2025: A jam-packed summer

Summer of 2025 spelled out another summer of choreographing and performing for Hannah Petersen. Back with Crane River Theater, her summer kicked off with the Jimmy Buffett classic, Escape to Margaritaville (directed by Steve Barth and Choreographed by The Petersen Sisters). With a show designed to be a huge crowd pleaser, the sisters had no issue creating movement that matched the island-rock style that Buffett brought to his music.

Hannah especially loved creating the dance "Cheeseburger in Paradise", an already-fun song with a funky title, because how can you not love dancing with cheeseburgers.

After a few weeks, Hannah was back with the next show, The Little Mermaid (directed by Steve Barth and choreographed by The Petersen Sisters). With a bigger cast and a bigger stage, the challenge came with how to fill the space while keeping everything neat, similar to when Hannah and her sister Rebekah choreographed Beauty and the Beast the year prior. Their efforts were not in vain, as clearly shown in numbers like "Under the Sea" and "Kiss The Girl", two of her favorites. They also had the opportunity to expand their movement skills to puppetry, making sure their cast knew how to manipulate their puppets to both be audience-facing and life-like.

Last but not least, Hannah closed the summer with the show she was most excited to choreograph: Legally Blonde (directed by Rob McKercher and choreographed by The Petersen Sisters). Legally Blonde has been a dream show of Hannah's since she saw the MTV special when it aired on Netflix. She was also thrilled to be working with Rob again, as the last time she worked with him was in Shrek: The Musical. Immediately as work began on this show, the whole production team knew it was going to be a special show. Rob's cinematic vision for the set and the movement tied together with ease, creating a seamless and visually-satisfying performance. Many have commended the sisters on their work, claiming this is their best work to date.

Reflecting on the summer, Hannah could not have asked for a better summer. It is a LOT of work choreographing 3 shows while being in rehearsals and performing in all 3 shows, but what she takes away from it is complete fulfillment and joy from a job well done. She could not have done it without her sister Rebekah and the amazing Crane River production team, and she cannot wait to see what is in store.