Sarah Carracher
News Editor
When Chelsea Gillespie ’14 brought national theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega (APO) to The College of Wooster last year, it gave members of the department the opportunity to bring even more entertainment to campus. With the help of other student groups, including the Dance Company, the newly-funded Woosicals and the rebooted Shakespeariments, the Theater and Dance department is bound to extend its influence on campus.
The department has already planned its delightful fall play — Molière’s comedy Scapin — to be produced on Oct. 30 and 31 and Nov. 1 and its fall dance concert for Nov. 20, 21 and 22. Though APO isn’t chartered by the College yet, they’re already hard at work increasing attendance and spreading the word about new productions.
“We work hard … but the effort we put in is not always reflected in the number of people that attend the shows, so APO is working with the department to get our name out there more,” said Erika Daun ’15, member of APO, the Dance Company and Woosicals.
In addition to the department’s normal fall productions, APO hopes to host other events, including movie nights and a 24-hour theater festival.
Woosicals, another theater and dance club on campus, was founded last year but didn’t receive school funding until this academic year.
“The goal of the group is to bring musical theater to Wooster and provide an outlet for something that students don’t really get here,” said Colin Commager ’15, president of the group.
“We’re doing a show, which is super exciting, because Wooster hasn’t done musicals in forever,” Daun said. “We felt that there was enough interest to start the group because there’s crossover between music majors and theater majors.”
Their show, ironically entitled [title of show], will premiere this fall.
“We exist to give performers opportunities to showcase their talent as well as to educate the campus at large about musical theater, which is one of the original American art forms,” Commager said. “So we have performances, concerts, cabarets as well as movie showings and workshops.”
Lastly, Shakespeariments, a group that existed at Wooster in the past but lost its steam in the last few years, is being restarted by its president, theater and dance major Noah Hibbard ’16, and its new vice president, Commager. The group plans to put on Shakespeare comedies in unconventional arenas, such as the Oak Grove, where Hibbard hopes to produce A Midsummer Night’s Dream near the end of spring semester.
“The club hasn’t done anything in two years and I’m really interested in performing Shakespeare and I know a lot of people who are as well, so I’m excited to reinvigorate the program,” said Hibbard. The club also hopes to host informal events, during which participants would read a short comedy at Iceman House.
Students who wish to audition for Scapin can sign up for auditions on the callboard in Wishart and must prepare a two-minute comedic monologue and a joke. Those who wish to audition for the dance concert can do so on Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. in the dance studio on the second floor of Wishart. Anyone interested in being involved in the theater and dance programs in any way can reach out to the department chair, Professor Shirley Huston-Findley.