Story by Mary Zielke, Arts Columnist
On Thursday, February 22nd, from 7:30-9:00 pm, the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center(PAC) had their opening performance of the musical, LIZZIE, which was written By Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner. The director this weekend was Annelise Dickinson.
The story is based off of the infamous rhyme: Lizzie Borden took an ax, and gave her mother forty whacks, and when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one. Although the musical is not quite as graphic as the school-yard tune, this punk rock musical does justice for the real life events that took place.
For background context, on August 4th, 1982, in Fall River, Massachusetts, Lizzie Borden was accused of murdering her father and step-mother with an ax. To this day, no one is quite sure if she committed the crime or not, yet the story is entertaining, leaving the audience guessing if she is actually innocent.
Themes of oppression, loss of inheritance, sexual abuse, madness, and manipulation all are factors into Lizzie Borden’s story, which was excellently displayed by the Theater Department. As the scenes progressed, the outfit changes for each character were a nice addition to the build-up of the climax.
The four actresses who participated in the show were Michaela Faith(Lizzie Borden), Gabrielle Lee(Emma Borden), Danira Stanojevic(Alice Russell), and Hannah Morey(Bridget Sullivan). Each person brought their own talent and skills to the stage, yet when they sang together, the group had consistent tone, pitch, and range. The chemistry between the performers and band stayed persistent throughout the entire show.
The audience was quite full on Thursday, even President Alicia Córdoba and First Gentleman George Blanchet came to attend. After each song, people would clap for the performers on stage, and overall the crowd reacted positively. There was even a television screen, for reading and accessibility purposes. This made it easy to read and follow along with the different songs and scenes.
Everyone else that helped make this story happen; the production, crew, and band, all created a phenomenal show that was not only entertaining to watch, but also brought an energetic and lively tone throughout the whole performance. The three other dates for this musical were on Friday, February 23rd and Saturday, February 24th at 7:30, and the matinee was on Sunday, February 25th at 2:30pm.
The Saint 