Introducing the 2017 Spring Musical

Every so often, there’s the occasional announcement on the bulletin: leads rehearsals from 4:45 to 6, all cast rehearsals on Sunday from 1 to 4, or something along the lines of spending two to three hours in the theater. As founder’s weekend comes around the corner, so does something else.

The spring musical, Bye Bye Birdie, casts a variety of people from the student body, including, but not limited to: members of the chamber singers, inexperienced chorus members, aspiring actors, and people with an unnaturally beautiful voice to the point where it’s frightening. The setting takes place in the 60’s, and it’s fun to step out of the current time zone once in awhile to get into character.

Auditions took place late in the winter term, and we began rehearsing ever since we received the cast list. As of now, the entire process is excruciatingly long: acting the same scenes over and over (and over) again, repeating lyrics and planting them firmly in our brains, and learning the choreography that was a little out of our comfort zone. I joined the musical in the hopes that I could honor someone else’s legacy: last year, my advisory was basically the theater. My advisor taught Drama in the winter and led the spring musical, and my fellow advisees played a part in the winter Drama production, A Lighter Shade of Noir, and the spring musical, The Pirates of Penzance.

The cast members also began to feel a sense of community during the countless hours spent together. When walking past a sign or reading a phrase in a book, one may begin to spontaneously start singing ‘A Healthy, Normal American Boy’. There is undoubtedly an added level of work ethic if you attend rehearsal, shown in both directors and students.

“I can see that the stage crew and the cast members are working very hard. It’s pretty cool,” says Min ‘18. To quote Yubing ‘17, Mika ‘17, and the majority of the female teenage ensemble, “I counted ten voice cracks in one rehearsal.”

The scene sets itself in Sweet Apple, Ohio, and features obsessed, screaming, irksome fangirls, annoyed parents, a protective ‘steady’, the suavest, silkiest, Elvis-Presley-esque rock-n-roll singer around, and more. With jazzy tunes and flamboyant snaps and slides, there’s no doubt that this year’s musical will be a crazy hit on May 5th. Hope to see you then!

Maddie Lee ‘17