Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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After being introduced to Gina Peterson ' s fiance, Mark Adcocl , in Carousel, Traci Tornquist cries, thinking about her own fami- ly problems. The musical was an emotional show that bridged a gap between reality and fantasy. Photo by R. Abrahamson Set in the late 19th Century, the play span- ned 15 years in a small seaport village along the coast of Maine. Main character, Greg Gilpin contemplates a money heist proposed by Russ Williams. Gilpin ' s character, Billy Bigelow, needs money for his family. -Photo by S. Trunkhill 24 Carousel

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rnvmum Energy turns ' Garouser into a standing ovation Musical Generating unending energy, the 44-member cast of Car- ousel opened in Mary Linn Performing Arts Center seven weeks after auditions. The energy was there that comes with opening night, stage manager David Shamberger said, it was a suc- cessful show. But success wasn ' t attained easily. Hundreds of man-hours and hard work went into the Rodgers and Hammers- tein musical. ' Carousel ' is not often done, Dr. Charles Schultz, director, said. It was a large musical to mount visually because it required so much talent; but we felt we had enough horses (person- nel) to handle such roles and the facilities in Mary Linn to stage the show. Auditions for the first musical in four years and first major production by students in Mary Linn spanned three nights. Vocal auditions were held the first evening, one singer at a time, on a bare stage. Choreographers Roger Strieker and Brett Lasslter conducted dance audi- tions the following night. Dividing the auditioners into groups of 25, Strieker and Lassiter demonstrated dance steps to One from the musical, Chorus Line. Each group had 30 minutes to learn and practice before the tryout took place. Everyone impressed me at audi- tions, Strieker said. To see all those people dancing the combination I made up was unbelievable. Scripts and roles were arbitrarily assigned the final night. Schultz delegated two to six people to act out a 5 minute scene on stage. With 60 people auditioning, there Blocking and character development are only two areas which Director Charles Schultz super- vised. Schultz and actress Gina Qae Peterson talk over some ideas. Photo by S. Trunkhill was stiff competition, Schultz said. But we chose an excellent cast and there was tremendous talent even in the little roles. 1 was honored to get a lead, said Traci Tornquist, who played Julie Jor- There was so much energy; it was liard to con- tain. It felt so good inside l(nowing we did a good job. C. Shorten dan. I didn ' t think of myself as a lead. 1 thought of myself as part of the cast. Staging a musical provided the op- portunity to combine the music and theater departments. It was a chance to mesh them all together, Sheila Hull said. We got to work with people out- s ide the theater department, which was something we didn ' t usually get to do. There were no fights, said Greg Gilpin, who played lead Billy Bigelow. The cast worked together and 1 wished we could do more. To enact Carousel, many danc- ing, singing and acting rehear- sals were held. Actors learned different aspects of a musical. Not being a singer, I learned things about singing I never knew before, Russ Williams said. In addition, singers discovered new things about acting. There was a lot of concentration and time spent, Gilpin said. We had to work hard to project our voices. Doing ' Carousel, ' I got to put physical stage actions to work, instead of interpreting with my voice only, Tornquist said. Performing Carousel required many technical experiments. The Con- ey Island carousel, where Bigelow worked as a barker, was constructed of -continued Carousel 23

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Carousel a 12-foot plywood turntable and canopy. Using a mixture of reality and fantasy, dancers animated the carousel. Costumes were also experimentally prepared. Because some girls had to sing, we sewed dresses with more room in the diaphragm area, Strieker said. Even though dresses were made looser, they still had to appear nice. We had to ad- just and alter a lot. In addition to technical work and costuming, producing Carousel demanded rehearsals of the 21 -piece orchestra. With brass instruments used sparingly, woodwinds and strings car- ried musical numbers such as If 1 Lov- ed You, June is Bustin ' Out all Over and You ' ll Never Walk Alone. Our only problem was balancing the orchestra with voices and trying not to overcome solos, which were all important to the musical, band direc- tor Al Sergei said. After auditions, daily rehearsals and lots of hard work, Carousel was per- formed three nights for audiences of about 700 people. We had to open the balcony, which we hadn ' t had to do for any production until then, assistant director Tom McLaughlin said. Opening night was great, Gilpin said. No one was really nervous. There were lines I didn ' t expect laughter to, but that was great, too. The end of the musical brought a standing ovation for cast and crew. The standing ovation was unex- pected, Cherie Shortell said. There was so much energy, it was hard to contain. It felt so good inside knowing we did a good job. When the final curtain lowered, Carousel was over; but the energy continued. The cast was hard working, Schultz said. They had energy that wouldn ' t end. It was wonderful, Shortell said. It was a relief the cast got to be good friends. There were so many good things about the experience that won ' t be forgotten. 0 By Maryann McWilliams Showing affection for each other, Greg Gilpin and Tracy Tornquist kiss for the first time. After the two are married in the play, Tornquist ' s character ' s strength and compassion carries her family through difficult times. -Photo by R. Abrahamson Before the Clam Bake, the Ensemble sings and dances to June is Bustin ' Out All Over. Jane Walden and Robert Shepard finish the routine. All cast and crew members worked together to create a standing ovation perfor- mance. Photo by R. Abrahamson Carousel 25