This semester, the Fine Arts Center Main Theatre hosted three cabarets co-directed by students and faculty of the Music Theatre department. The most recent of the three performances, “Dear Diary,” was directed by Department Chair Erin Jerozal, sophomore Music Theatre major Mason Wold, and first-year Music Theatre major Spohie Brenner. On April 25, the Lumen got a chance to sit down with two student audience members—Ella Rose Mahlum and Rachel Ponder—and talk to them about their experience from the seats.
Mahlum initially noted, “It was super interesting to see live theatre again; it kind of took me by surprise.” She enjoyed the mix of upperclass and underclass students, feeling that the cabaret was a “nice opportunity to have younger voices heard and showcased.” She described the set as a “dorm room,” which was created by the simple set of a desk and bed. This served as the stage for themes that the senior described as “thoughts that you wouldn’t share with your best friend.” Pieces that stuck out to her were the gender-bent renditions of “I’m Not That Smart” from “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” and “I’d Rather Be Me” from “Mean Girls”—performed by Sage Hovet and Mason Wold, respectively. Full of praise, the soon-to-be alum added, “I’m super proud; it seems like everyone was super involved in everything: if you (performed) in one cabaret, you were working lights or sound for another…I could have stayed and listened all night.”
Ponder, herself a music theatre major, called the event “cozy,” noting, “It felt like a family gathering—one of the first live productions we’ve had in a while.” She too noted Hovet’s solo performance, appreciating the small changes that the senior music theatre major made to the lyrics. “Sage pretended she was writing a paper while performing,” Ponder explained; “[it was] the piece we knew with a little bit of Sage in it.” The junior also admired the set, which she said “connected all the numbers,” adding that “they were all set in the same world.” To her, the cabaret was “getting a glimpse into everyone’s life during quarantine—or just during the school year—when everyone is kind of in their own little world.” For her, a major highlight was Jo Kasper’s solo performance of “Good Kid” from “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.” Ponder called it “One of the best performances I’ve heard of that song,” adding, “I worked with [Kasper] in Spring Awakening; I hadn’t heard them sing before. I can’t wait to see how they grow.”
