Taking a break from Drama Labs, producers Arianna Chang ’13, Susannah Hyde ’13 and Julius Ross ’13 and director Anna Stacey ’13 introduced the production of a unique blend of theater and music in this year’s Musical Theater Cabaret on Friday.
The first performer of the night, Adella Pierre ’14, sang “Adelaide’s Lament” from the musical “Guys and Dolls”. Dressed in a silky blue bathrobe, Pierre showed her mastery of the song about love sickness.
Pianist Seho Young ’15 accompanied all the student performers, including Pierre, with melodic background tunes to support the voice performances.
“Seho, our pianist, was incredibly versatile, and we all greatly benefited from his remarkable talents in sight-reading and accompanying,” said Stacey.
Taking a risk by performing a song from a non-Broadway play “Ordinary Days,” Esther Cohen ’14 sang the song “Running,” using her own experiences as an actress auditioning for jobs to connect to the broadway hopeful she was portraying.
“I have a couple of songs under my belt, but none of them seemed like a song I really wanted to perform. I found the song “Running” while watching some random YouTube videos online. I liked it because there was no ‘official’ performance of it that I had to adhere to; it was completely up to my interpretation,” said Cohen.
Usually singing along with Cohen in the all-female a cappella group, Azure, Nya Hughes ’15 sang the popular number “All That Jazz” from the hit musical “Chicago.” Hughes’ skillful dance moves and contagious smile made her rendition of “All That Jazz” even more enjoyable.
“I was motivated by my desire to perform. It is secretly my dream to be a Broadway actress, and I just decided to live out my dream a little. It was fun, and I’m glad I did it,” Hughes said.
Michaela Barczak ’15 sang next the piece “Maybel’s Prayer” from the musical “Fame.” Barczak’s strong voice and resounding riffs during the performance contributed to her soulful interpretation of the song.
The performance of “Bring Him Home” from “Les Miserables” by Tom Burnett ’15 and the duet of “Some Things are Meant to Be” from “Little Women” by Rebecca Cheng ’14 and Sophiya Chiang ’14 introduced a mellow atmosphere to the room, showing both the melancholic and dramatic side of musical theater.
“I thought it was really great! I liked that [the performers] acted as well as sang—I think it’s so much more entertaining when people show character and emotion while singing. And that’s exactly what everyone did. It was fantastic,” said Ali Decker ’14, a member of the audience.
For the night’s closing act, Adam Brody ’14 gave a captivating rendition of the fun, upbeat song “A New Broom” from “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”
“I wanted to perform at the Cabaret because I love musical theatre, and I think our school could use a little bit more of it. Musical theatre is unique in how actors can connect to an audience and tell a story through song. There is simply nothing like the experience of watching a musical. Although this was only a cabaret, I hope that the audience members left perhaps more appreciative of musical theatre, or at the very least entertained,” said Brody.
