A desire for human connection and creativity is what drew Jessica Sanders, BFA ’26, to musical theatre. This spring, the Ohio Northern University musical theatre major channeled both to write and stage her first musical: “The D8tes.”
Her delightful romcom about the quest for love—cleverly titled to reflect eight first dates—received resounding applause and praise at its inaugural performance at ONU this May.
Throughout her creative journey, Jessica has been gratified by the encouragement she received from her ONU theatre friends and professors.
“ONU has such a supportive theatre community,” she says. “I had full confidence that I could put this out there in front of my friends, and even if something goes wrong, they would support me regardless.”
Jessica began working on “The D8tes” 18 months ago. She was noodling a song on the piano when the idea to write a musical popped into her head. “I thought ‘let me just try this,’” she says. “I really didn’t think it would go anywhere, but the ideas kept flowing.”
A fan of traditional musicals, especially those starring Gene Kelly, she envisioned a light musical focused heavily on relationships and the shared human experience.
“People always say write what you know,” she says, “and of course, a typical conversation in college revolves around dating. That’s what my friends and I are always talking about.”
Her story centers on the lead character, Hallie—played by Jessica, who is seeking a love match. Hallie goes on eight first dates with unique characters, all played by the same male lead, Mathew Cook, a junior musical theatre major. Leaning into stereotypes like the nerd, the frat boy, the cowboy, Jessica scripted several characters to be “crazy and over the top” for maximum laughs. In the end, Hallie finds love, but then loses it as the pair go their separate ways after college.
As she worked on the musical, Jessica realized the bigger theme was about the journey toward happiness, and the funny, hurtful, and strange things that happen along the way. “It became about the shared human experience in this wacky and silly way,” she says.
With a talent for songwriting, comedy, and improv, she produced a rough draft of the script and the songs within a few months. She then spent months refining the work. The most difficult challenge was orchestrating and transcribing the score for various instruments, a skill that Jessica taught herself for the project.
“I am glad I did, because I found such a passion for it, especially writing for string instruments,” she says.
Throughout the process, Jessica received support from Director’s Lab (D-Lab), a special program in the theatre department that offers resources for students’ creative projects. Jessica noted that her musical was much more ambitious than most D-Lab projects. However, her professors got on board, even allowing her to use the Stambaugh Studio Theatre, the flexible “black box” space in the Freed Center for the Performing Arts, for her rehearsals and the show.
Despite both holding roles in the spring musical “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812,” including a lead role for Matt, the two found time to rehearse Jessica’s original work.
“Matt is such a smart performer that I knew with even the limited amount of rehearsal time, he’d make great choices and distinguish the characters,” says Jessica.
Other ONU theatre friends and classmates jumped in to assist with lighting, sound, directing, and the orchestra, enabling Jessica to stage a full production just a few weeks before she graduated.
“The best time to do something like this is in college,” she says, “because you have a lot of free resources and a community of creative people around to support your ideas and help out.”
Jessica was blown away by the audience reaction. “It was a room of support,” she says, “a room filled with people who came to the theatre willing to feel things.”
In the musical, Hallie treats the audience like her diary, walking in the aisles and sharing her feelings about her dates. Jessica loved seeing audience members become engaged and invested in her character’s story.
“I was laughing when I heard them say things like “girl, get away from that guy, save yourself!’”
Jessica also felt the audience’s collective surprise and sadness when the two characters ended their romance. “It’s so wonderful to be on stage and experience love and heartbreak as a character along with the audience,” she said. “It’s therapeutic, actually.”
After graduation, Jessica returned home to Florida to participate in the Disney College Program. She dreams of being in theatre productions on a Disney Cruise Line. She is also producing a cast album and a video of the performance of “The D8tes” to promote on social media. In addition to having the musical copyrighted, she is exploring opportunities to stage another production at a theatre open to new works.
Now that she has a taste of success, Jessica plans to pen more musicals with deep character development and small casts.
“I want to write musicals that are more accessible to young artists who don’t have all the money and resources in the world,” she says. “That excites me because I grew up being that person.”
