In college, most students want to spend Spring Break in a place where they can sleep til noon, lay out on the beach all day, and then return home with a tan darker than the lobster they got served at the crab shack! Well for me, I decided that heading up north to a much colder temperature was my idea of spring! No I’m not talking about Canada, you guys. I’m talking about New York City, duh!
At Ball State University, we have three different showcases every school year: one in Chicago, one in New York City, and one in Los Angeles. A group of talented senior acting and musical theater majors are chosen to perform at each of these showcases in order to promote themselves and possibly score some references and an audition or two. My job on this showcase with many other students was to help out behind the scenes. I did everything from stuffing headshots in folders for agents to setting up the reception area.
Though it seems like grunt work, the experience is rewarding. Most of the time, you get to meet agents and professionals from the cities you visit. There are also talk-backs, one with alumni from Ball State and another with a special guest. This year, we had a talk-back with Tony-winner and Emmy nominee Christine Baranski of The Good Wife and Mamma Mia! In both these talk-backs we got to learn about living in New York, how to get jobs, and how to navigate the entertainment industry. These sessions are taken very seriously and I took all the information they gave me to heart.
You can’t call yourself a true theater major without seeing a Broadway show…or four while you’re in NYC! I saw The Mystery of Edwin Drood my first night at Studio 54 Theater. The cast was phenomenal, with Jim Norton, Stephanie J. Block, and the legendary Chita Rivera! This musical is based on the Charles Dickens’ novel that was never finished so at the end the audience decides who is the murderer, the detective, and the lovers. With a very catchy score and audience participation, this is one show I’m glad I didn’t miss!
Matilda the Musical is based on the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. A little girl named Matilda, with uncaring parents and a very strict headmaster, uses her brain and special powers to overcome the controlling adults in her life to make the world better. I’m telling you right now that you will be seeing this musical a lot on the Tony’s this June. With a fantastic set, music, lights, and actors; I will not be surprised if this show scoops up all the awards like its sister production in London.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the classic Tennessee Williams play about the young couple Maggie and Brick, who go to visit Brick’s parents, Big Daddy and Big Mama, at their plantation. Family secrets come out as greed and jealously strike the competing family members. I loved this production; the design elements gave the entire show a more eerie tone like Tennessee Williams probably originally intended. Scarlett Johansson played Maggie and Benjamin Walker played Brick. Scarlett was a perfect Maggie and even added her own take to the role, and was paired seamlessly with Benjamin Walker. Debra Monk played Big Mama and also brought great tenderness to the stern role. This show did justice to one of my favorite plays!
Finally I saw Newsies, the Disney musical based off the 1992 cult classic movie. Jack Kelly, a paper boy, rallies the other newsies together to strike against news tycoon Joseph Pulitzer, in order to gain rights for the child workers of New York City in the late 1800s. This show was very charming and the cast was fantastic. Corey Cott has a stellar voice as Jack Kelly, as does opposite Kara Lindsay as Katherine. Andrew Keenan-Bolger was hilarious as Crutchie. The set was also very unique, utilizing visual media and scaffolding like you would see on the buildings of New York City. Another hit show from the Disney Company.
Speaking of Disney, I got to have another very cool experience on my last night in the city. One of our former faculty members at Ball State University, Katherine, has worked at The Lion King on Broadway for the past six years with the costume department. She gave fifteen students from our school the chance to take a backstage tour of the show, and I was lucky enough to come along! We got to see how all the costumes, like the giraffes and hyenas, were put on. We also got to see how some of the set pieces, like the graveyard scene, are actually lowered from the ceiling down and back for scene changes. We also got to see my favorite puppet in the show, Zazu. (There are actually four Zazu puppets backstage!) The most amazing part was to walk out on stage. The Lion King was the first movie I saw when I was a kid and I have seen this show three times. I literally grew up with it. To be on stage at the Minskoff Theater in New York City was a dream come true.
This trip was a much needed break from school and I hope to go back again next year, and hopefully for the rest of my life once I graduate from college. For those of you who want to eventually work on Broadway and move to New York City, take these opportunities now and go experience this city while you don’t have rent, a full-time job and bills to worry about! Trust me, you will fall in love with it as much as I have!
P.S While you’re there, make sure to stop by Camp Broadway in the Theatre District and say hi to Hillary Reeves and all the other amazing staff members at Camp Broadway that make this blog possible!