Missouri Southern State University - Crossroads Yearbook (Joplin, MO)

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BEFORE the SHOW GOES ON by Raymond Lee Senior Theatre major Each year at MSSC a group of dedicated young men and women endeavor to expand both their knowledge and experience as theatre students. These students come from all areas of the country. To some theatre is a full-time major, to others it’s a part-time activity that sublimates their regular course of study. But they all share a common goal; to produce the best in theatrical entertainment. The theatre has been called the most complex of the arts, since it requires many creators. The various creative elements which go into the college’s 4 main stage or 2 traveling children’s shows are usually provid¬ ed by the students. The visual background, for example is the work of student set, lighting and costume designers, who seek to interpret the qualities found in the script through visual means. Several months in ad¬ vance of production, the student designers research the period in which the play is set, studying styles of clothing, architecture, furniture, and other elements to prepare designs that are historically accurate as well as theatrically effective. Student actors embody the mood and spirit of a play by creating means of expression through body and voice, the role, and the stage en¬ vironment. Student technicians work to achieve the application of the designers’ creations into practical form. In like manner all those who are involved in the many aspects of production work to achieve a high degree of excellence characteristic of the Missouri Southern Theatre Department. 24

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MUSIC MAKERS The MSSC Lab Band is a smaller instrumental group than the Concert Band. This group performs music of the jazz idiom. The Lab Band performs at various school and civic events throughout the year. All of the ensembles in the music department at MSSC serve as recruiting devices for the school as well as for the department itself. The Lab Band especially is active in this area. Each year, during the spring, the Lab Band tours various area high schools to perform for students and in¬ form them as to what is available to them at Missouri Southern. This year, for the first time, the Concert Band also became active in this area by touring area high schools and participating in the annual band festival at Silver Dollar City in the spring. By: Kathy Morin 23

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“The Theatre is the only art form that dies every night only to be reborn each day, for it exists whenever ac¬ tors perform before an audience.” —Oscar Brockett 25