84 I Academics Facing the Challenge Theatre students write original musical, direct the stage and act in the show In "Seussical the Musical," seniors Amanda Lane and Joshua Cole Little swing dance during the show's finale April17, 2012. The musical was part of the 39th Spring Sing weekend. Ashe/ Parsons est1948 Department of Art 6 majors I 10 facu lty I 61 courses est.201 0 Department of Theatre 2 majors I 5 faculty I 37 courses S tudents in most departments across campus ended their college career with a senior symposium, the pinnacle of their development as scholars. Senior seminar projects in the theatre department were flexible; the general guideline was that the students needed to be challenged . For seniors Amanda Lane and Joshua Cole Little, that challenge manifested itself in a musical of their own creation, "Here and Again," which showed April 18-20 in the Ulrey Performing Arts Center. The two students met as freshmen when they were auditioning to be in "Scrooge" and were paired as dancing partners. Four years later, they were close friends and cowriters of an original musical. Little and Lane were excited about the opportunity to create a story. "We both took our personal relationships," Little said. "It's a big blend of real life, is what it really is." According to Lane, the story was about moving on from the past. "It's a story about being able to move on to something bigger and better," Little said. "It focuses on these two friends, one who has been away for a while and has finally come back to this small, dying town that he grew up in. He's dealing with past relationships that he has hurt and, at the same time, his best friend is dealing with struggles that are happening to her right there at that second. They are both trying to find a light in that." The two main characters of the show were written particularly for Little and Lane to perform. Junior Jordan Simpson, a music and computer science major, composed the music for the musical. "This is the kind of thing I'd love to do after I graduate, whether it's musicals or writing movie scores or writing choral works," Simpson said. "I thought this would be a great opportunity to practice because it's also practice for them. It's a great experience in the field before we get out into the real world." Though Little and Lane realized that challenges would arise, they both said they recognized how rewarding an experience creating an original musical would be. "Musical theater is what I love," Little said. "I've been doing it since I was five ... so in my 16th year of theater, being able to go from not knowing anything to creating my own musical is a dream come true." Creating their own show led to the birth of new dreams. Lane and Little were confident the show was strong enough to take them places. Whether "Here and Again" went on to a publishing firm or to a high school that wanted to put on the show, the overall experience was a source of reward and accomplishment for Lane and Little. Lyndsey Ruble
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