STERLING — Described as “an all-singing, all-dancing, all-capering nonstop fun-fest,” Twelfth Night the musical will be presented by Sterling College Music Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 14, at 2 and 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 15 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 16 in Culbertson Auditorium on the college campus. The Sterling College show promises to delight audiences of all ages and has many in the cast and crew pulling double-duty.
Twelfth Night is a rousing contemporary musical inspired by Shakespeare’s classic comedy about girl power, mistaken identity, and self-discovery. Featuring an original score by Shaina Taub, this contemporary 90-minute musical has also been hailed as being “pure joy with lots of laughs, and a deeper message of empathy and compassion.” Sasha Hildebrand, theatre faculty member, leads the show as director with music faculty member Marisa Callan as the music director and keyboard accompanist.
Twelfth Night involves a shipwreck, separated twins, mistaken identity, and love triangles, all set in a mythological land called Illyria. It is one of Shakespeare’s best known and best loved comedies.
Eight members of the 22-person cast are doing double-duty playing both a role in the show as well as being a musician for the show – often carrying their instrument onstage with them. Zeke Thompson, Newton, plays the role of Sebastian, ship-wrecked twin brother to Viola and also plays the saxophone for the show.
Another actor/instrumentalist is Jacob Pieplow, Sterling. He said, “it is fun to showcase more than one aspect of our talents.” Lily Stansbury, Lorraine, added, “It’s been really fun to play trumpet in the show as well as being in the ensemble! It’s cool to be on stage as a musician and as well as a dancer. It can be a challenge to get rid of our instruments before going on a scene or running to play my trumpet after dancing.”
Taub’s score for the show is made up of jazz/funk/pop styles which are not the usual styles for Broadway musicals.
Director Hildebrand is also on double-duty, as she is with many Sterling shows, as director and costume designer. “The show has a decidedly New Orleans/Carnival/Mardi Gras kind of feel to it,” she said. “The title itself is a reference to the 12th day of Christmas festival. In keeping with all that idea of fun and merriment, we are going with bright, bold colors for this show.”
While many traditional musicals like White Christmas and Newsies require realistic costumes, this show, being set in a mythical town, allows for more freedom in costuming. Hildebrand has designed and created four brand new costumes for this show, which means there are over 20 costumes being re-purposed from many other shows.
Many of the women’s costumes for the show are composed of donated old prom dresses. “With a little imagination and some reconfiguring, it’s amazing the things that we can do with an old prom dress,” Hildebrand said.
“It’s been great fun to pull things from this show and that. This is one of those times when being a limited budget forces us to be even more creative. Rather than making everything new, we re-purpose every chance we get,” she explained.
Music director Callan has also gotten into the act by decorating numerous shoes for the show. “This is certainly working a different creative side for me,” she said. “It’s fun to work with dying and coloring the shoes and using all sorts of ribbon and trims to really make them pop.”
Tickets for Twelfth Night the musical are $15 for adults and $7 for students and are available online at www.sterling.edu/arts or at the door before each performance.
