In recent years, theater inclined University students have turned to popular films from the 1970s for inspiration. Meanwhile, the musical theater culture of Wes stagnates.
The trend at Wes has been to showcase one musical per semester, all of which have been written and produced by students for the past three terms. Francie Jones ’08 put on “Being Ordinary” in 2006, Steve Sunu ’08 performed “Orpheus” in spring of ’07, and Rob Rusli ’10 is due to show a musical adaptation of the 1975 film “Jaws” by the semester’s end.
Funds didn’t pose a problem for these students. Student-run theater company Second Stage was billed to approve their budgets, which were then reimbursed at the conclusion of each show.
Space was a much more pressing issue. With the opening of Usdan came the closing of Davenport, the only other usable space on campus equipped with a lightboard besides the ’92 Theater. Sunu lamented the loss of performance space.
“It’s becoming more difficult for directors to put up musicals the way they’d like them put up,” he said.
Though the CFA is usable, it is booked solid through the semester, and is off-limits to student-run theater (with the exception of senior thesis performers).
“We have a tremendous space issue on campus,” said Theater Department Head Jack Carr. “There are no plans to build another space. The theater department doesn’t even have a space of its own.”
Even with cramped quarters, theater lovers at Wes tend to make do. What the show can’t go on without, however, is people.
“I’ve been having problems with auditioning,” said Rusli. “Not enough people show up.”
According to Jesse Bordwin ’10, who tried to showcase “BatBoy” last term, the few that do are often too specialized as performers.
“They’re drawing singers from a cappella groups who think they can act and actors who might not be the best singers,” he said. “And nobody can dance.”
Musical theater is not well-received by the campus overall, a fact which may or may not prove discouraging to up-and-coming musical writers. Jones commented on the type of production students most often favor.
“Wesleyan theater tends toward the profound, the really dark,” she said.
“I was worried that putting on a musical was going to seem really frivolous,” she added.
The Theater Department itself sets the standards high for musicals by putting on main-stage productions like “Evita.” Carr commented on the motive behind such choices.
“We do work that has more literary value,” he said. “We want to integrate our productions into the curriculum.”
Bordwin feels that this bias discriminates against musicals.
“Musicals are not taken as seriously,” he said. “In my opinion, if somebody were to decide to produce ”Les Mis“ or ”Pippin,“ it would not happen at Wesleyan, ever. It’s not in the culture. It’s not feasible. So you have people doing original musicals and things that are alternative.”
Students like Bordwin wonder if the culture can change. Carr doesn’t think so.
“People don’t come here for musicals,” he said.
According to Bordwin, this attitude fuels a vicious cycle.
“Because there is not a musical theater culture, Wesleyan will never attract musical theater students, and thus there can be no musicals, etc.,” he said.
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