Beginning June 3, Grady will premiere its first student written musical. Half Step, created by Reilly Blum, Uzuki Kakinuma, and Isabel Olson, tells the story of Eliza (played by senior Emma Mathews), a classical composer with mental illness struggling to break through the musical world in New York City.

The musical chronicles the character’s  dysfunctional relationship with love interest Kyle (played by junior Blake Fowler) as she attempts to quell the voices in her mind. Ultimately Eliza must weigh which is more important to her — love or ambition.

On April 22 at the Spring Sing concert, the production previewed the musical numbers “Who Dares” by Blum and “Blackout” by Kakinuma and Olson.

Olson began work on Half Step in December 2014.

“I was doing all these different things in theater from choreographing to reading plays,” Olson said. “I wanted to see what it was like to start a show.”

Early on, she recruited close friend Blum, an experienced guitarist, to help with the project. Despite their enthusiasm, neither could have anticipated the sheer amount of work and time needed to produce a musical.

“You finish something and you think you’re done and then there’s a whole other thing about musicals you never even knew existed that you have to then do,” Olson said.

In the following months, Olson and Blum spent hours writing the script and songs. In January, they enlisted the help of Kakinuma, who has a background in classical music, to assist as a composer.

The three originally planned to complete a two-hour production; however, after creating a more realistic time frame, they cut the show to one hour.

“Once you write it once, it’s not done,” Jake Dreiling, musical theater teacher, said. “You have to rewrite, tweak and work with actors.”

The process remains ongoing, as the three continue to edit, cut and create new songs.

Despite the challenges of songwriting, they agree that seeing the end product of their work has been extremely rewarding.

“I remember thinking it’s real,” Olson said, describing what it was like to see one of her songs put on to sheet music. “All my notes are on paper, and I can give this to somebody and they have the music.”

Each creator brought a different style and tone to the musical and the result was an eclectic collection of acoustic melodies, pop numbers and edgy pieces.

Along with making completely original content, they had to cast people who could bring the story and music to life.

“It’s kind of weird because you are auditioning peers who are your age,” Olson said. “What became a consideration was not only talent but level of respect, dedication and directability people can show.”

Olson found all of those traits and more in Mathews and Fowler.

“[Mathews is] more than an actress,” Blum said. “She’s taken a lot of initiative and gone beyond what has been asked of her.”

Fowler says the novel experience of taking part in an original play has revealed a new side of acting for him.

“I don’t think it’s even comparable to playing a part that’s been done a thousand times,” Fowler said. “Instead of channeling the character, you are becoming the character.”

The show also touches on the tough issue of mental illness through its protagonist, Eliza, who deals with a mental illness that closely resembles schizophrenia.

“A lot of media take schizophrenia and turn it into comedy or relate it to split personality disorder,” Olson said.

For Olson, it was important for the musical to present mental illness humanely through its script and cast.

“Portraying mental illness in a way that is not offensive is difficult,” senior Mathews said.

Mathews and Olson have researched and dedicated time in rehearsal to create an accurate representation of mental illness.

To make the musical a reality, Olson, Blum and Kakinuma set up a Gofundme account and immediately received an outpour of community support.

“Kids we didn’t know at school donated five or 10 dollars,” Blum said.

With 43 donations, the campaign raised $1,900. An unseen benefit of the campaign were the students who later reached out and offered their help, such as senior Josh Ortega.

“I heard about it and emailed Isabel later that day, and told her I wanted to get involved,” Ortega said.

Ortega, who designed the show’s set, is one of many volunteers.

“There’s a lot of kids at Grady who I would never have talked to had I not done this,” Blum said.

With the addition of a cast and a tech crew, a project that began with only three people now includes more than 18.

“I feel like there’s so much pressure on me, Reilly and Uzuki,” Olson said. “At the same time, that’s the fun of it; that’s what gets us to keep going.”