The Eagle is courageous, and ruler of the sky. The Lion is king on the earth, protector of the pride But the beast that is most fearless, most powerful and true, is the Griffin of Lincoln-Way East, whose blood runs black and blue! Fight On! Lincoln-Way! Our honor we defend! Fight on! Lincoln-Way! Our allegiance never ends! Rah! Rah! As the team runs out before you, everyone stand up and hail. Victory to the mighty Griffins! The pride of Lincoln-Way!!

The Lincoln-Way East Music Department is presenting their spring musical, Songs for a New World on April 17, 18, 19 with all three shows starting at 7:00 p.m. Senior Citizens complimentary performance will be on April 16 at 5 pm. Tickets are $8 and can be ordered via www.lwemusic.org or by calling 815-464-4063.

In 1995, at age twenty-five, songwriter Jason Robert Brown pulled together sixteen of the songs he had written for various projects (shows, cabaret, concerts), and director Daisy Prince found a common theme to connect them. That theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new. The change may be geographical, emotional, professional or marital but the result is the same – a new world where things are different than they were before. Songs for a New World is neither musical play nor revue, but is in reality, closer to an intensensely theatrical song cycle, or a volume of short stories set to music. The Lincoln-Way East High School musical staff, cast and crew have taken this concept, originally conceived for four singers and a small combo and re-invented it to make use of the large format of their auditorium and the impressive dept of their talent pool.

“ On April 17-19, 2008 at Lincoln-Way East High School, audiences will be transported in time and place to experience each character’s moment of decision through song-stories that range from fully choreographed production numbers to intimate, introspective ballads. The inner and outer journeys take place in a set at times evoke an explorer’s ship and at others, the streets of urban America or even the mind-scapes of a nameless political prisoner or the women left behind in times of war. Brown writes intensely personal, highly dramatic songs. Each song is musically distinctive and emotionally charged. The LWEHS production of Songs for a New World is entirely up to the task of bringing this unique musical to life,” stated Alysia Lambert, choral director for Lincoln-Way East, and director for the spring musical.