GROVE CITY — There is a newcomer joining the ranks of singing orphans, cowboys and 1950s greasers featured in this year's musical productions at area high schools.

“Sasquatch: The Musical” will take the stage April 11, 12 and 13 at Grove City High School.

This Bigfoot is strictly a local boy because the musical was written by GCHS graduates Matthew Lucas and Patrick McElroy.

McElroy, an English teacher and the drama director at GCHS, is the musical's director.

The orchestration is by Matt Shervey, the high school's choir director, who also will be music director and pit orchestra conductor.

“We came up with the idea in the spring of 2012,” said McElroy, who's been friends with Lucas since middle school. “We did a lot of writing for filmmaking and video projects.”

“For one reason or another, the character of the Sasquatch had found its way into many of the projects that Pat and I had done together while we were in high school,” said Lucas, who lives in Washington, D.C., where he's pursuing a master's degree in fine arts from American University and working as a drama coach at a Virginia high school.

“We made several comedic short films, fake documentaries and parody commercials as part of both our video production classes and an independent study we developed,” Lucas said.

“The Sasquatch had always been just sort of funny and mysterious to us, so we'd end up writing him into these little narratives. In college we even made a feature film that featured an appearance by the Sasquatch,” Lucas said.

“Then in the summer of 2012, it just happened to be that our schedules aligned to take a trip together across the country from Pennsylvania to British Columbia,” said Lucas, “and when we decided to drive we knew we'd need a project to work on so those long days on the road would be a little more fulfilling.”

“The initial conceptualization and writing took three weeks, and the rest of the writing took seven months,” said McElroy.

“We had our first draft of the script finished by the time we made it back to Pennsylvania in that three-week period, and we'd written maybe 65 percent of the music on the road as well,” said Lucas.

The story the two came up with on their long road trip deals with scientist Kenneth Henderson who is called upon to help the struggling town of Spoons, Wash., solve the mystery of why all of the children are disappearing.

The locals believe it to be the work of a mysterious creature in the woods, the Sasquatch.

As Henderson works reluctantly alongside cryptozoologist Jane Goodall to solve the case, they begin to fall in love and discover a shocking surprise.

“As it turns out, it's pretty difficult to write a musical with only a mini travel guitar and a piano iPad app inside of an SUV for three weeks,” Lucas admitted.

“When we got back and could finally sit down at a real piano, we were able to finalize our first complete draft over the next month,” said Lucas.

Because Lucas was in Washington, D.C., and McElroy in Grove City, rewrites and further musical refinements had to be done long distance via video chat.

McElroy said their music was then passed to Shervey to do the orchestration.

“They recorded themselves singing the songs,” said Shervey. “They printed out the sheet music for a piano and singer. They said they wanted a trumpet here and a drum there.”

“You had to turn it all into musical parts so a trumpet player could see how it should be,” said Shervey. “It was a real fun project.”

“Now it will be played by a 30-piece orchestra,” said Shervey. “It's a big pit orchestra. We wanted to get as many students involved as possible.”

As for the music of “Sasquatch,” said McElroy, “It's kind of like the story itself: It transcends genres.”

“We have a lot of styles of music. We have what you would expect from a typical musical. We have doo-wop, big band numbers and some hard rock,” McElroy said.

“I think the music was written to suit to the needs of the character at the time, and we drew from lots of different sources, and that helped make it kind of eclectic,” he said.

Changes and refinements to script and score will go on right up until opening night, according to McElroy and Shervey.

“We started rehearsing in February, tweaking as we go,” said McElroy.

“I feel very honored to be party to the process,” said Shervey. “It will be a very, very powerful process for the students involved and hopefully for the audiences.”

“I was in Grove City in early March to see some rehearsals for the first time,” said Lucas. “For a dramatic writer, there's nothing better than seeing characters you dreamed up actually become people in real life.”

“With this musical, it's a little different because the style and conventions of the format are a little less subtle,” Lucas said. “But it's still such a fun experience to see the kids take our ridiculous script and make a real performance out of it.

“I hope it can be an experience that will inspire them. After all, they're playing a huge part in the creation of an original professional work. They're originating these characters and inspiring Pat and I to further mold the script,” Lucas said.

“I think it's a great opportunity for this group of young people and I'm very grateful for their involvement and their enthusiasm in bringing our comedy to life,” he said, adding he will be back at the high school for the entire week of dress rehearsals and performances.