It appears that “The Fall Revue: A Musical Revue in Narrative” presented by Curtain Call has far exceeded expectation. Based on the success of performances put on by the then-called “Up Stage’em,” the prospect that this show would be a winner was doubtful. However, the club was reborn in its fall performance last Sunday.
“The Fall Revue” was a musical composed of various songs from well-known musicals, strung together by a hilarious plot written by sophomore Hayley Hilmes. “There is little opportunity for musical theatre on campus, and people use it as an outlet. Curtain Call is a way for people to use their talents in performance,” Hilmes said.
Based on the requests of her peers, Hilmes began piecing together songs and dialogue that transformed the cast into characters based on their true personalities.
“Picking and choosing the songs and editing the dialogue was a collaborative process. I knew we were going to have about 15 or 16 people in the show and then it began to take shape,” Hilmes said.
Whatever Hilmes did, it worked. Opening the show was Curtain Call’s vice president, Mercedes Curran. She explained that the show was falling apart because her cast had disappeared. Aaron Griffith played a hilariously flustered stage manager attempting to hold the cast together and string together a seemingly impossible show. The musical was an allegory on the past failures of the club.
“We were addressing the fact that there were low expectations,” Hilmes said.
However, the laughter and entertainment of the audience was enough to prove that this was far from the truth. The musical was comprised of 13 songs from a random selection of Broadway show tunes. The club members directed the songs, and some of the members doubled as directors and cast members.
Curran sang three songs and directed one. The directing talents of Tom Crawford and Alex Arneson were also wonderfully displayed.
Marissa Ryder and Colin Behl provided the audience some comedy as the drama king and queen in the song made famous by The Phantom of the Opera, “All I Ask of You.” Brent Visser paraded his wide ranged vocal talent, taking over for Ryder after she was knocked out by one of Behl’s over dramatic gestures.
The comedy came from the satirical dialogue and well placed and appropriately titled songs like “Totally F*****” from “Spring Awakening” and “Schadenfruede” from the puppet musical “Avenue Q.”
Everyone down to the accompanists were fully engaged with the emotions of the show. The ensemble was fully committed to the work, and “The Fall Revue” definitely displayed the wide array of talent in the club.
“I was so excited that the musical was so well received. We made a joke in the script about the show being better than the UT show, and many people told me it was true!” Hilmes said.
It appears that the future of Curtain Call is bright after their performance last week. Next semester the club will be auditioning for a straight musical revue cabaret style performance.
“We hope to audition either before, or directly after Christmas break. This show will be less ensemble, but more solos, duets and trio work,”Hilmes explained.
They hope to choose their songs based on the Sanskrit Drama tradition, which means they will be based on Rasa’s that denote an essential emotion or mental state. In other words, they want to put together a show full of emotional context and they need performers, directors, and accompaniment. After last week’s performance, who wouldn’t want to be a part of the brilliantly revived club?