The World Goes’ Round

By Yesica Gonzalez I Staff Writer I

When you go around the world, you want to do it without a nail going through your foot.

“Two assistant stage managers sweep the stage every night before every rehearsal so there’s no nails or anything left on the stage, because we rehearse in the same space that we’re building,” remarked Director and Professor Kathryn Ervin.

The World Goes ‘Round musical is coming to campus but before opening day, there is much going on behind the curtains.

Rehearsals started in the beginning of the quarter in the Barnes Theater, located at the Performing Arts building.

There, students and staff will spend eight weeks practicing before the opening day on June 2.

The popular Broadway musical is currently in production with students and staff working around the clock to make it come alive. Ervin, shared how much work contributes to the production.

“In fact we started working on the production last quarter when we started working with the designers [and we had] conversations with the production team. The musical director started recording and looking at the score,” Ervin shared.

On the day of rehearsals, there is work to be done from the morning to evening.

“For eight hours during the day, from eight o’clock to four-thirty, they are building the set then [afterwords] there’s a little break and we come in at six and we start rehearsing on the set,” Ervin said.

Ian O’Neill, the scenic designer, noted that the set has been developed since winter quarter.

“It’s a several-weeks-long process of analyzing the show and finding an image that works with the director’s concept,” said O’Neill.

Ervin also shared that the composers of the musical, John Kander and Fred Ebb, are professional composers who have worked together for a long time.

Kandee and Bobb have scored other musicals such as “Cabaret” and “Chicago.”

“The music creates a different relationship with the performer on stage; when you sing it changes you—it changes how you feel about the situation,” said Ervin.

Once O’Neill creates something that goes with along the images and discussed with the director, the production begins.

“I take my model that I’ve created, this miniature set, and I break it down into pieces so that way our scenic department can go and start building it,” O’Neill explained.

When builders have questions, they go to O’Neill to fix any errors.

The entire set in the Barnes Theater, where the performers rehearse, took about ten weeks to design. Whereas the props are in development though out the quarter, but only take a couple of weeks to create.

“You effectively create a world out of nothing and that is probably the most wonderful thing about theater, creating something out of nothing,” O’Neill shared.