By KATY HART, Student Reporter
The echo of “break a leg!” rings through the auditorium, and students with funny clown costumes run about, the warm-up can be heard throughout the building. It must be opening night at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Behind the scenes there is more than what meets the eye as far as getting ready for these theatre students.
“We have a ridiculous warm-up routine before every show, it helps us ward off the stage fright,” said Mickey Jordan, Northwestern senior.
But warming-up doesn’t always mean the same thing for everyone when getting prepared for a show. For theatre students at Northwestern, jamming to some music, funny dances and candy M&M’s gets them in the right mindset to be the best they can be.
“We gather in a circle, shake the M&M above our head, beat on our chest and we are ready for the show,” said Jordan. “It’s our energy pill for the entire night.”
The theatre department at Northwestern is a tight-knit community that is notorious for their fun and wacky energy, according to junior Tori Hurley.
“We have a small program and we are a family here” said Hurley. “We get the hands-on experience that you might not get anywhere else.”
The hands-on experience is what two students at Northwestern are gaining this semester. Upper division students are given the opportunity to direct and stage manage as well as options to design costumes, lighting and sound design, for their own production. In past years, as part of the curriculum, theatre students have produced 10 minute plays for their senior capstone.
“I didn’t know when I found my show it would be a full performance,” said Hurley. “I thought I would be doing it as a class project.”
Jordan and Hurley are getting the opportunity to direct their own shows a little earlier than their peers who came before them in the program, all because of suggestions made by those graduating the program during exit interviews.
“This has given them an additional opportunity to direct and design,” Said Kimberly Weast, professor of speech and theatre, chair of Department of Fine Arts. “I think this will allow them to be more confident as well as have a sense of how to manage their time and their process when they start working in May for their final capstone production.”
Northwestern theatre engages the students in diverse experiences that emphasize artistic process, self-evaluation, and the connection of academic rigor to production.
The theatre program is rooted in the liberal arts tradition. Theatre students are at their best when they understand the theoretical, historical, and practical elements of theatre. It is equally essential that students grasp the historical and social traditions that created and continue to sustain theatre as an art form.
“A senior must show they have an understanding of an ability to produce in all areas of the theatre,” said Weast.
Jordan believes at Northwestern he gets the opportunity to showcase talents in all areas of the theatre.
“If a student isn’t experienced in a certain area like set design or lighting they will get the opportunity to learn,” said Jordan. “That’s what makes our program so unique.”
The pair have collaborated through the production process. They have designed a set to be used for both individual shows.
“We are doing something that hasn’t been done in many years where we will close the grand drape then we will move all the props from her show to my show,” said Jordan. “It will look completely different when we open it back up.”
The pair have chosen two short one-act plays, a drama and a comedy. The audience will have the opportunity of enjoying two shows for the price of one.
Hurley’s play, “Goodbye to the Clown” by Ernest Kinoy, is a short play about a 9-year-old girl who has trouble distinguishing between imagination and reality. She blames her behavior on a “clown” and imaginary playmate.
Jordan’s play, “The Mice Have Been Drinking Again” by Cleve Haubold, is a short comedy set in 1967. A young happy couple in a small apartment in San Francisco, California experience comical mishaps with their scatter-brained roommate.
The pair have been working on their shows for months, at least a 100 preparation hours have been dedicated to the production.
Hurley and Jordan have even gone as far as reaching out to a recent theatre graduate for her production expertise.
Tracy Meza of Carmen worked at Sea World for 13 years in theatrical services department. She came to Northwestern with an associate’s degree and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Speech and Theatre.
Through Meza’s experience she was able to show Hurley and Jordan lighting and rigging techniques from her past profession.
“I am very proud of them,” said Meza.” They are implementing things that I have taught them.”
Hurley and Jordan are thankful to their peers, Meza and Weast for their constant help and are looking forward to the production.
“After going through this experience I believe they are going to be able to walk through their next show,” said Meza.
Next year when the stage is set and they have their M&M’s in hand the Northwestern theatre department will