The West Central Valley Theater Department is giving a modern, melodic twist to a literary classic in their spring musical.

Hit songs from female artists like Whitney Houston, Avril Lavigne, and Shania Twain will be sung in “Emma: A Pop Musical,” based on the Jane Austen novel.

The titular character is being portrayed by junior Larissa Crawford, who gives a synopsis of the show, “The plotline of Emma is a senior in high school she thinks she’s the best matchmaker that’s ever lived. So she’s trying to get a match for Harriet, a sophomore, and she continually messes up and at the end you’ll see that she finally finds the perfect match.”

There are several people to thank for their help putting on the musical, including teachers Nancy Bauch, Michael Gookin, Traca Waddell, and the backstage crew. Senior Jacob Jones, who plays Philip Elton, says there was much to overcome in preparing for the show, “This year especially has been challenging because we’ve been getting a lot of snow and with that comes snow days. So we’ve had quite a few of rehearsals that have been cancelled, so we’ve just had to put in a lot more work and I think we’ve really put it together though.”

Performances of “Emma: A Pop Musical” will be at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the West Central Valley High School gym. Cost is $6 at the door. You can hear more about the musical in today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.