Missouri State College Theatre and Dance presents the musical comedy “Dreamland,” directed by Sarah Wiggin, this weekend in Coger Theatre, with music and ebook by Chris Miller, and lyrics by Broadway veteran and MSU alum Nathan Tysen.
Deputizing for Sarah Wiggin on this morning’s Arts Information program, forged member Ashlyn Creek talked concerning the present, which offers with the legendary Space 51, the top-secret navy base rumored to have been concerned in all the things from experimental plane to space-alien autopsies. Space 51 is scheduled to be declassified, and a gaggle of highschool honor college students are given the run of the place for 2 days to discover the location and search for proof of secret goings-on — to the sounds of a full of life pop-music rating.
Ashlyn Creek performs Melissa Simms, a reporter who accompanies the highschool college students to the bottom.
“The entire level of the highschool college students even coming to Space 51 is, they’re supposed to find that there are in actual fact NO aliens… there’s NO conspiracy,” she says. “Nothing out of the unusual. That’s our aim.”
To not give away an excessive amount of, however Creek provides, “However I don’t assume we’re going to get there!”
Lyricist Nathan Tysen got here again to MSU to spend three or 4 days watching the “Dreamland” forged rehearse. How did his presence have an effect on the scholar actors?
“Nathan was unbelievable,” Creek says. “He came visiting us about midway by way of our rehearsal course of, and he labored on us with character work and diving deeper into the fabric. And clearly he was the lyricist for the present as part of Miller and Tyson. And you could possibly inform he was simply so passionate concerning the work and he made us extra passionate concerning the work and the entire thing was simply an unbelievable expertise. It was superb.”
The present is a sort of a mashup of sci-fi/fantasy and B-movie-style manufacturing. Creek notes that Chris Miller’s rating is kind of a mashup as nicely.
“There’s a mixture of all the things,” Creek says. “There’s pop, there’s some R&B affect. There’s even a rap, which is my favourite track in the entire present. However yeah, there’s one thing for everybody. There’s additionally some conventional musical theater numbers, some massive musical productions. We have got all of it.”
They usually have a stay band available to accompany the forged, performed by Heather Llewellyn.
Creek says “Dreamland” is definitely an adaptation of Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Evening’s Dream.”
She says, “We do a Shakespeare present (at MSU) each couple of years or so. And we determined that this 12 months we had been going to do a musical model. And once more, Nathan Tyson’s affect was distinctive on this selection as nicely. However it’s a very massive scale musical about very small issues, like life and friendships. So in that regard, it is similar to our most of our work. However once more, it is a massive manufacturing. So it is considered one of our it is considered one of our favorites, I feel.”
The forged is “very massive,” Creek says. “I feel yesterday we did a rely, and I feel there are 28 of us, which is a really massive forged.”
That they had their opening final night time (Thursday, November 17), with the viewers full of highschool children who Creek described as one of many loudest, most demonstrative audiences she has skilled in 4 years in MSU’s Theatre and Dance program.
“It was unbelievable. They had been a really full of life viewers. We had numerous stay reactions that we didn’t count on, however had been very welcomed. We want they had been within the viewers each night time with us!”
Creek is a senior and has had the pleasure of working with, and studying from, MSU Theatre and Dance college member Sarah Wiggin throughout her 4 years right here.
“We see her work day-after-day, and I’ve had 4 years of lessons together with her. So simply watching her course of all through all of this, it has been inspirational, seeing how she has management over the room, however on the identical time makes each resolution look sort and put collectively.”
What are Ashlyn’s plans as soon as she graduates? “As of proper now, I plan on shifting to New York Metropolis and pursuing this as a profession — more often than not on stage. So appearing, singing, dancing. However we’ll see.”
Performances of “Dreamland” in Coger Theatre are tonight and Saturday night time at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, November 20 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets vary from $22 to $24, and can be found by calling the MSU TIX quantity, 417-836-7678, or go to theatreanddance.missouristate.edu to buy tickets.
Supply By https://www.ksmu.org/present/arts-news/2022-11-18/missouri-state-stage-musical-dreamland-explores-area-51
