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And your host for tonight’s show is …

Pioneer Theatre Guild’s FutureStars 2023 returns for its 21st year at the newly renovated Schreiber Auditorium at Pioneer High School on Feb. 11 and Megan Gottfried can’t wait to host the event – again.

The Pioneer senior, who performed in the show as both a freshman and sophomore, also was the host last year during her junior year.

“This will be my second time doing Future Stars in Schreiber, and it will be such a different experience as a senior than as a freshman,” says Gottfried. “It’s definitely a full-circle experience. I am so excited to host again.”

Gottfried says being a host is exciting because they are sort of a “jack of all trades.”

“We get to act in a skit in the beginning of the show, and get to connect with the performers when we introduce the acts during the show,” she says. “And then walk everyone through the end and announce the winner!”

Megan, 17, is the daughter of Amy and Glenn Gottfried and has a 3.951 GPA. She has been busy during her four years at Pioneer.

“I am in the Girl Up club, which helps uplift women in STEM, and helps encourage young girls to consider STEM careers,” she says. “I am also in choir and arrange for my extracurricular a capella group, Soulfege. I also work at Eddie Bauer and love hanging out with my friends, reading, baking, and long-boarding.”

Gottfried first hit the stage when she was in fourth grade. “My school did a production of Charlotte’s Web, and I played the goose,” she says. “It was exhilarating to be on the stage and under all the bright lights. I especially loved the process of blocking scenes, memorizing lines, and preparing for the show. I got to see how everything comes together, and then got to participate in the results.”

Gottfried has acted in Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, and Mary Poppins in middle school. And through PTG, she was able to do FutureStars 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. “I was also in Les Mis and played Rapunzel in Into the Woods,” she says. “I was recently selected to perform a concerto with the Pioneer Symphony Orchestra, and Connor Casey and I will be performing that soon as well.”

Gottfried says she loves putting everything together.

“It’s so fun to work collaboratively with my friends and share ideas to make a great show,” says Gottfried, who plans to go to college for Industrial Engineering. “Up until tech week, we only get to see tiny snippets of the show. Tech is where everything comes together and it’s magical every time. I love being able to see all of the hard work, and giving  people in the audience a great show makes it all worth it.”

By Terry Jacoby