A few weeks ago, Western Connecticut State University kicked off the start of its first show of the semester on October 11th. Legally Blonde, with lead actor Amanda Seery as Elle Woods, ran a total of ten shows over the course of a few weeks. Students in the WCSU Theater Program get cast from the previous semester to start the new year off. The program includes the Acting BFA, Musical Theater BFA, and Performance BA which are all required to audition, essentially ensuring that all WCSU theater students work on the show in some way. The cast began to rehearse the show as soon as school started in August. The crew laid the floor for the dancers on stage last year and began to build the rest from August through student previews. Over 100 people were working on the production divided into the stage managers, production carpenters, the lighting and electrical, mic handlers, dog wranglers, wardrobe team, and many more. Lee Djilani, a props assistant for the show, describes it as “a great opportunity. I really like props… everyone’s super talented and a lot of people have a lot of fun.”
The music is also played live in house. Musician Tobias Sachez-Dubois describes how recently, the pit has moved from being audition-based to relying on a recommendation “from the Music Department Admin, Arts Assistant, etc.” He recalls, “It was a lot of fun working in such a professional environment.” Classes and concerts as a student are different than playing in a pit. In a normal concert, the conductor will pick a few pieces that are contrasting and musicians rely only on each other and the conductor to play. In a pit, it requires full focus for the whole show and for every show. Musicals are full of unique songs in different styles, keys, and speeds as well as having live singers to work with and playing “underscores” while actors talk. Typically in a musical pit, the musicians have their backs facing the actors and are under the stage, in front of it, or off in one of the wings. The director watches the show and waits for the cue lines or blocking from the actors. Then they cue the music and conduct everyone singing, dancing, and playing. Dubois describes how, “because of the setup of the stage, the pit was ‘remote’, which means the director and actors saw each other via monitors rather than directly- and we were mic’d up and heard the mix through headphones. That’s a pretty unusual experience in theater in general but it’s becoming more common. You need a lot of money and space to make it work though.”
The opening preview for students was around $15 on October 9th. When the show opened to the public on the 11th tickets were $35 without a student discount. Lee Djilani as a Danbury High School alumni, encourages DHS students and the community to attend the professional level shows. “I think that more Danbury High School students should go see the shows. It’s right there in your local community, you know. And It’s like $15 for students…They’re professional-level productions.” They are held at the Visual and Performing Arts building on the Westside Campus in Danbury.
After the show, the teams held a “strike” where the set pieces were either thrown out or taken apart for scraps over the course of 5 hours. They do 3 shows every semester, a musical and 2 plays. After Legally Blonde they are planning for Angels In America Part Two, Perestralka from November 1-10th in the Studio Theatre and The Mould Builders from November 22-24 on the Mainstage Theatre this semester.
