Spring Break
Moravian College gets a lesson in "Growing up Naked"
Kyle Lavigne
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: Entertainment
From Feb. 19 to 22, the Moravian College Theatre Company performed "Growing Up Naked" in the Arena Theatre.
The play, a musical comedy originally written by Richard A. Barvie, follows eight young adolescents through puberty as they openly discuss their emotions, actions and physical changes (including the good, the bad, the ugly and the oddly hilarious) associated with early adolescence.
Bill Bauman, director of the show, made it clear that this show stood for several reasons and worked well with the Arena Theatre.
"With the Arena Theatre's size, we can only do certain musicals. This one called for a cast of four men and four women, had a nice point to it, and looked like a lot of fun."
He later pointed out that the show was also in expensive to put on, and they used a very simple set, largely comprised of small black boxes which were moved into appropriate places by the cast, for the piece.
"It's my signature to take a little, and let the students take all of the rest. Everybody owned a part of the show and had a say," he said.
Gerard Longo, junior, played Mike Brockman, a very confiendt athlete who developed at a young age, but had small insecurities that would occasionally reach the surface.
"[Brockman] likes to let the performance speak for itself. It was almost a necessity. You don't want the set to overpower the performance," said Longo.
Since it dealt with something all the cast had experienced--puberty and growing up--it allowed all members of the cast to relate the characters they portrayed.
"I think everyone saw a bit of themselves in a character," said Longo. "For me, little bits and pieces of a couple of characters did that, but none from Mike. That made it an interesting and fun challenge."
"I absolutely related to Ziggy," said senior Jess Croll, who portrayed Ziggy, a slightly underdeveloped girl who observed the other characters, feeling like she didn't quite measure up to them.
"While I was never as compulsive or as blunt with my emotions and observations, I also carried the burden of feeling like I wasn't pretty enough….But I was always much more mature than the rest of my peers," she said.
While they would all agree that the show went off very well, there were some concerns going into the show.
"The music came in, and it was boring and bland," said Bauman. "[Music Director Barbara Liebhaber] added jazz to certain sections and had to make all more enjoyable to the audience."
"Well, it's always more difficult and worrisome when you are taking on a musical than a dramatic play," said Croll. "Not only do you have to learn and perform basic blocking, monologues and conversations, you also have to worry about choreography and singing."
The next performance to come from MCTC will be "Oedipus" from April 2 to 6.
The play, a musical comedy originally written by Richard A. Barvie, follows eight young adolescents through puberty as they openly discuss their emotions, actions and physical changes (including the good, the bad, the ugly and the oddly hilarious) associated with early adolescence.
Bill Bauman, director of the show, made it clear that this show stood for several reasons and worked well with the Arena Theatre.
"With the Arena Theatre's size, we can only do certain musicals. This one called for a cast of four men and four women, had a nice point to it, and looked like a lot of fun."
He later pointed out that the show was also in expensive to put on, and they used a very simple set, largely comprised of small black boxes which were moved into appropriate places by the cast, for the piece.
"It's my signature to take a little, and let the students take all of the rest. Everybody owned a part of the show and had a say," he said.
Gerard Longo, junior, played Mike Brockman, a very confiendt athlete who developed at a young age, but had small insecurities that would occasionally reach the surface.
"[Brockman] likes to let the performance speak for itself. It was almost a necessity. You don't want the set to overpower the performance," said Longo.
Since it dealt with something all the cast had experienced--puberty and growing up--it allowed all members of the cast to relate the characters they portrayed.
"I think everyone saw a bit of themselves in a character," said Longo. "For me, little bits and pieces of a couple of characters did that, but none from Mike. That made it an interesting and fun challenge."
"I absolutely related to Ziggy," said senior Jess Croll, who portrayed Ziggy, a slightly underdeveloped girl who observed the other characters, feeling like she didn't quite measure up to them.
"While I was never as compulsive or as blunt with my emotions and observations, I also carried the burden of feeling like I wasn't pretty enough….But I was always much more mature than the rest of my peers," she said.
While they would all agree that the show went off very well, there were some concerns going into the show.
"The music came in, and it was boring and bland," said Bauman. "[Music Director Barbara Liebhaber] added jazz to certain sections and had to make all more enjoyable to the audience."
"Well, it's always more difficult and worrisome when you are taking on a musical than a dramatic play," said Croll. "Not only do you have to learn and perform basic blocking, monologues and conversations, you also have to worry about choreography and singing."
The next performance to come from MCTC will be "Oedipus" from April 2 to 6.
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posted 12/15/09 @ 9:44 AM EST
"Growing Up Naked" is a great performance to watch!
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