Schaumburg troupe to stage Black History Month performance

Soon-to-be high school graduates and anyone who knows them will relate to this year’s Black History Month performance by Powerhouse Productions, a Schaumburg-based theater group.

The show, titled “18 and Graduating,” will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Schaumburg Prairie Center of the Arts. Tickets are $20 in advance at the center, 201 Schaumburg Court, and online at powerhouseproduction.org or $25 at the door.

Powerhouse Productions founder and Executive Producer Valerie Profit said the show addresses the many pressures and decisions high school graduates face.

“It’s things that happen in all lives, regardless of color,” she said. “The whole premise of it, the message in this short script, is so very powerful.”

Profit said her son, Maurice “Dusti” Proffit, is directing the show this year and taking over Powerhouse Productions next year. She said he also wrote the script, which he found inspiration for through his memories of being 18 and graduating from Conant High School.

About 30 cast members have been rehearsing twice a week since the beginning of January, Profit said.

Besides the show, there will also be a free panel of professionals discussing mental health related to kids and violence from 4 to 6 p.m., along with a preshow performance by a dance group at 6:30 p.m.