WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A local high school is continuing to make history on the national stage.

Wauwatosa West High School Theatre was the first and only high school in the nation to produce and perform Dear Evan Hansen: High School Version, and now they are taking their success to the next level. 

Evan Hryniewicki CBS 58

"It's really cool to see other schools just be inspired by us," said Evan Hryniewicki, who plays the lead role of Evan Hansen. 

School may be out for the summer, but the hard work isn't stopping for Wauwatosa West's High School Theatre program.

"It's been fun to create and rehearse again, and make it even better, and go through that process of taking something that was really exceptional in November and make it even better," said Adam Steffan, the theatre director at Wauwatosa West High School.

After producing and performing the pilot show for Dear Evan Hansen: High School Version, the program earned the prestigious Jerry Award for outstanding musical, and now they are headed to the International Thespian Festival at Indiana University Bloomington. 

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"The International Thespian Festival is like the Super Bowl for high school theater," said Steffan. "Each year, they choose about 12 main stage shows to travel to the festival and present their production, and we are one of those 12 this year."

It hasn't been an easy journey for this crew to get here, overcoming major damage from historic flooding in August, while bringing to life the heavy topics of mental health, bullying and suicide within the production.

"We all sort of came together and made it happen, and it was not without sort of some sadness and stress, but we came through really well."

To raise money to fund their journey to the International Thespian Festival (ITF), the program is holding encore performances this week in their hometown.

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"That’s why we have multiple shows, to raise funds and to get us all to ITF, so we can all just enjoy it and perform in front of thousands of people there and just tell a story that matters on such a larger scale," said Hryniewicki.

The school's big ITF festival performance will happen June 25, where the original Broadway playwrights will see their performance for the first time.

"They've only experienced their production on Broadway and on tour with eight actors," said Steffan. "They’ve never seen a high school production."

The cast of students is eager to bring their message of hope to thousands of people across the nation.

"I think we are all just super excited, not only to just be in front of an audience again, that’s always a super exciting part of any show, but just to be able to share this message in front of 3,000 people, two times in Indiana," said Hryniewicki. "It's such an honor; it's unbelievable we get to do it again."

You can still purchase tickets for the upcoming encore performance's this Thursday, Friday and Saturday by clicking here.