Arts and Entertainment | Theater

They’ve got magic to do, just for you: Spectator previews CMTS’s Pippin

By Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

"I really hope that people leave with the idea that you don't have to have one idea of how to live life,” director Sophia Houdaigui said. "We're bombarded consistently by social media posts … the idea of securing a job immediately after graduation. ... I want people to be able to leave and say one, that you should follow what your passion is in life and create your own interpretation of what happiness can be, but also that you honestly don't have to leave in May with a job the next day, on that Monday."

By Sarah Robertson • October 23, 2019 at 6:56 AM

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Photo by Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

"As an actor, something that I've noticed is a lot of people learn differently,” Houdaigui said. “We all have different learning styles in the classroom, we all have different learning styles when we approach acting. ... Some actors respond really well to physical manifestations of things, like they're movers and dancers so they'll respond well to kinesthetic learning, and maybe that takes demonstrating what the feeling of that particular line looks like, rather than, you know, getting into the nitty-gritty. ... Others really like to go back to the text, and spend a lot of time with it."

Photo by Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

When asked about the most fun element of the production, co-producer Sila Puhl said, "Hanging out with [co-producer Sarah Leidich], to be honest. Especially with student theater, it's really easy to get overly heady about it, like this is my vision, and this is art, but it also ends up being, a lot of the time, my social space and so I just have fun. Cracking jokes.” Says Leidich, "Sila's super funny." Says Puhl, "Sarah's super funny."

Photo by Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

“The job of the choreographer is to tell the story of the show through movement,” Sophie Visscher-Lubinizki said. “‘Pippin’ is a unique show because it's so heavily based in dance … [and] the dance numbers are very very long and … they're all really different. And so I think my role as the choreographer was to try and make all those numbers unique and exciting and fun to do, but also to tell the story."

Photo by Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

“I love working on musicals, because there’s such a sense of magic that happens on stage,” set designer Kristian Woerner, CC ’21, said. “When the curtain opens and the first act begins, there’s just something so magical about that moment … when you feel like you're in a different space. When you feel like you're in a different world."

Photo by Olivia Fine / Columbia Daily Spectator

"I feel like I'm being challenged as an actor,” Jackie Chu said. “I never thought I was very good at acting—I like to say I'm OK. But I never thought it was my strength. I was like, I'm only being chosen for musicals because I can sing better than I can act. But this process has made me—I'm just like myself on steroids, that's Berthe. … I never thought I was funny, ever, so I've just been allowed to do a lot of random shit that I never thought was acceptable and people are laughing at it which is like, what I want. I like to spark that kind of joy."