Latest / The UNWavering Podcast / Theatre That Serves Others | Jennifer Hunter – Director and Professor of Theatre

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Theatre That Serves Others | Jennifer Hunter – Director and Professor of Theatre · The UNWavering Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: We're not interested in divas.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_03: We're not interested in people who are performing for self.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's kind of what what the world is for theater.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: But for us, it's about taking the the gifts that God has given us and sharing them with an audience, sharing these stories and and moving people's hearts.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, yeah, that's that's really what we're about.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Join as we highlight the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Unwavering Podcast.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, this is Monty and Cassie.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: And today on the Unwavering Podcast, we get to sit down with Jennifer Hunter, Northwestern's director and professor of theater.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: She's giving us a backstage look at the program, the theater students, and this upcoming season.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Let's break a leg.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Jennifer, thank you so much for taking time to join us today.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited to be here.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Jennifer, this is a tough question to start with, but what is your all-time favorite play?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think it's hard because are you talking about my favorite play to direct, my favorite play to act in, or my favorite like cast and team experience, or the favorite musical, or the favorite play?
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I would have to say most recently we did the Night Witches, which is a play about um Russian women who defeated the Nazis in World War II, and they were the age of our students.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, wow.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so that was really poignant because it was a historical um play.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: And man, the girls are our students just really connected with these characters and with the audience, and then we won these awards.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: So that's fresh.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: So, and then I I probably would have to go back to everyone talks about phantom.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: Phantom, phantom, phantom.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: We did Phantom of the Opera the second year I was here.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that was a big one.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_03: And so as a director, I would sit in the audience and I would grip the sides of my seat because I was like, what is gonna go wrong tonight?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_03: There are so many things that can go wrong.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: And the night that was the most nail-biting for me was the boat with the Phantom and Christine.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Is it cut what it does is it comes straight for you at the audience and then it turns, right?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_03: And turns off to the side.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well, the lever wasn't working, and it was continuing to go towards the orchestra pit.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, that's it.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_03: They're going in the orchestra pit.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: And right like the tip of the boat went over the edge of the stage and then it turned.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so, yeah, that was one of those nights I wasn't sure.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: I, you know, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack right there in the audience.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine the story?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Boat falls into pit.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_03: Not good.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Not good.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: I can only imagine as a director, like, whoo.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: And then I think for for me as an actress, I I really had a wonderful time at the Des Moines Playhouse doing the music man, Marion the Librarian.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: That's my favorite too.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: You were Marion?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, there was Marion the Librarian.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_03: She's kind of stuck up and you know, snooty, and then she gets she falls in love, and she realizes that maybe there's not a perfect man, but there's someone who can love her the way she needs to be loved.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: Madame Library.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm a Shipoopy.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: I was typecast as Zanita.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, Zanita's a great role.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: I loved her so much.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: She's a great role.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_03: Full of of just life and my favorite role.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: She, yeah, we have we have a student playing that currently here in the wonderful.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: I love that.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: I was in the quartet.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: You were that's the people Rose.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm home again, Rose.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: People love that quartet.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's a classic.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Did you ever dance to Sha Poopy, Judge?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: I sure and Cassie?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, I did.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_03: I did, and I remember, see, I'm not a great dancer, guys.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_03: So I remember kicking Harold Hill in the shins because I couldn't remember if I was supposed to start on the right foot or the left foot.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever feels right.
• 4:10
  unknown: Yeah.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: What is your favorite play to watch?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: Recently, um, we just went to Broadway with uh with our New York study tour, which is really awesome.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: And we saw The Outsiders, which is something we kind of grew up with.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_03: People either read the novel in in school um or there was a movie.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was really interested to see what they were gonna do with it on stage.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I was I was very, very entertained.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it won it won the Tony for a best known musical.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: So there's that.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Jennifer, when did your love for theater begin?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I did, you know, I really did love to perform um even like in neighbor like my neighborhood.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_03: I remember the big movie that came out one summer was Annie.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: That was my childhood, and my parents bought me the cassette tape.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I had my little boom box and I would take it out in the neighborhood, and I was the only kid in the neighborhood who had the cassette.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I was, you know, I was golden then.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_03: So, but we would listen to the cassette and we would act it out.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, I was Annie, actually.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um and then we did, you know, we did things in in church.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: We had little pageants and parables and and things that we did.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: So um, yeah, it was it was just something that I I grew up starting to do.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: So it began from your childhood.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: You loved theater from the beginning.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_03: And then in college I took a course where I realized, you know what, I think directing might be something that I could be good at.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then that's what made me pursue my graduate degree at Baylor University.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: So in directing.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it turns out you are very good at it.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we love having you here at Northwestern.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: We do things.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And alums and students who have had the chance to be directed by you rave about their experience.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really excited that you're here.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but why Northwestern?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love the mission.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: I love the mission.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: I love the students are amazing.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: I love working with these students.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I know that when this job position was posted, we, my family, um, we were in Michigan, and I read the job posting and I turned to my husband, I said, This is me.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_03: This they're describing me.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so it was just God opening a lot of doors and just assuring us that this is where we were supposed to go to move our family of six across, you know, Midwest.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's just been a home ever since.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_03: So uh we love it here.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: You talked about loving the mission in Northwestern.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what is your mission for the theater program here at Northwestern?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so you know, we we're working with students who are at an age where they're kind of deciding their life.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_03: They're making these, they've they've left their families who have given them their identity, right?
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_03: And now they're starting to realize what do I agree with and what do I not?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's a formative time, um, which I think is such an honor to be working with with with kids who are are developing that frontal lobe of their brain.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and basically it's my job to help them figure out what their passion and their calling is.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_03: And if that's theater, then that's what we're there for.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and mainly to to be servant leaders in the industry.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_03: And we're not interested in divas, we're not interested in people who are performing for self.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's kind of what what the world is for theater.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: But for us, it's about taking the the gifts that God has given us and sharing them with an audience, sharing these stories and and moving people's hearts.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, yeah, that's that's really what we're about.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and when I've interacted with the theater students on campus, they are dynamic and lovely and humble.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: And you don't always find that in theater students, but what a great bunch.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they're great teammates.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_03: They they learn how to be a team, they learn how to work together and to support each other.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love your intentionality.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I I also love how you're trying to have drama without the drama as well in a way.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um you have some students that are here, and their experience with theater is they just want to be in a play while they're here.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: They're actually a marketing major or something.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then you also have students who are here in theater that are actually studying theater.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: How do you work with both both groups of students?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we love both groups of students because we need both groups of students in order actually to have a successful theater program.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_03: So we embrace everyone, we embrace the artist and everyone.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um but one of the things we love to do is make sure that our students are will really well rounded.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_03: So they're learning different stagecraft of backstage, front of house.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, of course, the acting and directing and playwriting, um, and being a stage manager and figuring out the props and the hair and the makeup and the wigs, and and and we have wigs and we have people who are working on wigs and wait, w working on the wig?
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like you don't know, just like outsource those and bring them in like they're so they're styling them, they're rewashing them, they're um then they're making them fit for each play, and we've got a database so that they can see, oh, what has this wig been in a different show here at Northwestern and how was it styled before?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: And wow.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so and and they take their craft very seriously.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_03: And then, you know, one of the people who has been working on Heron Wigs, she is getting hired around the Twin Cities to continue that work.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: So we're just making sure that our students are marketable as well because they're gonna be such great example, Christ-like, you know, leaders in our community.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: But if if they had the skills to do it, they they are even more hireable.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So you just listed off a bunch of different roles and skills that the students will learn from directing to being in the plays to making the wigs.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: What does it actually look like?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we know that you have plays that are coming up.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do you start the process and how do you involve students in it?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because from my experience in theater, like we had a director, but I didn't have a role in any of really the production or creating.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: I just did what I was told to do.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like you have a different approach here at Northwestern.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, what does it look like as a production comes together?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so so we create our seas, and it's like a puzzle, and we want to fit those pieces together.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_03: We do consider like the talent and what kind of students we have, and we want to make sure that there's all different genres.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_03: So they're doing some Shakespeare, they're doing some classic work, they're doing the big musicals that are gonna get people in seats.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then the year before, when we're announcing that, we give this huge list of all the different opportunities that are available, and they kind of put their name in the hat.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: They say, Hey, I'm I'm interested in props for this show, I'm interested in stage management for this show, I'm interested in this.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then we work over this summer and try and make sure that everyone's getting an opportunity to try something at least once.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then there's leaders that kind of just show up uh in that process, and they also end up training the younger, you know, the incoming students to to see what this program is about.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: And it's a big announcement at the beginning of the year, and they get really excited about who's been assigned to different roles throughout the throughout the year.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we make it a celebration and we name the students and their names and their responsibilities and they cheer for each other and they they're excited.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: I I love that so much.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: So they're these students are part of the process from from the beginning to the middle to the end.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what's that like as a director to maybe let go of some of those elements that maybe you'd otherwise maybe like to control or create?
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, does that always go without any hiccups?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: It's oh there's always hiccups, but it's a beautiful thing.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_03: I I find that the most satisfying thing is to see someone come to fruition or or or realize their full potential.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_03: To me, that is that is so much more satisfying for me than being on stage.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's kind of why I transitioned from being on stage into the role that I am now.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um it yes, there are hiccups, but it's it's just a beautiful thing.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: So you're watching students develop like from the time when they came into Northwestern and on their years through.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: I remember some uh Dan and I were just talking about this, Dan McLaughlin, who used to work with us.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, we had a student in who did a scholarship and we were like, oh well, yeah.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, they're definitely gonna learn a lot and grow a lot here, and then all of a sudden they're they're in the Guthrie after they've graduated and they're doing Christmas Carol, and we're like, just what a what an amazing journey you've had in your four years and what you're doing now.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So you said that hiccups happen.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Like it seems like you're not surprised by that.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: No, we want our students to make mistakes here in a safe environment where they have people who love them and care about them.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: And and if they make the mistakes here, then then when they're out in in a in a career where they could actually get fired for a mistake they make, they've they've learned some of those lessons here.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we care very much about their spiritual development too.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, there's a there's a book that I love called Sticky Faith.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it's about how we have to, we have to let these these young kids make mistakes so that they can learn these hard lessons.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_03: And what better place to do that than here at a university who has faculty and staff and people who care and and love for them and love on them and pray for them and have, I mean, we have them over to our house and we're in we're invested.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_03: We're all in.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_03: We care about their development, not just their passion and their calling and and theater, but we care about, you know, them becoming, you know, real life humans, making decisions that are so important for their lives.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think about the ways that that would inspire you to grow as a person to be courageous or even unlocks their full potential in creating.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you're creating with fear, always sitting there and not wanting to screw up, you're definitely not swinging as hard as you could.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, for sure.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's awesome.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: That's a part of your culture and your DNA.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And we also know from our short experience of being in theater and not being at Northwestern's theater, but but that community is a big part of being in theater because you spend a lot of time together in rehearsal.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: So talk talk to us about what is what is the community like in your theater program.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_03: So, you know, you like you said, they spend a lot of time together.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_03: They're in class during the day.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: Um, they commonly sit in the lobby, the Totino lobby together.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um and and then they're coming to rehearsal every night.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_03: So they kind of are, you know, eat, live, breathe the theater.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and even when when my family moved here, my husband was like, We're we need to make sure we're finding a house that's really close to the university so that after you've had a full day of teaching, you can come home still and have a respite in between before you go back for rehearsal at seven to ten every night.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_03: Um, so yeah, that and uh one of the things I love about the community of of the students that we have, I mentioned that they're supportive of each other and good teammates, is you know, when that cast list goes up, um it's it's hard sometimes if you don't see your name in the place where you want it to be.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_03: And I have personally, by the way, I I get nervous, I don't want to be around when that cast list goes up because I know I don't want to disappoint anyone.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's the worst part of my job.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: But I've been around a couple of times when that cast list has gone up, and I've seen someone who I knew wanted that part standing next to the person who sees their name instead, and they turn to them and give them a hug and say, I'm so excited for you.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: This is gonna be so great for you.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_03: What an opportunity.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: You just it's that's rare.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_03: You just you don't really see that in the theater world.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's an amazing thing to see.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you've hinted at that you're here all kinds of hours in this.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: So so if I'm hearing you right, being a theater director is not a nine to five kind of job.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: No, it's not.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, and I've been doing a lot of stuff over the summer too, preparing for our season.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: So um, but I I don't feel like it's a job for me.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: It it is really a passion for me.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: It is it's a mission for me.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and my family knows that and they're very supportive about that.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I'm we're we're intentional too, though, about making sure there's there's family time for us too.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's good.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're unpacking the layers of Northwestern theater, you have the the actual performance, which we get to enjoy.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: That is excellent.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Immensely.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um you have everything going behind the scenes of pre preparing the production.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: You have the next layer that is this community and person development.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like what would you say is at the very core of what makes Northwestern theater what it is?
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_03: I I just think that servant heart.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_03: I they just want to serve each other.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we we want we want a healthy community, we don't want dysfunctional so that they can see what healthy theater looks like.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_03: So then when they're in jobs outside of this theater, they're like, this isn't this doesn't feel right.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: This I I you know.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: We want them to recognize the difference between that.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we love the performances that you put on.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: We get to experience the fruit of the theater program, and I would love it, if you wouldn't mind gushing a little bit about the the plays that are coming up.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's the best season.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: It's the best season yet.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_03: We just started with a murder mystery.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's called Nine Girls, and it was set in the 40s in the Sierra Mountains, and these Swarty sisters are coming to this cabin, and they realize one of their girls has died, and then they realize one of them is the culprit, is the person who bum bum bum.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: And a really cool thing that we had happen with this particular show is we had a 10 o'clock performance geared towards students, like a late night performance and encouraging them to wear like their pajamas and bring a blanket.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: So really, really fun.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: Then our big, big, big show for the year is The Prince of Egypt.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so we're so psyched about this one.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's almost here.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I know.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: And and so if you've ever seen the animated musical version, it's very, very I mean, it the some of the same music, some of the, you know, uh, so we've just got a great team.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: We've got a lot of spectacle.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um, it's just gonna be outstanding.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Incredible.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's so cool.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_03: What history that we didn't have question connection.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: So Prince of Egypt is coming like really soon here.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're listening to this, make sure to grab some tickets, come out and join us.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we have three weekends.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: We're hoping it's gonna sell out.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_03: So buy your tickets early.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, please.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're an alum listening to this, we encourage you to come to the first weekend.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: I believe November 1st is Saturday, and we would love for you all to come join us.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're having an alumni takeover night at theater.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: So come on out, buy tickets, and see some fellow alums.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: Gonna be so cool.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: That's amazing.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_03: And then our next show, of course, at Christmas time is well, we do we do allow the students to write some short bathroom, we call them bathrobe dramas.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: So um, so there's three short uh uh things that the students have written that are like act one.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: And then act two is the best Christmas pageant ever, which is such a fun story.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's about you know, the herdmans, the kids are involved in this Christmas pageant, and things sort of kind of go wrong.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_03: Like anything that can go wrong with a Christmas pageant goes wrong.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it's beautiful because there's a story of redemption um at the end.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: So it's it's heartwarming, it's family friendly.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's great.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's great.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: And then we head to the spring back to the main stage, and we're doing a Midsummer Night's Dream.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a while since we've had Shakespeare on this on the main stage.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think maybe 2019, Much Ado About Nothing.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: So the students are so excited about this.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: Um and we're setting, we're we're being very creative with our setting.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: We're setting it in the gilded age, um, the industrial revolution.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_03: So we've also got some steampunk kind of going on there.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_03: The costumes are gonna be amazing.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, yes.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_03: That is something that I'm I'm I'm really excited about.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know much about Shakespeare other than like Romeo, Romeo nailed it.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Do they always speak like that in all of his plays?
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: Uh for the most part, yes.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, yep.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_03: But you know what?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_03: It's I always want it to be palatable for our audiences.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I make sure I'm doing my own out adaptation and I make sure that we've got music there and um sword fighting, and um, I'm just gonna make sure the audience knows exactly what's happening, no matter whether they understand the language that's being spoken out of the actor's mouth or not.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_02: Someday I've heard if you speak Shakespeare's words in a southern accent, they suddenly make sense to the modern ear.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that's something to keep in mind for the future.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: For the future, yeah, for sure.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_02: We'll set it in the summer.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Romeo.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Romeo.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's incredible.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Wherefore thou?
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: Romeo.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: Well thou are y'all.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: Nice.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_03: This is why we're not in the place.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you could be.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: That sounds that's amazing.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_03: Let's do some alumni theater.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: I'm in Southern Shakespeare.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_03: On the island.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_03: We won't be selling tickets.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_01: It could be the bonus.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you came to the the normal performance, stick around for the southern draw version.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: And then our final show, we're so excited about um 12 Angry Men.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if you've seen the movie.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_03: So we're doing um 12 Angry Men and 12 Angry Women, and we're doing it like a double casting where one night it's gonna be the 12 Angry Men and the next night it's gonna be 12 Angry Women, and we have an alumni coming back, Mitchell Geiken, to direct that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_03: So cool.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_03: We are really excited about like, you know, what that might look like for our students.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's a really great educational experience for them.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_03: But then as the audience, you get to kind of choose which night you're gonna see.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's advertised, you know, whether it's 12 Angry Men that night or 12 Angry Women, and maybe they'll like it so much they'll come back and see the other cats.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: And that's in the Patsy Miller studio.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: It is.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: So you're gonna feel like you're in the jury.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: You're part of the courtroom.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that sounds like an awesome season.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: Is that the finale then?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, that's the end of the year finale.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's gonna be great.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_03: Amazing.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_01: And can people buy season tickets if they want to come all?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_03: And they're on sale.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_03: They're still on sale.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: So yes, please, please.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: We have different packages too to meet meet your needs as a patron.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, couple last questions for you before we let you go and get back to your preparations for the big upcoming show.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: To any Northwestern theater alums who are listening right now, yeah.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: What opportunities are for them or other alums to get involved with theater?
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_03: I first of all, I just want them to come see the shows.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, not just because it's gonna be a great experience, but they're gonna see so many people in the audience that they're gonna reconnect with.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's other opportunities.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_03: I'm ex I'm excited um for them to come to that November 1st and and and reconnect as alumni.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I'm you know, I have dreams like, oh, maybe we could have door holders someday welcoming people and showing them where concessions might be or the ticket office is over here or something like that.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: Or to bring treats for the cast some night during um during a break.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um they could come and watch a performance and and bring some treats for them.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_03: So cool.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_03: And then be yeah, like a special guest that night or something.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's such a great way to get involved.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and the students love to eat.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yes.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_03: They're starving not in costume.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, not in costume, that's great.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: No, they're not allowed to do yeah, water and saltines.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's allowed.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's yeah, yeah, that's right.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this has been a blast learning about theater.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: And for you listening, I hope you are just I hope your heart is filled with joy thinking about what the theater program is all about here at Northwestern, but even also thinking about what performances are about ready to hit hit the stage here.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: So come on out, come watch some shows.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're an alum or somebody else who wants to get involved, there are ways to get involved here with theater.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: But Jennifer, thank you for taking some time out of your day to join us.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: You you seem to bring sunshine and joy everywhere you go.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: And we're so thankful that we got to have a little of that.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I'm glad you had me.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_03: I'm so excited for the season.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_03: Me too.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_04: Holding on to your promises.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_04: Holding on to your promises.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: To hear more, subscribe and leave a rating wherever you listen.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of Northwestern doing amazing things out in the world, let us know at alumni at unwsp.edu.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: The unwavering podcast, highlighting the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_04: Your love is on.