"Defying Gravity" revue soars Music department's annual cabaret hits a high note

Author: Jessica Jorge

As the lights dimmed, all that could be seen were 23 dark figures wearing neon green glow sticks around their heads as if crowned with halos. Next, black lights illuminated the stage not to reveal the faces of the performers, but rather 46 hands glowing in white musicians gloves. This was how the Music department's annual Cabaret entitled "Defying Gravity: A Musical Revue" began on Saturday night, April 2 in the Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

The opening song, "Magic to Do" from "Pippin," involved the entire company singing and performing choreographed dance steps and even demonstrating some gymnastic and juggling skills. Co-Producer Carol Christensen, assistant in Music, thought this first song was particularly fitting for the show. "It was interesting to have an older Stephen Schwartz number as our opener, as well as music from his newest current Broadway hit, "Wicked" in the second half of the show," she remarked.

Christensen produced the show with Assistant in Music Beth Kaiser in just nine days - four days to learn the music and five for choreography and staging. Christensen said, "It's perhaps somewhat insane to try to do a big show like this in that amount of time, but we know students are busy, and since participation in the annual cabaret is totally on a volunteer, extracurricular basis, we figure we can't stretch the rehearsal time out too long."

All but one song was accompanied solely by Tom Cleary on the piano with technical manager Mark Christensen and Associate Professor of Theater Mark Evancho behind the scenes doing the lighting. The show was hosted by Hillary Waite '05 and Bill Army '07. The pair kept the mood of the evening fun by introducing each song with clever jokes, even including a Hillary and Bill joke (any Monicas in the crowd?).

In the first half of the show various Broadway favorites such as "If I Can't Love Her" ("Beauty and the Beast"), "Where's the girl?" ("Scarlet Pimpernel") and "No One is Alone" ("Into the Woods") were performed. There were also five selections from "Rent," including a playful duet to "Will You Light My Candle?" by Teal Tigner '05 and Jake Nicholson '05. Concluding the show's first act, the entire company joined in and sang "Seasons of Love" from "Rent."

After intermission, 10 selections from the musical "Wicked" were performed. Again the audience was kept entertained with fun pieces such as "Popular" sung by Nora Williams '06 and the duet "Wonderful" by Kevin Velez '06 and Sally Swallow '07. The show ended with the song "No One Mourns the Wicked," performed by the entire company dressed in emerald colored clothing and featured host Waite.

The show was well-received by the nearly full Concert Hall comprised of students, faculty and members of the community. While many of the songs were whimsical and made the audience laugh, there was no lack of emotional content. First-year Allison Corke sang the powerful song "I Remember" from "Evening Primrose." Corke's friend, Jamie Hand '08, who attended the show, remarked, "I'm all about the music. I just like to feel it in my body, coursing through my veins. And that's what Allison did for me." On the other hand, some found the light-hearted songs to be the better hits. One such performance was that of Gospel Johnstone '07 and Laura Barrett '06 singing "Prithee Pretty Maiden." Rowan Morris '08 noted, "Their interaction was very amusing and well performed. It reminded me of my many failed courting attempts."

"Defying Gravity" was a spectacular and entertaining show that truly displayed both the singing and acting talent of the entire cast. The show made a point to not only show off individual talent but also seamless group performances.