Theatre By Heather Panetta COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Issues of sexuality, race, religion and love are all tackled in One Stage Revolution's last show of the semester. The Penn State student group will present 'A Perfect Wedding' by Charles L. Mee at 7:30 p.m. Friday through Dec. 5 in the Forum Building. "It's about several couples, who over the course of the play fall in love, out of love and in love with each other," said Kate Caverno, the vice-president and co-founder of the club. 'At some point in the show, there is a wedding but it takes a while to get there." President and club co-founder Marina Johnson said the play is a social commentary on love, though it deals with a lot of other topics as well. Students, faculty perform in 'Drowsy Chaperone' By Karina Yncel COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER - The Drowsy Chaperone" isn't just a unique musical within a play --- it's also comprised of a diverse cast of Penn State students and fac ulty The musical will be performed at 7:30 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, 146 S. Allen St. The show will cost $3 at the door. "I chose 'The Drowsy Chaperone' because I loved it so much," director Nathan Brewer (graduate-directing for musical theatre) said. "The musical was on Broadway a couple of years ago." The main character, "the man in chair," is sifting in his apartment sharing his favorite musical from 1928 with the audience. "The Drowsy Chaperone" is considered a musical within a comedy because the musical comes to life in the man's living room while he talks about it, Brewer said. "The entire musical takes place within the show," he said. Robert Schneider, an assistant group to host 'A Perfect Wedding' If you go What: One Stage Revolution presents "A Perfect Wedding" by Charles L. Mee When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday Where: 105 Forum (Friday), 102 Forum (Saturday), 111 Forum (Sunday) Details: $3 for students, $3.50 for faculty and staff, $4 for com munity members. "It's a comedy, and it's very cul tural," said Johnson (senior- English and secondary education), also the play's director. "We chose it because it deals with all these issues that people don't talk about." And that's why Cavern (senior- theatre professor, plays "the man in chair" in the School of Theatre's production. 'The man in chair' is a very lonely man. His only friends are the records he listens to," Schneider said. "He takes comfort in old musi cals when he has a bad day he puts on a musical." The play encompasses many other characters all actors in the musical. Robert Montgomery plays Robert Martin, the groom in the musical. Martin is an oil mogul who is set to marry a young showgirl. Montgomery (freshman-musical theatre) said Martin "isn't the sharpest tool in then shed," but said he and his fellow castmates are excited to play exaggerated charac ters. "We can push the envelope quite a bit with these characters," Montgomery said. "The premise of the show is pretty out there and funny" Montgomery said he is excited to be in his first play for the School of Theatre, especially because he is a freshman. "Normally freshmen don't get to public relations and English) said this is a complex show. "The show offers so much. To say there is one thing the audience should get out of the play would be too simple," Caverno said. It's a complex show, and if they leave with something, even if it's not the most profound thing, I'm OK with that." Audience members may already be familiar with some of the lessons the play offers, like to not tease the kid in the lunch line because of his ethnicity, Caverno said. "It's a message we all know but sometimes I think it's hard to put into practice," she said. Johnson hopes that along with a laugh, the audience will re-examine some aspects of their lives. This is the biggest undertaking the club has taken so far, Johnson said, because it is the club's first full-length show. audition." Montgomery said. "But quite a few freshmen are cast in the play." Brewer said the unique cast came together because there had been five productions this semester alone in the School of Theatre. Seeing as how most of the other shows had been cast already, audi tions for "The Drowsy Chaperone" were opened up not only to fresh men but also to students in other colleges. Brewer said he had to look beyond the usual suspects during auditions for the show doing so turned out to be to the show's ben efit. "In addition to faculty, we have a lot of students from the School of Music and also undergraduate act ing and musical theatre majors as well as MFA actors," Brewer said. "There will also be a surprise facul ty performer" Schneider has participated in many School of Theatre produc tions and said having a cast with such diverse backgrounds is highly abnormaL "You can see everyone in one place instead of going to all the dif- Since there are now 20 members in the club, Caverno said they thought they could tackle some thing a little bigger. Both Caverno and Johnson said they like the author of the play because he writes for method act ing the type of acting the club practices. "He's one of the few writers that actually does this and brings up these issues of race, religion and sexuality - Caverno said. Caverno also acts in the show and plays an Indian charac ter. The character finds it difficult to understand the other characters in the play who do not share her ethnicity and vice versa, Cavern() said. Cavern said it has been some what challenging to play this role because method acting requires the actor to know every thought o p• lo • • I 1" . ferent plays on campus," Schneider face," Schneider said of "The said, adding that there are more Drowsy Chaperone." than 75 productions on campus "It's a show that wants to make each semester you laugh. Come see us and we Schneider said he believes the guarantee to put a smile on your cast shows the best of the best from face." each program. "It puts a nice big smile on your To e-mail reporter kzysols@psu.edu and feeling the character has. "Definitely there are ups and downs where it's challenging to go as deep as you need to, but I'm proud of everyone on stage who can do that," Cavern() said. Christina Allen, who was a mem ber of the club in the beginning of the semester, said she plans on attending the show. The club's concentration on social issues and how it presents them in an entertaining way is why Allen (senior-elementary educa tion) said the club's shows appeal to college students. "If you haven't seen a show you should give it a shot," Allen said. "It's a great, funny, extremely satir ic piece that you should see in your college career. It sends a lot of mes sages without you even realizing it." To e-mail reporter: hapl36@psu.edu Courtesy of
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