after partnering with Saint John's Prep senior Kai Kang, who composed the music for the entire show.

I compose music on my own. I read his script and it was a really inspiring story. I've always wanted to do a musical of my own and I asked him if we could partner and that's how this whole show began.

The performance runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. inside the Weber Center on the Saint John's Prep campus.

Tickets are just $10 and can be found online.