TAKING THE STAGE H omecoming weekend was full offamiliarfaces, long-awaited reunions and celebrations of Harding's heritage. The Bison football team hosted the Henderson State University Reddies, while the Benson Auditorium stage hosted orphaned pirates, the daughters of a modern major general and a master of divinity. The Music and Theatre Departments presented "Pirates!?! A Pillaging of Gilbert & Sullivan" as the annual Homecoming musical, directed by Robin Miller, chair of the Department of Theatre, and produced by Producer of Theatre Cindee Stockstill. Miller asked Professor of English Dr. Michael Claxton and 2011 alumnus Jordan Dollins to reimagine the well-known musical "Pirates of Penzance." According to Claxton, the request was an honor, and the task was important to a successful production. "Gilbert and Sullivan's original play is brilliant as it is, but it is also almost 140 years old," Claxton said. "The script is loaded with language that is unfamiliar today, as well as references that were aimed at a contemporary crowd. We wanted to modernize some of the language." Sophomore James Morgan, junior Tayler Robinson and junior Brittany Stewart played lead roles in the Homecoming musical, the Pirate King, Ruth and Mabel respectively. Never having performed in a major Harding production before, these three actors had to step up to a bar that was set very high. Morgan knew his lead role would help set the tone for the production. "I realized that one person's attitude can affect any number of people," Morgan said. "Being in the position I was in, eyes were automatically on me most of the time. However, the mood of rehearsals was very reliant on every person's decision to be happy, have good energy and encompass a good attitude." With a limited background in high school and summer theater, Morgan was honored to have a lead role in a production specifically written and designed for the Harding community. "I was also very humbled by the fact that I was in such a new territory,'' Morgan said. "This was a much bigger stage than I had ever been on, and I was grateful for the opportunity. Dr. Claxton and Jordan Dollins sold me on the operetta itself. It was a very fun comedic play, and it had great music. They made the show a lot more memorable." Robinson, an art major, played the lead role of Ruth in the musical. Though Robinson did not originally intend to try out for the musical, her two music major roommates encouraged her to audition. To her surprise, Robinson received the role and felt blessed to be included in the Pirates cast. Claxton added that he was honored to work with the talented staff that persevered through late nights and was creative with the material. "Working with the cast was one of the most gratifying parts of the whole process for me," Claxton said. "At every rehearsal, I got more and more excited about the show as I watched the wonderfully creative things the cast was doing. And for a theater novice like me, it was an honor to watch these pros do what they do." Mallory Johnson ?
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