On Friday, September 5, from 9 to 10 p.m., channel 5 presented "The New Performers." "The New Performers" consists of 28 Chicagoland students, six of whom are leads or major characters of the program.

Toward the end of the last school year, tryouts for the opportunity to become a New Performer were conducted by Mr. Gerald Hug and Mr. Grant Anderson of the Music Department. Out of the several auditioning students, Carolyn Hummel '69 and Ned Peterson '71 were chosen.

After this they, along with 248 other students, went to Loyola University to audition in front of the producer, director, and two people from talent agencies. Out of 250 students, 50 were selected for a final individual tryout at the Merchandise Mart. Ned and Carolyn were both among the 50 students; as a result, Ned appeared on the program, and Carolyn was an understudy for any girl who dropped out of the program.

After the selection of the 28 students was completed, rehearsals began on Monday in the last week of June and ended in the last week of July. Even before scheduled rehearsals began, the leads of the program were already at work. When all the original songs were learned, the choreographing began. With so much to learn these students had only two weeks to prepare for the filming of a professional television program.

The weeks of hard work were paid off by a highly appreciative, live viewing audience plus the fact that each student had furthered his stage and singing knowledge. Along with these experiences each student was paid the sum of $100 for their time and labor.

When Ned was asked to give his feelings on how he and the others had benefitted by this unique experience, he replied "We benefitted because we were treated not as high school kids but as adult professionals. I fee that every member of the cast came away feeling a little bi more sure of himself."