By AUSTIN MORTON, Senior Reporter
Northwestern students, Alva community members and local school children are among the cast of one of the largest musical productions in recent Northwestern history.
The Northwestern theater program’s upcoming performance of “The Music Man” will be the first musical on campus since the 2019 performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Coat.” The performance will also be one of the largest ever put together by Director Kimberly Weast, with an ensemble of more than 60 performers.
This cast is different from most that Weast puts together, as more than 30 cast members are residents of the Alva community, Weast said.
“I personally reached out to some people to be involved, and then those people that I personally reached out to, reached out to people they know,” Weast said.
Mickey Jordan, the university’s director of technical theater, has worked with the community members. He oversees the show’s publicity, assists in scenic design, serves as the lead on costuming, assists in choreography and has a part in the musical.
Jordan said he enjoys working with such a large cast, even though it poses challenges.
People of all ages are taking part in the performance, with the youngest cast member being 6 years old.
Jordan said he’s impressed by the cast’s talent.
“I worry a lot, especially with the choreography, that the middle schoolers aren’t going to be able to pick it up,” he said. “But they are on it and have been great to work with.”
The sizable cast is working in a smaller-than-normal space. The stage in Herod Hall has been made smaller to accommodate the band, which will also be performing during the musical.
The first full-cast, on-stage rehearsal took place Sunday. Cast members were surprised by how little room they had, Jordan said.
“The world is going to get real small, real fast,” Jordan said.
Before Sunday, the cast was rehearsing in the Student Center Ballroom.
Though the cast has a large number of community members, its student actors still play a large role.
Northwestern senior Angie Aguilera plays the part of Marian Paroo, one of the lead characters.
“I feel like it is a jump in growth from the last musical,” Aguilera said. “The last musical, I sang in the chorus and only had one small little role. So, it has been really rewarding to work hard for this role, because I didn’t think I could ever do something like this.”
Weast said she is expecting that the high level of community involvement will help draw a large turnout for the musical.
“We are hoping that, with having a large number of people on stage, we will have a large number of people in the audience,” Weast said.
