The Doane Theatre Department is almost ready to put on its final show of the year. “Scarlet” is this year’s musical, and there are many things about it that make it different from other shows Doane has put on before. For one, “Scarlet” started as a concept album on Spotify but has then evolved into a real staged musical.
Doane is the first institution to put on this specific show in history. Meaning all costumes, set pieces, props and acting choices are special to Doane’s personal vision of this show, given that they don’t have any previous productions to get inspiration from.
It has been a bumpy ride for this show in particular. It was originally supposed to be performed at the end of the first semester, right after “Welcome.” but due to the show being musically challenging for the majority of the actors involved, the theatre department decided to switch “Scarlet” with “I’m Gonna Marry You Tobey Maguire” (the original end-of-the-year show). This did cause a few issues within the theater as it was a large and last-minute change, and auditions for second-semester shows were then placed the day after “Welcome.” closed. Ultimately, it was the best decision for the sake of “Scarlet,” as many of the actors are now confident in the music and staging for the show.
Junior Olivia Jones plays the titular Scarlet and was asked about her experience working on a brand new musical.“It’s a little scary, I just have nothing to reference, so we’re inventing the entire show as we’re going,” Jones said. This perspective would be understandable, especially when Jones is the first person to perform this lead character, and is truly creating the standard for this role at this moment. Jones says being “the Scarlet” is a lot of fun and has been a lot of singing. She also shared that this role is vocally challenging for her. Jones believes that people should see this show for a multitude of reasons.
“The first and most obvious thing is that it’s new, like it’s never been performed before,” Jones said, adding that it’s very different from anything she has ever performed at Doane and even in high school before, as the set on which this show will take place is a new thing for her too.
Senior Katie Craig plays Mesh, Scarlet’s older sister. Craig was asked about her experience, as this will be her final show at Doane.
“It’s definitely interesting, I think that a normal musical goes through a workshop process where all of the kinks get refined and all of this other stuff, and we didn’t have that process, so it’s definitely been slightly different than your average musical,” Craig said “I’m really enjoying it, and there is something really special about knowing that I’m the first to sing these songs.” Craig gets the opportunity to play a leading role in this show as her final theatre performance at Doane.
“It feels weird. This is the only show I’ve been rehearsing all year, we’ve been rehearsing since August, and so it feels like I’ve been doing this for a long time, and it feels really surreal to think that it’s almost over, and that my time at Doane is almost over as well,” Craig said. Craig stated that there were themes in this show that made her glad it’s her last. The relationship between Craig’s character and Jones’s character is like that of two sisters who love each other but are forced to say goodbye, and it’s reminiscent of the feeling Craig has when saying goodbye to the people she has connected with at Doane.
“This is definitely the most vocally challenging role I’ve had here. I feel very glad that I have the ability to sing the songs that I do,” Craig said, “and I’ve not really struggled with the vocals a whole lot, but I definitely am getting to showcase more of my vocal ability than I ever have.” She believes everybody should come see “Scarlet” not just because it’s a world premiere, but it also has real-world applications regarding global warming, which Craig believes is a very pertinent thing to the world right now.
Senior Cody Lee Crist, actor of Sammy, Scarlet’s love interest, will also be performing “Scarlet” as his final show at Doane.
“It sounds cool, and don’t get me wrong, it is like the coolest thing ever. It really is. That being said, especially with the musical of this challenging music being able to rise to it has been an immense pressure,” Crist said. He is excited about what the cast has created of the show, considering it was just words and music on a page at first. The cast did not have tracks to listen to, so they learned the music by plucking notes on the piano and figuring it out that way. Crist says it’s been a long but fun process.
“It’s bittersweet. I actually discovered this show when I was in high school, when the concept recording was released,” Crist said. He then brought it to the faculty and, after a few attempts, got them to put the show on. “So I’ve been with this show for a lot longer than people might know.” He was also drawn to how unique the music sounded to him, and now that it’s put together, he is very excited for the show. When asked why people should see “Scarlet” and what makes it special, Crist said,
“It’s a Doane show, and Doane shows are unique in general, but for “Scarlet” specifically, this show is in a workshop period, yes, we’re doing the world premiere production of it, but this is the only chance people are gonna be able to see the show in this format. Say the show’s next steps eventually lead it to Broadway, it could be a completely different show by then because the creators will rewrite stuff and maybe change major story lines and things. Also isn’t it really cool to say you’ve seen a world premiere musical? I think that’s a pretty cool thing too.”
When actors were asked about their favorite song as of now, this is what they had to say.
“I really like “The Beach”, that one just has a very emotional moment, but I also like “Father Sun.” I don’t sing in that one, but I love to listen to it,” Jones said.
“My favorite song is called “The Beach”, it is the moment in the show where the two sisters are finally confronting each other. It’s one of the more heartbreaking parts of the show, but I really, really love the song, and I love getting to sing with Olivia,” Craig said.
“If Katie Craig sings it, she has such earworms in the show that I just cannot get out of my head. That being said, if I’m looking at a song in its entirety, it would probably be “Rout” or “I Have to Tell You”,” Crist said.
“Scarlet” has been a work in progress since August and will finally be performed later this week, April 30 through May 2. The majority of the cast is excited to show off their work to the rest of the campus and other audience members. Tickets are free for students, and the show will run for around two hours with an intermission. Seeing this show means you get to be a part of theatre history, and a lot of the theatre department is buzzing with excitement over this show’s opening.
