By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
Entering its final year as a program, Utah State University Eastern’s Theater Department is pulling out all the stops for its penultimate production ‘Ride the Cyclone’, which features showings Nov. 6-8 and Nov. 12-15.
Azure Marrott, Morgan Pigott, Morgan Innes and Brent Innes joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss the production and prepare the community for a wild ride.
Opening with the play’s premise, Marrott explained, “It’s about a group of teenagers who die in a horrible accident, and then they have to sit and plead their case on who gets to come back to life.”
Pigott jumped in, sharing what preparation has looked like behind-the-scenes,” I’ve actually never done anything theater related, and so this was all brand new. We started with the auditions, and that was a whole new experience.” He added,” We started with our music, and that was honestly a task because again I’d never done anything where it’s like group singing. It’s like I’ve sung in the shower and that’s about it. And so we’re singing, and once we started blocking, that was probably my biggest challenge. I was like ‘Man, I have to bring this all to a stage and put a whole different character on.'”
Speaking on the challenges associated with the blocking process, Pigott stated,” It’s challenging making sure I fit in without standing out too much. I always wanted to blend in, and so now, we’re all here on a stage and it’s like, ‘Wow, I have to get to my spot without making it very obvious that I’m moving to a spot and not interrupting other people’s moments.'”
Marrott also shared other challenging portions of the production,” definitely jumping over the mental hurdles. It’s a really good cast and crew. We’re all very close to each other. There’s like no judgment, but there are still those mental blocks that come in, especially because a lot of the songs hit like the top of our ranges, so all of us are pushing ourselves.”
Providing a plug to see the show, Marriott shared,” There’s just a lot of really good comedic moments. And if you’re able to just take a breath, let loose and enjoy what’s happening. It’s just a lot of fun to watch. And then some parts will make you tear up for a second because there’s just so much growth that you see happen within an hour and a half. It’s just so heartwarming and I love it.”
Moving to the technical side of the show, Morgan Innes shared the most challenging parts of preparing for the production,” This is actually my first time stage managing a musical, so that’s been a challenge in itself, relearning how to stage manage and be a good stage manager. But honestly, I get so enthralled with the show and watching the actors on stage that I sometimes forget what I’m doing as a stage manager.”
Speaking on the difference between managing a typical stage play and a musical, the manager stated,” In a more traditional stage play, I don’t have to worry about music or beats or writing down choreography. But for a musical, I had to try and learn how to read music and learn how to count with beats to help the actors and myself and my technical crew.”
Rounding out our conversation was associate professor of Theater Tech and Design Brent Innes, who, in preparation for the show, has adopted several key roles on the production. “I am the one-man show this year, being our final year of theater at Eastern. We’re going out with a bang. So I am directing this show, which is a little out of my comfort zone, but we’re having a good time with it. Technical directing, designing sets and lights, assisting with projections, and producing. There’s probably six or seven other hats that I’m wearing and juggling too, but it’s a wild ride.”
Brent Innes also provided a glimpse into why ‘Ride the Cyclone’ was chosen: “The kids introduced it to me a couple of years ago. And we kind of sat on it and thought about it, and the more I listened to it, the more I grew into it. The music is just stunning, and it tells the story of grief and the stages of grief. And, like Morgan said, live your life, enjoy it, and be grateful for what you have. It’s just the message in that is phenomenal.”
Looking at the cast and crew, Brent Innes explained what makes this group of students stand out,” It’s their willingness to follow my chaos. They’re all very talented, and they’ve come together to create this beautiful show both musically and visually. We’ve got music director and choreographer Liz Davis and Amanda Barfuss, who are helping us with that and have been just incredible to work with. To work with these kids and to teach them these amazing dance moves and these songs is hard, but they’re nailing it and it sounds so good.”
Closing out our conversation, Brent Innes shared an additional activity that will run alongside the production,” During the show, we will be running a silent auction because we’re taking this show on tour in January. So be prepared to come and see what we have. We have some great items. There’s a giant snowblower. There are tickets to Tuachan, tickets to Hale Center Theater, and Elmo cookies. We’ve got all kinds of great things in the auction.”
USU Eastern’s production of “Ride the Cyclone” will run Nov. 6-8 and Nov. 12-15. Each showing begins promptly at 7:30 p.m. in the Geary Theatre. Tickets are available online or at the door.