Most of the time, Harris Hall 107 doesn’t look different from any other lecture hall on campus. But for the past few weeks, a team of first-year students has been transforming the space nearly every night in preparation for a full-fledged theatre production.
With the exception of the words “Camp Half-Blood” being faintly visible on the chalkboard in the week leading up to the show, the musical left no trace in the classroom and had to exclusively use the space after classes for weeks.
The performances of “The Lightning Thief,” this year’s Freshman Musical, were Friday and Saturday, with two shows each day.
“The Lightning Thief” is based on the book of the same name from Rick Riordan’s series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” which follows Poseidon’s demigod son on a cross-country adventure with his friends from Camp Half-Blood to the underworld — in Los Angeles. Percy (Weinberg first-year Aidan Hyde) and his friends Annabeth (Communication first-year Carys Venneman) and Grover (Communication first-year Elijah Curtin-Adelman), grapple with family and self-esteem issues throughout their journey.
The lecture hall is traditionally the annual show’s location, but it differs from many performance venues, namely in the shape of the stage.
“I think (the) big thing with Harris being such an unconventional theatre space is being very adaptable and very creative,” director and Communication first-year Joey Collins said.
Harris Hall doesn’t have the same lighting setup as most theatre venues, so some poles of lights were brought in from Shanley Pavilion, and other small lights were placed on desks in the front row.
Because classes continued to take place during the day, the team had to move props and technical equipment, including everything from a wheelchair to a toilet, from Harris Hall to alternative storage locations every day.
“It’s hard for that reason, but also it’s a fun challenge because then you get to be like, ‘Okay, we’re in a lecture hall, the stage is tiny, we have to load in and load out every day. How can we still work with our budget and make something cool happen?’” show co-producer and Communication first-year Jackson Hollis said.
He said that moving into the room took at least two hours every day, but motivated the team to “be scrappy” and work through obstacles.
Communication first-year Jordana Lenihan, the musical’s other co-producer, said that being in a classroom was difficult, but the challenge helped the team bond.
“I mean, as much as I don’t like (being in Harris 107), it’s the amount of community that it’s built,” she said. “Even the cast is staying late past their call time to help us clean up and strike, and you don’t always see that in a lot of shows … these people are so excited about the process and care so much about the show we’re putting on that they’re volunteering to stay late to help us take down lights.”
The unusually narrow stage also made the show difficult to choreograph.
Communication first-year Sopheen Lee, the show’s dance captain and co-choreographer, as well as an ensemble member, said that the stage presented safety concerns.
“The intricacy of choreography is very difficult to get across, and so the challenge was really like, ‘How do we make simple movements, how do we have complicated movement below our feet, so that it looks good, without anyone falling off the stage?’” she said.
Lee added that a lot of the choreography would work in the rehearsal room but didn’t translate to the performance space and had to be adjusted.
Cast members moved through the aisles and stairs throughout the show, making the show feel immersive and interesting while also providing a creative solution to the challenges of performing in a lecture hall.
Some team members said that they were up against not only an unconventional location, but a reputation for being a less “serious” show in comparison to others on campus because its entire team is in their first year of college.
“To be able to hopefully have people show up and be like, ‘Oh, wow, this is actually not that bad,’ would be cool just because I know this is something that people look forward to,” Hollis said.
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