EMU Theatre brings Shakespeare’s heartwarming tale of mystery and magic to life in an original musical, featuring hit songs from the ’80s and ’90s and dynamic choreographed dance numbers. “The Winter’s Tale: A Musical Adaptation” comes to the Lee Eshleman Studio Theater, with nightly shows at 7:30 p.m. from April 9-12.

Tickets for the show are on sale at and will be available at the door, though seating inside the theater is limited and tickets have been known to sell out quickly. Tickets range from $6 for EMU and JMU students, $10 for children and other students, $18 for seniors (65+), and $20 for adults.

“The Winter’s Tale” follows two kingdoms torn apart by jealousy, a lost queen, and the love that may bring them back together. When Leontes, the tyrannical king of Sicilia (Elie Hoover), suspects his wife Hermione (Jubilee Soper) of unfaithfulness with Polixenes, king of Bohemia (Samuel Castaneda), he becomes so enraged that he orders her jailed and their infant daughter abandoned.

Sixteen years later, as the seasons shift from winter to spring, the story moves to Bohemia, where Leontes’ daughter, Perdita (Emilee White), is now grown and has captured the heart of Florizel (Kayden Beidler), the brash and dramatic son of Polixenes. Will their love be enough to reunite the two kingdoms?

Perhaps best known for the stage direction, “Exit, pursued by a bear,” this sweet and complex romance is written in Shakespeare’s signature iambic pentameter. But this adaptation adds a “nice little twist,” said guest director Haley Davis: a mix of 1980s and ’90s chart-toppers, personally selected by EMU’s talented student cast, woven throughout the play. It’s sure to have the whole audience singing along.

Frequent EMU Theatre collaborator Jim Clemens returns as music director, performing iconic rock ballads and pop rock songs on piano, while student Bryan Joya-Estrada, who also portrays the Shepherd, plays various instruments.

The costumes, designed by Rebecca Bailey, blend early modern and Renaissance elements with an ’80s and ’90s punk rock aesthetic, Davis said.

Rounding out the crew are Shannon Dove as technical director, Sierra Priest as choreographer, and Sarah Peak as stage manager.

The play will be performed in the round, with audience members seated on all sides of the raised stage and in the upper balcony.

“It’s more fun when you have the audience right there at your toes,” said Davis, an administrative-professional faculty member of James Madison University’s School of Theatre and Dance. “You can look up at the heavens or down at the earth, and you have people there to share the moment with.”

It was only after the audition process that it became clear to the production team which play to perform. “In a special way, this play was chosen based on the people rather than the other way around,” she said. “I found that this approach, coupled with the students musically adapting the play, gave the team unique agency in the story they wanted to tell.”

Beidler, who plays the roles of Florizel and Antigonus, said they love how collaborative the show has felt. “It was so fun helping pick the music, and it really feels like we’ve made this show ours,” they said.

Hoover, who portrays Leontes and Autolycus, said, “It’s fun getting to play characters who are both so different from each other and from me.”

One of the play’s most striking moments is when it travels over 16 years, transporting the characters from Sicilia to Bohemia, from a harsh winter to a forgiving spring. The shift has also felt meaningful for the students, who began rehearsals in winter and are gradually emerging into spring themselves.

“I want audiences to walk away with a sense of hope,” Davis said. “Things can look bleak and cold and scary, but there’s something better around the corner if we hold on and let time do what it needs to do.”

Cast
Leontes/Autolycus — Elie Hoover
Hermione — Jubilee Soper
Mamillius/Perdita — Emilee White
Camillo — Erin Batten
Polixenes — Samuel Casteneda
Paulina — Elena Middlebrook
Florizel/Antigonus — Kayden Beidler
Shepherd/Officer — Bryan Joya-Estrada
Lord/Messenger — Kyah Young

Crew
Director — Haley Davis
Music Director — Jim Clemens
Technical Director — Shannon Dove
Costumer — Rebecca Bailey
Choreographer — Sierra Priest
Stage Manager — Sarah Peak

The full-tuition scholarship is EMU’s highest academic award. Recipients are selected based on academic performance, community and extracurricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought, and leadership potential. 

The Yoder Scholars program was founded by Carol and Paul R. Yoder Jr., both graduates of 1963, with a significant leadership gift to endow the scholarship. Read more about their long legacy of philanthropy here.

The Webb Scholars program honors Ada Webb, one of the first African-American students to attend the university, and Margaret (Peggy) Webb, the first African-American graduate in 1954.

Applicants were tasked with creating a 400-word conceptual response to the prompt, “There are three types of people in the world; which are you?” through the medium of a blank 3”x5” card in whichever way they chose.

Read about the 2025 Yoder/Webb Scholars below:

Zainab Kamran

During her senior year of high school, Zainab Kamran, a psychology major from Lahore, Pakistan, had spent two to three months researching different universities in the U.S. She had come across the Wikipedia pages for James Madison University and the city of Harrisonburg, Virginia. Those pages naturally led her right to EMU. “I liked what I read about the school, but then I forgot all about it,” she said.

When her older brother, who graduated from Pacific Lutheran University, mentioned that an economics professor of his (Ryan Swartzendruber ’16) had graduated from EMU and “loved the experience,” Kamran resumed her search. “I started to dig deeper and was fascinated by EMU’s focus on community and service because those were things I was involved in,” said Kamran. The school’s small size, which allows for closer connections and meaningful one-on-one interactions with professors, was also a major draw, she added.

While at International School Lahore, Kamran was president of the Community Building Society club and organized volunteers to serve free meals to those in need. On Christmas, she helped pack and distribute more than 60 gifts for Christian orphans in Lahore. She was also involved as a publication director of events on campus and collaborated with a professor on a research paper. She received the Director’s Award for Community Building and the Director’s Award for Research and Publication.

Kamran said she’s excited to take part in service- and art-related activities and clubs on campus and that she’s found a welcoming home at EMU. “The people here are so friendly,” she said. “EMU has such a diverse international student population. I’ve met students from Ethiopia, Kenya, India, and Afghanistan, and it’s been a lot of fun meeting them.”

Kayden Beidler

Kayden Beidler, a nursing major from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is the latest in a long line of family members to attend EMU. His older sister, Miranda Beidler, is a senior; his parents, Lyle Beidler, class of ’98, and Melissa Spory Beidler ’98, met and began dating while EMU students; and his aunt, Marcy Spory Weaver ’08, graduated from the university’s top-tier nursing program.

With so many personal connections at EMU, the school automatically made his list of colleges to consider. But, he still had to decide for himself. When Beidler visited EMU during an Admitted Student Day and spoke with a nursing professor, he came away thoroughly impressed with the quality of the program. “The way she described how EMU teaches nursing really resonated with me,” he said. “Seeing those values of caring for others reflected not just in the major I want to study, but also across the college, made me think, ‘This is where I want to be.’”

A National Merit Scholarship finalist this year, Beidler received National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for his story submissions in 2022 (Honorable Mention) and 2023 (Gold Key Award, American Voices nominee). He was also selected to participate in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Regional Chorus Festival. Beidler, who has joined the EMU University Choir, was involved in all 12 of his high school’s theater productions during his four years at Lancaster Mennonite High School, and served as editor of the school’s literary arts magazine.

Beidler said he wanted to attend a college that aligned with his values of community, living intentionally, caring for others, and caring for the world. “EMU checked all those boxes,” he said. “Visiting those other schools only made me more certain that EMU was the right fit for me.”