Stop in the Name of Love, and Listen to CMTS Sing

Is every musical ultimately written about love?

“Every story is a love story, every song is a love song,” said Michael Leibring, CC ’09, one of the producers for Columbia Musical Theater Society’s new musical revue, Love Could Drive a Person Crazy. The show—which premieres this evening in Roone Arledge Auditorium—strives to shed new light on a popular subject. Directors Alessandra Hirsch, BC ’08 and Bryan Hobgood, SEAS ’09, have aimed to “take an overused theme without being cheesy ... to show all different kinds of love,” said singer Yonatan Gebeyehu, CC ’11.

While you may be a musical theater lover, it’s possible that Columbia’s past selection of shows has been a little too obscure or unusual for your liking. Love Could Drive a Person Crazy promises nothing less when it comes to outdated tunes and unfamiliar musical arrangements, but producer Darcy Zacharias, CC ’10, said that the “different styles of music ... are a good mix for people who aren’t as familiar with musical theater.” The production team has worked hard to “look at what we [the CMTS board] can do for the community to make musical theater more accessible,” said Zacharias.
Choosing the familiar theme of love and hate grants the opportunity for the audience to have “a casual night out ... where they aren’t burdened by the book of a musical, where they have deeper themes to think about,” said Hobgood. “Here they can just listen to some music.”

In this night of song, audience members can expect a much more relaxed and intimate setting than that of the typical full-scale musical production. Rather than being lost by the “cavernous pit effect ” Zacharias said Roone often exerts on its audience, the informal aesthetic of the show caters to the casual ambience the production team is hoping to achieve. Instead of relying on the stage, the action takes place on a half-raised lift on the floor, creating an intimate aura.

While the revue’s design offers an engaging alternative for Columbia audiences, it is also a way “to grant opportunity to those [actors] with other commitments,” said Zacharias. Reminiscing about his time commitment to the full-scale production of Pippin last semester, Gebeyehu said, “musicals have five to six rehearsals a week ... It is really nice for people who are very involved because they [the production team] cater the schedule to you.”

But with a more relaxed rehearsal setting, students like Sasha Thompson, CC ’09, a member of the CU Clefhangers, are able to explore other performance options. “There is a lot more solo acting involved,” said Thompson.

Director Alessandra Hirsh said, “we picked the songs to highlight the actors.” In a typical musical production, directors are often forced to have “cast members fill roles they aren’t right for,” she said. The beauty of a revue is that “you get to see the cast members for who they are as performers ... it’s a lot more about showing the strength of each person.”

Revues are delicate projects, however, and the original story lines the songs come from cannot be ignored. Love Could Drive a Person Crazy must carefully tread the line between providing audience accessibility and oversimplification. To create variation the directors chose songs that are range from “very intense love songs, to very intense hate songs, and everything in between,” said Hirsch. Despite this, the revue seems to be lacking its own cohesive conclusion on love.

But whatever Love Could Drive a Person Crazy may lack in specific message, it certainly compensates for in talent.

“During callbacks I was astounded by the amount of talent,” said Hobgood. From ethereal sopranos like Thompson, to the fantastic and moving male duet “Lily’s Eyes” from The Secret Garden sung by Ricky Schweitzer, CC ’11, and Yonatan Gebeyehu, to the elating powerhouse belter Heather Duckworth, CC ’10, the revue packs itself with a variety and abundance of talent.

The addition of a musical revue to the annual roster of musical productions is still on its test run, but “we want it to become a CMTS tradition,” Hobgood said. “It’s important for Columbia to have an outlet for people who aren’t necessarily hardcore actors, but who love to sing and be on stage and have a good time. Sometimes you just gotta sing.”