If one thing has been proven during these trying times, adaptation and teamwork go a long way to help create new and exciting experiences.

This has led to the Struthers Library Theatre, the Warren County School District, and performers from Broadway, coming together to present for the first time, a Virtual Broadway. It’s an event that will showcase Broadway stars Ashley Blanchet (Frozen, Beautiful: The Carol King Musical, Annie), Talley Sessions (Anastasia, Falsettos, School of Rock), and Nikhil Saboo (Hamilton, Mean Girls, The Secret Garden) from center stage to center screen for both in-school and at-home kindergarten through 12th-grade students throughout Warren County School District.

During the two separate sessions, following introductions, the artists will sing select songs for viewers, followed up by a question-and-answer portion for Warren County students.

So, how did all this come together? It’s simple — one of Warren County’s own, Sheffield graduate Devon Meddock became a figurative bridge between rural Pennsylvania and New York City.

“It was really organic, actually,” said Eric Morelli, marketing and education director for Struthers Library Theatre. “It was almost like a domino effect that the pandemic triggered, more or less. Her and her father, Marty Meddock, are both really great theatre volunteers. They’ve been really involved even through the pandemic helping us do these small events we’re doing.”

Morelli explained that Devon, who prior to the pandemic was performing in The Imbible at New World Stages in the Theatre District, had begun directing the Struthers Library Theatre Academy as well as the Holiday Special for students.

Meddock was also resuming her teaching online and doing virtual lessons.

Following a virtual masterclass with Ashley Blanche, the discussions began about doing something similar for the local students. Meddock will serve as moderator during the event.

“It’s a great opportunity for our kids, and the fact that Devon is involved,” said Jen Dilks, the Warren County School District’s liaison to Struthers Library Theatre, who was presented the idea and instantly ran with it.

“They plugged it to me, and I was like, ‘I got it,'”said Dilks.”You guys get the people, I can do the technology, don’t worry about it. We kind of went our separate paths and got it all figured out and here we are.”

Dilks and Morelli expressed enthusiasm for the project, as it gave both Struthers Library Theatre and the Warren County School District the ability to, in a unique way, continue their annual events such as performances and workshops, through the Arts and Education Program.

“We couldn’t do any of that this year, and we wanted to still interact with the school district, and they’ve done such a great job with getting all the kids online,” Morelli said.

“So what’s nice about this is we can just play it for everybody,” said Dilks. “So all of our kids get to see it. And not just our kids that are at school, but we’re able to send a link to our kids that are at home.”

Along with the job title of Liaison, Dilks is a Struthers Library Theatre Trustee and has been involved with the Warren Players and the All-County Musical, in addition to being the Instructional Technology Coach for Warren County School District.

Dilks estimated around 350 connections for the K-5 session that will take place at 1 p.m., and a whopping 985 connections for the 6-12 session due to so many students still at home. Students submitted roughly a combined 200 questions for the performers to select from for the Q&A portion of the event.

“It’s a huge undertaking as far as virtually, technological-wise, to get this out to everybody,” said Dilks.

On the other end of the planning was Devon Meddock, who was reaching out to performers.

“She has so many friends from Broadway and she chose a good variety of performers from different types of shows and different backgrounds,” Morelli said of Meddock’s recruiting. “When we first set this up, one performer was in New York, one was in L.A., and I think one was even overseas, so something like this wouldn’t have been possible or have occurred to us, but we were put in a corner and this was the best result we could hope for.”

One artist that will be participating in the Virtual Broadway will be Nikhil Saboo. The NYU graduate described his personal story and how he hoped it would connect to the students watching to be inspired and to bridge the gap between dream and reality.

“When I was in college at NYU, and I would go to see these Broadway shows, there was this whole thing where it felt like there was this giant gap between me and that stage that I wanted to be upon,” Saboo said. “But as I kept working hard at it, practiced, and repeated, as soon as I was on Broadway, I was like, oh my gosh, there isn’t this big gap and I’m not sure why I put that big gap in my mind or who put it there, or what it is. I didn’t know exactly what it was. I really hope that these sorts of events allow them to see that we all are humans, we’re all alike, and also you can if you want to go for your dream of being an artist, or a performer, or a painter, or whatever it is.”

For Saboo, utilizing his vocal talents, or what he describes as his identity, is a full-body experience, and being able to participate in the Virtual Broadway allows a part him to awaken.

A part that the Hamilton actor says has been dormant for the past year.

“When I perform, my purpose for performing is to inspire, uplift, and engage other young artists for that person in the audience that can finally be like, oh my gosh I see myself on a stage, or that story said something to me,” Saboo said when speaking of the students that will be watching. “I think that’s our job as artists and storytellers is to uplift, engage, and inspire other young minds. So, performing for kids — especially around this age — I believe is super special. It’s almost pivotal. To have them just get the opportunity to interact.”