Kateri Duffey ‘11
As a fan of theater, I was entirely engrossed in Brien McMahon’s mash up of Broadway shows in “Way Off Broadway”.
I attended the Friday night show which drew a crowd, all of whom walked out with smiles.
The night was comprised of four popular Broadway shows, which appealed to a variety of tastes. With narrations in between songs, the audience was able to understand the premises of all four shows.
The astonishing voices on stage as well as the enchanting music of the orchestra was amplified by a lack of scenery. The special effects, lighting, and fog added all the visual stimulation needed. Julia Gallagher (‘11), starring as Elphaba in “Wicked,” displayed the most enchanting and high tech visual effect when she rose above the crowd and flew.
It was hard not to sing along to “Seasons of Love” the show’s opener from “Rent”. The audience was entirely captured by the performance of the drug addict Mimi Marquez, played by Allie Meikle (’11), and her love interest Roger Davis, played by Chris Holomakoff (’12).
“Les Miserables” was the second Broadway show. This show engaged the attention of the audience with every moving performance by Kathry Junqueira (‘11), Coulter Davis (‘11), Olivia Rotante (‘11), Stefan Bruski (‘11), Anthony DiTaranto (‘11), Pavlina Shriel (‘12), and McMahon’s very own Frank Arcari.
