By: Ashlyn Armock, Arts Editor
The opening show for Aquinas’ Theatre has been recently pushed back due to some changes within the Theatre Department.
Due to some logistical reasons, which have yet to be explained, performances of The Laramie Project have been shifted back further into the season. Instead of being the season’s opener, it now will be running at the same time as this musical, Ride The Cyclone.
This creates some complications for students who wanted to be a part of both productions. Scott Harmen, an assistant professor and the Director of Theatre Production here at Aquinas, noted in his post to MyAQ that “It would be impractical for an actor to be cast both in this and our upcoming musical, Ride the Cyclone, though an actor in The Laramie Project could also work on the crew for Ride the Cyclone.”
The stage at Aquinas’ Performing Arts Center and Circle Theatre – Photo from Circle Theatre
Students like Delaney Pocevich, are disappointed with this situation. “It has just added an extra level of stress for those of us who wanted to be a part of both shows,” said Pocevich. “Where previously we only had to deal with one show at a time, now we either get to only act in one and have to do crew in order to still be a part of it. Luckily they added another audition slot for after musical auditions to let those of us who wanted to try for the musical have a chance to still audition [for the Laramie Project] if we don’t get casted in the musical. It’s just been overall a little stressful and frustrating from an actor point of view.”
Another key change is the directors. Auditions were previously held with Harmen on Sept. 2-4. Now the logistical reasons have also affected the directors. Instead of Harmen directing, Todd Avery has taken on the role of directing the show. In the past, Avery has also directed Aquinas’ production of Head Over Heels in 2022. As a result of these changes, re-auditions were held on Sept. 15-17.
Performances will be held in the Performing Arts black box, located in the Performing Arts Center, on October 23-26. More information regarding tickets and show times can be found in the link below:
The Saint 