It all began in September...
Here at Mount Union College, the theatre and music departments get
together every 2 years and put on a musical. This means that during
four years here, you only get 2 opportunities to be in a musical.
For those of us who love musical theatre and consider it to be the
most exciting form of theatre, this is a completely contemptable
arrangement, and very frustrating.
Shawn and I found out in September that this year's college
musical would be Working, a show that I just happen to loathe.
I immediately decided two things: I did not want to audition for
Working, and I was going to do my own production.
I have directed 2 other musicals in the past, School House Rock
and another production of Godspell. I definitely knew
we had the talent and the technical ability to do the show here.
So Shawn and I went to the head of the theatre department and were
granted permission to do our own production, with the understanding
that we would have to pay for it ourselves, as well as build our own
set, provide our own costumes and props, and find musicians.
Basically, we were left to do the show entirely on our own.
We tossed around the idea of auditioning the show, but were
sure that it might cause sparks between our show and the theatre
department. We wanted to be sure to be as friendly as possible,
and we didn't want the people involved in Working to feel
that we were trying to upstage them in any way. So we invited
eight other people to join us and become the cast of our show.
These were people we knew were exceptionally strong singers,
and who also had a great deal of acting ability. Our main
priority was that the show would be incredible musically, as
many college and high school productions are lacking in that area.
Also, we wanted to make sure that the cast would be a group
with amazing chemistry. To do this, we cast people who were
all close friends. This did cause some tense rehearsals, as you
may imagine, but all in all, we had a fantastic time putting this
show together and I don't regret a single thing about it.
The biggest obstacle in our production was rehearsal. It was very
difficult to find time for 10 college students who were each
active members of the campus to meet and rehearse. To complicate
the matter even further, we didn't have a regular rehearsal space.
Because the show was student-produced and not a part of the regular
theatre program's season, we didn't have permission to rehearse
full-time on the stage. We had to work around the other shows in
production.
For that reason, we would simply meet in the fine arts
building each night and then find a rehearsal space. If we
were lucky it was the theatre or the recital hall, but most of the
time we rehearsed in classrooms.
Another huge challenge was rehearsing without our set. Since the
stage was in use by other productions, we did not have full access
to the stage until a week and a half before our opening night. We
built and painted our set in just two days. The set was a complex
array of platforms, steps and ladders, ranging from 1 to 8 feet in
height. Needless to say, it was hard to rehearse the show without
the set. We had to basically imagine what it would be like to act,
sing, and dance on our set until the week of dress rehearsals.
Although we faced many obstacles in preparing the show, it only made
us more proud of the production. The show was an incredible hit,
and we sold out both nights. Many students and faculty members told
us that it was the best show they had ever seen at Mount Union College
and that was a huge compliment because the whole thing had been
done by us. I am so proud of this production, and so I share it with
all of you out there, who may someday want to do something like this!
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