From the moment the March sisters stepped onto stage, a wave of nostalgia swept the room as the audience experienced Louisa May Alcott’s age-old story of love, loss and all of the little moments in between that make a family.

Students, staff and Waco locals will have the opportunity to be whisked away to the Civil War era world created in Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, “Little Women,” via a Broadway musical version of the story put on by the Baylor University Theatre.

For the first time, Baylor’s theatre department shone a spotlight on up-and-coming playwrights and actors this past weekend through its bi-annual New Play Initiative, a program dedicated to showcasing and providing feedback to rising playwrights.

The Waco Civic Theatre celebrated its 100th birthday Tuesday with a public party that thanked volunteers and staff and previewed what’s next for the nonprofit theater.

In honor of the musical’s ten-year anniversary since its debut in 2015, the award-winning musical is being shown in movie theaters nationwide — including Waco’s Cinemark theater on Creekview Drive — giving audiences another way to experience a show that changed Broadway.

On Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., three professors gathered together to discuss the impact of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit Broadway production, “Hamilton,” in celebration of the show’s 10-year anniversary.

In this performance, the cast and crew of Baylor Theatre have lifted the words straight from the pages of your sophomore year English textbook and breathed new life into this classic story of revenge.

Adapted from the beloved film, this version of the story introduces heartfelt songs alongside its timeless themes of faith, family and community. With opening night on Thursday Dec. 5, the production promises to be a highlight of the season for local theater enthusiasts.

The narrative of the play follows a teacher and aspiring director in charge of her own Thanksgiving play working with a local street actor who she has an intimate relationship with, a cliché Los Angeles actress and a geeky history teacher with dreams to be a playwright.

“We’re talking about a disabled bell ringer. We’re talking about gypsies who are mistreated. We’re talking about the reality of humanity, and so it’s those kinds of things that draw me into that,” Guess said.

The story follows Sweeney Todd — a man with a seriously unfortunate past who murders any and everyone via slitting their throats in his barbershop. Somehow the plot only gets crazier from there according to Keller senior Logan Allen, who plays the titular role of Sweeney Todd.

“It is a very unique show,” Mauldin said. “It’s really beautiful to see how impactful theater can be at its most simple form. No magic, no music. Just actors, emotions and a campfire.”

Broadway stars will join Baylor’s Theatre Department for the first public performance of the musical “American Eclipse,” which tells the story of the boom of American science during the 19th century.

After the recent release of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” on Disney+, kids and adults alike have returned to Camp Half-Blood and reentered their “demigod” phase. The excitement has even reached central Texas, with Waco Civic Theater’s production of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” telling the classic story with a fun, musical twist.

Baylor Theatre’s first play of the semester may be called “Men on Boats,” but you won’t find any men on stage. The production, which opened Tuesday night in the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center, is a comedic telling of John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition. It follows his men as they navigate the Colorado River and face various dangers.

All-University Sing has been a staple tradition of Baylor since the 1950s and has influenced many other colleges to follow in its footsteps by creating musical competitions of their own. So, as a recap, let’s take a look back at the Sing winners of the last few years.

Before the space at 1319 N 15th St. became Jubilee Theatre, it was an adult theater known as “The Capri” — an avid hotspot for drug dealers and prostitutes until it shut down due to a recession. Mission Waco obtained the deed to the space for free in 1994, and it immediately began raising money to restore the building and craft it into a space for community theater.

“Luisa Fernanda” tells the emotional story of a woman stuck in a love triangle with two men during the Spanish Revolution of 1868.

Baylor Opera Theatre is getting ready to perform “Luisa Fernanda” — a story about two men fighting for a woman amid the Spanish Revolution of 1868.

“’Three Sisters’ is ultimately about remaining hopeful for the future, despite the boredom and anguish of everyday life,” Waco senior Kayla Bush said. “The characters in this play may feel a little foreign because of how they look and speak, but I think audiences will be surprised to realize that their characters are funny, hypocritical, messy and truly just human.”

The cast and crew of Baylor Theatre’s upcoming production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” have been working since summer to prepare for the show’s Sept. 27 opening, according to Dallas senior and stage manager Sophia Lang.

Although the Waco Civic Theatre is currently in “shadow season,” that does not mean it’s without incredible productions. “Ordinary Days,” directed by Jamie Coblentz, is set to be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

With the dawn of another season of shows ahead, Baylor Theatre has been diligently preparing for the return of the production that caused a schoolwide scandal in 1962.

Aside from all these whimsical elements, much of the time spent in rehearsals has focused on the dance, silk, and floor gymnastics involved in the production. Pounders said that time is of the element when it comes to preparing a show with as many moving parts as this.

Rowell said one of the most significant ways dance has impacted her is through the mind-body connection. Because of dance, Rowell said her sense of place and physical awareness has been much improved, something she said is unique to dancers.

Get caught up the magic of Broadway, with performances of iconic show tunes sung by Emmy, Tony, Grammy and SAG award nominees.

“My motto is ‘do stuff that scares you,’ and ‘Athena’ scares me in all the right ways,” Marrs said. “It’s about two women qualifying for the junior Olympics in fencing, and I’ve never been a woman or a fencer, so I’m learning a lot of things in the process.”

Once | Feb. 22 – 26 | Feb. 23 – 25: 7:30 p.m.; Feb. 26: 2 p.m. | Mabee Theater, Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center, 1401 S University Parks Drive | $15 | Baylor Theater puts on five sold-out shows of this musical, centering around the love story of two musicians in Dublin, Ireland.

Heathers | Feb. 22 | 7:30 p.m. | Waco Civic Theatre, 1517 Lake Air Drive | $18 – $20 | Silent House Theatre company puts on a production of this classic, ’80s-inspired musical in collaboration with Waco Civic Theater.

The story follows an unlikely pair — a rather melancholy young man ready to give up on his love for music and a rather stubborn, determined young woman who loves music just as much as him and isn’t ready for his songs to cease.