Have you ever seen a Broadway show? Do you have dreams of the lights and the glory of the epicenter of stage acting? Look no further friends, as The Original Cast is here at Vanderbilt with a Broadway revue each and every semester. What is a Broadway revue you might ask? A Broadway revue is a hodgepodge of scenes from famous Broadway musicals that have been shortened and are performed one after another in a "Best of" fashion.
This year, the eclectic show will contain selections from "Godspell," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Cabaret" and "Into The Woods."
"Godspell" is a musical based upon parts of the Gospel of Matthew with scenes from the life of Jesus and even contains writing from some famous philosophers. "Charlie Brown" focuses on the titular character's search for how to be good and happy in life. The infamous "Cabaret" tells the story of a stage performer in the days of the Weimar Republic in Germany right before the grip of Hitler took the European stage. Finally, "Into the Woods" is a humorous rendition of some of the best tales of the Brothers Grimm including "Little Red Riding Hood," "Cinderella" and "Jack and the Beanstalk."
The cast is a dedicated and righteous band of performers and the entire production of Original Cast is student taught, choreographed and performed.
"We try to balance our performances with a variety of shows. From new to old, we do them all. We try to combine popular, commercial shows, with darker ones, ones that are fresh and new, challenging music-dance-acting pieces and classic throwbacks," said Publicity Chair Degerberg. "Because our group is typically about 14 to 17 people, it's important that there are enough parts for everyone to be featured in some way, as well. And we want to do shows that we just love, too."
Degerberg encouraged students to get involved to get involved with Original Cast next semester. She said interested students will need to prepare two 16-bar cuts of contrasting musical theater pieces for auditions, but more information will be available in the fall.
Make sure to catch the Original Cast this weekend at 8 p.m. at TPAC's Andrew Johnson Theater for $10 - it'll be worth every penny.