Leading a life of philanthropy and helping others, Molly Brown was a trailblazer for women’s and workers’ rights at the turn of the 20th century. Surviving one of the largest boat tragedies that we know of, the sinking of the Titanic, nothing could bring Molly down, which is why the theater department decided to display her story from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15 in their biggest play of the school year, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.”

The theater department was one of a few schools across the country chosen to perform this show, having to go through an extensive interview process. They also received a 10,000-dollar grant to produce the show. 

“The idea that in the United States, where most, not all, but most, high schools have a theater program, to be one of 16 in the whole country to apply and receive this grant, feels like a really big honor to me, just because statistically, why would they pick us?” Helen Raymond-Goers, the technical director, said.

Normally, the shows for the following year are announced in April, but for this show the students have known about it since November 2023, when the theater department found out they got the grant. This has gotten the students more interested and excited about this show, as well as given them more time to really learn about the show.

“I read this big biographical book on Molly Brown and all of her philanthropic activities, but it’s been really cool,” Caroline Lovelace, ‘26, the actor who plays Molly, said. “She’s been really fun to learn about and I’ve just felt like this whole time I’ve just been getting to know a really awesome person, which is Molly.”

Margaret Brown (née Tobin) was born to Irish immigrants, John and Johanna Tobin, in Hannibal, Miss., in 1867. She attended school there until the age of 13, when she then went to work in a tobacco factory. Once Molly and her brother Daniel were adults, they moved out to Colorado during the gold rush migration.

Shortly after moving, she met a mining engineer named J.J. Brown, and they got married on Sept. 1, 1886. After the mine where J.J. worked at struck gold, they moved to Denver with their newfound riches. The play centers around Molly’s boost into higher social classes and how she ignored social pressures by helping those who were affected by the silver crash.

“The contemporary corollaries are really all over the place. Though the thing is, how do you stick to your roots? How do you help people who need it? How do you remember that your self-worth doesn’t have to do with where you come from, what gender you are or what your background is? That you can rise above all of this. We are all still doing that all the time,” Raymond-Goers said.

One of the crucial steps in the making of this production was for both actors and crew heads to do their research. This is important so that what they create is a correct representation of the people and the time period that they are recreating.

“I have done a lot of research on different silhouettes and materials and how they were used in different social classes,” Alice Carmicle, ‘26, the costume designer, said. “Mainly just trying to keep it as real as I can and telling her story, because it is a really cool story.”

While this play has a lot of lively and fun music and comedy, it also has a much deeper message that it is sending. This play demonstrated how even with everything against her, Molly Brown was able to rise above the barriers of being a woman in the 20th century while making a difference in countless lives.

“‘[The Unsinkable] Molly Brown’ has a lot of really powerful messages about women in positions of power and fighting for their rights and fighting for their place in politics, as well as immigration rights and equality in America as a whole,” Lovelace said.

While Molly Brown was such an exceptional woman who did a lot of great things in her life, there was a lot of added pressure of representing someone who was a real person since it limited an actor’s creative freedom when it comes to making the character their own.

“It’s hard to find the balance between playing a character and playing a real person,” Clark Sayre, ‘26, the actor playing J.J. Brown, said. “You want the acting to come up as good, and you want people to find your character appealing, but you also don’t want to play something completely different from what the real person did.”

The way that the actors display their characters has a large impact on how the audience perceives them and the message that the actors are trying to explain through their characters. They want the audience to recognize the significance of what Molly Brown was able to do to improve the lives of others, all while being a woman in the 20th century.

“This is a hopeful story about rising above and being a person who is so self-contained that even one of the largest boat tragedies that we know of didn’t get her down,” Raymond-Goers said. “She came back. She continued her philanthropic work; she continued to fight; she continued to donate; she continued to advocate for workers rights and women’s rights.”

The cast and crew hope that attendees leave the show with a new person to look up to and new ideas on how they can create change in their communities.

“Feminism is very relevant in this show,” Carmicle said. “Molly Brown was very brave and forward, and that kind of thinking is still relevant, no matter where you are or when.”