Allen’s Fine Arts Department’s production of FAME the Musical will debut Jan. 28 after months of rehearsal and coordination. The plot focuses on a group of students who attend New York’s prestigious High School of Performing Arts. The musical follows their lives and individual struggles exploring their talents.

FAME takes place in the 1980s, which is reflected through the production’s upbeat pop music and colorful, flashy costume choices. Junior Hannah Holtz, who plays Miss Sherman in FAME, says the musical has something for everyone.

“There’s a wide range of music,” Holtz. “It’s primarily 80s pop, but it features rap, gospel and basically everything you could want.”

The audition process for FAME consisted of reading lines, singing and coming up with a short choreography sequence to perform for the theater directors.

“We had to come up with our own dance numbers,” Holtz said. “We found out about that only a couple days before the auditions, so everyone was freaking out about it. Some people went in doing step-touch dances and the Cupid Shuffle, then the Tallenettes had really fancy routines. It was fun to hear about everyone’s dancing.”

FAME features a dance ensemble as well as a chorus, giving everyone a chance to step into the limelight.

“Last year for the production of Cinderella, the vocal chorus ended up sitting off-stage while the dancers lip-synced,” Holtz said. “A lot of people in the chorus were upset about that. The vocal chorus is incorporated into the action this year, which is really cool.”

Junior Zack Love, who plays Joe Vegas, says music from FAME centers around high school problems that every student and teacher can relate to: drugs, relationships and making time for learning.

“My favorite song from the musical is ‘The Teacher’s Argument,’” Love said. “It’s about the two main teachers fighting about the importance of improving your personal talents but also making equal time for your studies.”

Tickets are available online and at the door. FAME will be performed in the Performing Arts Center Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m.

“It’s such a fun show to watch,” Love said. “I’ve really enjoyed making new friends in the cast, and there are so many different kinds of students involved. I like that all the different sections of performing arts can come together to be one big cast and make an amazing show. People are gonna love it, and I can’t wait for everyone to come see our hard work pay off.”