Mission Statement
"We are determined to preserve
and advance the performing arts in the lives of the students in our community. We
do that with the belief that involvement in the performing arts produces higher
levels of achievement and life awareness in our young people. The ongoing volunteers
that are the Hi-Liners are dedicated to that end".
In 1966 Mr. William A Moeller, a teacher in the Highline School District in
Burien, Washington founded a high school summer program he called
The Hi-Liners. This group quickly evolved from a summer group into a year
'round district wide performing group. The Hi-Liners performed extensively in
the Western United States in the early 1970's and was widely respected and
sought after for performances such as the 737 rollout ceremony, National
Governors Conference, NEA National Convention and many other notable events.
The group even received very favorable recognition in the prestigious New Yorker
Magazine and was compared to other more nationally known groups such as
"Up with People".
In 1991 the old members of the group were recruited by Mr. Moeller to do a
series of reunion performances to celebrate the grand opening of the new state
of the art Highline Performing Arts Center. These shows provided the catalyst
for annual reunion shows and for the reorganization of The Hi-Liners into a
private non-profit company.
In 1994 a new board of directors was put in place and decided that the
Hi-Liners was not about nostalgia but about giving opportunity to young people.
So the Hi-Liners came full circle and became a summer program once again.
This program was dedicated to providing professional direction to our young
cast members to develop their talents with the back drop of quality sets,
costumes and a live orchestra to give both the performers and the audience a
genuine Broadway musical experience. In 2000 the program was expanded with
the addition of our DownStage Center youth education division under the full
time direction of Kathleen Edwards.
Since that decision we have peformed: Hello Dolly,
Oklahoma,
Bye, Bye Birdie,
The Sound of Music,
Oliver,
Grease,
The Wizard of OZ,
Crazy For You,
Annie,
You're a Good Man Charlie Brown,
Les Misérables',
Once Upon a Mattress,
42nd Street,
Disney's Beauty and the Beast,
Music Man Jr,
West Side Story,
Rumpelstiltskin,
Footloose
and
Disney's Aladdin Jr.,
Our audiences have grown each year along with the quality of our productions.
As of 2005 over 46,000 people have seen our show and over 600 young performers
have entertained them all.
Auditions for our program are open to anyone between the ages of 9 and 22 and
are held in early June for our summer program and in January for our Spring
productions. Please check our website for up-to-date information about all future shows.
Each year we have simple goals: As an organization to learn something
new and apply that learning to make our program better, to open at least one
young mind to the magic of live musical theater and the unique talents they
each possess. It is a journey of creativity we hope you will all join us on
that journey.
