This winter, student director Serafina Shin-Von Nordenflycht ‘25 is bringing the dark and humorous musical Ride the Cyclone to life as a part of the THD901 course. The musical is haunting yet quirky, following six high school students who recount their stories, fighting for a second chance after dying in a roller coaster tragedy, landing in limbo. For Shin-Von Nordenflycht, this production is a passionate endeavor as she hopes to fill the role of her past mentors.
“In my freshman year, I did a 901. I was in a 901 called ‘Girls Like That,’ and it was with the lovely director Kate Horton. She’s one of my mentors from the school. She was a senior when I was a freshman here, and she was a great director… I was like, ‘I want to be able to be that person for someone.’ I want to be the director that can take something that’s heavy–and not that heavy, I love fun things, and so I picked a more fun show. But I want to be able to bring that for people to see. And so it’s like, Andover when I’ve had role models are so important, because once I pick my role model, it makes me feel that I can reach that standard and that level.” Said Shin-Von Nordenflycht
Stepping into the role of director, Shin-Von Nordenflycht reflected on her experience as a student producer working on a musical focused on teenage lives and voices. This has taken shape in her directive choices, as she expressed a deeper meaning behind her decisions, and their attachment to her personal identity.
“I think the important part about being a director is having a unified idea of the show. There’s a lot of carnival themes in my show, as well as masquerade masks, and that comes from me being a student, right? It’s this idea that we put fronts up for other people, and we wear masks all the time. And constantly, I am switching my personality or switching the parts of me that I wanna share with people and the parts of me that I don’t, and I think that’s a lot of what this show is about, is about what you hide from people in life will follow you into death, and can you just live your life as you want to live it?” said Shin-von Nordenflycht.
Shin-Von Nordenflycht’s choice of show, Ride the Cyclone, is especially unique, being a six-person cast–a considerably small number in any production, but especially a musical. Cast member Penelope Jaramillo ‘28 discussed the effect the diminutive cast size has had on the production and character relationships of the show.
“Being in such a small cast, we all learn a lot more about each other… You can definitely tell the closeness and the dynamics between people. We have an understanding of each other, which can be really interesting because sometimes people are very close in real life, but they’re supposed to have a more strained relationship on stage or not even know each other,” said Jaramillo.
Friend and cast member Alex Giarnese ‘25 also spoke on Shin-von Nordenflycht’s directing style, and her abundant experience in the theater department at Andover. Giarnese addressed her approach to leadership, as her talent as both a director and Thespian.
“Serafina commands a lot of respect. She’s done so much in the theater department over the last four years that all the theater students know who she is and recognize how talented she is. That in itself commands a lot of respect. She gets things done quickly and in a very organized manner. She’s serious about what she’s putting on stage because she knows how important it is to put on a good production, which is an amazing quality in a director,” said Giarnese.
As a director, Shin-Von Nordenflycht aims to balance the musical’s humor with its serious themes, her ultimate goal being to make viewers embrace joy and introspection. So far, she has been working extensively with her cast, pushing them to challenge them while encouraging teamwork.
“I really like ensemble-based shows and I love musicals, and musical theater has a huge place in my heart. And Ride the Cyclone is just so much fun. Everyone is on stage the whole time, and you have these characters who come across first as being very one-faceted and easy to read and each of them has this layer to them that you would have never seen, and it’s a wild ride. It’s like a rollercoaster, right? This show goes up and down and up and down through sadness and laughter to the point where one person is dancing in a catsuit and another person is in full carnival attire. It is a celebration of what it is to be human, and I think that’s what art is–a celebration of what it’s like to be human,” said Shin-Von Nordenflycht.
