On Thursday, Jan. 29, Viterbo’s La Croix Black Box Theatre opened the musical “I Love You Because,” produced by the conservatory students and professors. Directed by Brittany Bara, an assistant professor of theatre and musical theatre, Bara sought to bring a lighthearted story full of quirks that also tugged on students’ heartstrings.
Bara sought to explore comedy, eras and humanity in her vision for the show. “[It’s] An Ode to 90’s sitcoms,” Bara said. “We really wanted to play with the stock sitcom characters and outlandish plot lines while also exploring the humanness and vulnerability of some of the softer moments in the show.”
The show’s exploration of vulnerability comes from more than Bara’s direction. “Theatre always works best when it’s collaborative,” said Bara. “We had a student costume designer, choreographer, and assistant director, all of whom had a voice throughout the whole process. But I’m also really proud of how the actors really brought themselves and their ideas to the table as well. Many of the character choices you saw in the show came directly from the actors and how they wanted to shape their characters.” The collaborative nature of the show’s early stages led to the end product being a work with many names attached, as became clear in the many pages of credits.
The audience, as Bara mentions, is an additional factor that no one can anticipate until the show is open to the public. This can lead to scenes being different in rehearsal versus on stage, such as another pause for laughter. However, as Bara goes on to say, audiences were pleasantly surprised by this production. “There has been lots of laughter, and some gasps of surprises during some plot twist moments. It’s been so fun to hear audience reactions, and it brings a great new element to the production”. As the show approached just a week until opening, one show had already been sold out. The support and appreciation for the conservatory’s production of “I Love You Because” became clear to Bara and all of those involved with the show. As Bara stated, “I hope the VU community came and had a great time.”
