Three Groups, Three (Very) Different Musicals

On a bitterly cold Monday night, dozens of Boston University students braved another trip out into the frigid air and flocked towards the center of campus. They came prepared to sing, dance and act.

This week marks the first full week of the semester, and for many on-campus theater groups, that means it is time for auditions. While there are a variety of plays in production this semester, it’s the musicals that reign supreme. The student performance groups BU On Broadway, Stage Troupe, and Wandering Minds are each performing at least one musical this semester, each one completely distinctive, with each group looking for something different.

Backwards and Forwards, for a Cause

Though Stage Troupe traditionally only does one annual musical in the fall, that did not stop sophomore Kelsey Gold from pitching a performance of The Last Five Years.

“I’m a big musical person, and I thought this would be perfect because it’s a small show,” Gold said. “It would go up fast. It’s a good opportunity for [us] to do more musicals ’cause we always just do straight play.”

Compared to larger musicals, The Last Five Years is tiny. It has a cast of just two people. In the show, a novelist and a struggling actress meet and fall in love. “She tells the story from the end, right where the marriage crumbles, to the beginning,” said Gold. “And he tells it in order. They meet in the middle of their wedding song.”

The small cast will make the audition process more competitive; but the simplicity of the show makes it perfect for its mission: Gold’s musical will be Stage Troupe’s annual charity show.

“Everything that we make goes to a charity of our choosing, and I chose Teach for America,” she said.

Wizarding (and Wandering) Minds

Wandering Minds is a theater group that has been known for its varied play choice, from the 1891 German play Spring Awakening to the more modern Women and Wallace. However, one of their productions this semester is based on a wildly popular internet musical sensation.

The Show that Must Not Be Named is adapted from A Very Potter Musical, a Harry-Potter tribute show written by University of Michigan student Darren Chriss for his own theater group. When a video of the production was posted to Youtube, it became a hit, garnering millions of fans, among them BU sophomore Lauren DiSabato.

“I’m an avid Harry Potter fan so after I watched [it] fell in love with it and wanted to do the show,” DiSabato said.

Now DiSabato and music director Matt Vuchichevitch are casting the show. The Show that Must Not Be Named is a comedy and a mishmash of several of the books together. The cast is large, with 28 to 30 people, and many roles will be double or even triple-cast. Still, it’s not a vocally intensive show. There’s some choreography, but not much; the show is carried mostly by the laughs it brings.

“In actors, I’m mostly looking for enthusiasm,” DiSabato said. “And flexibility.”

Broadway Barbers

BU On Broadway usually does a musical and a showcase show each semester, but this spring, the executive board opted for something different.

“We decided that we were going to throw all of our talent, all of our technicians into one really large production in the Tsai [Performance Center],” said director and College of Communications junior Brian Devito.

That one large production is Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a 1979 Sondheim show about a barber who turns his customers into meat pies.

“We wanted to go back to a classic,” Devito said. “Give people with more classical training a chance to shine.”

The macabre musical might not sound like the classic The Phantom of the Opera, but its musical stylings are different for BU on Broadway, which had been performing more rock-oriented show.

“[We do] a lot of more modern shows,” said co-director Jillian Angelone. “But this will give people in the CFA a chance to do something more classic and a lot more challenging.”

The directors believed that they would see about 100 auditions for their show of nine leads and 16 ensemble parts.

In a room on the third floor of the College of Arts and Sciences, two dozen hopefuls filled out audition forms for Sweeny Todd. While enthusiastic, many were prepared to look into other auditions as well. “I’m auditioning for the Vagina Monologues, and perhaps The Last Five Years, as well.” said first-year student Sophie Miller.