“The World Goes ‘Round” Premiered

By Kiara Perez |Staff Writer|

The musical revue “The World Goes ‘Round” premiered June 2 at the Ronald E. Barnes Theatre on CSUSB campus.

Composed by John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, make up one of the most well-known Broadway duos. They met in 1962, and together they have won three Drama Desk Awards.

The Theater Arts Department has been putting together the musical revue, “The World Goes ‘Round” since the end of winter quarter.

“The World Goes ’Round”  is directed by theater arts professor Kathy Ervin, and Cassie Bartlett as stage manager.

Cast member Michael Matta said, “It’s not a regualr musicial. It’s just music, there’s no script. So, what really was intriguing was the celebration of life, just this collection of music.”

This music revue featured smash hits like “Maybe This Time,” “Cabaret” and “New York, New York,” along with many more hit songs that effortlessly blend together as an ode to life with all its hopes, dreams, highs and lows.

“I think everyone knows songs from Chiago and New York New York. And I think that’s the difference is that it has a lot of songs that everyone knows,” said vocalist and dancer in musical, Christian Larco.

“The audience would probably go out sort of humming these melodies, even the ones that maybe they’ve never heard before. The melodies are catchy. They’re infectious, in a good way,” said musical director Rick Hoglund.

Aside from the catchy melodies, there are very relatable songs.

“The song, ‘I Don’t Remember You’ relates to me because I was in a relationship with somebody and they were completely different at the end compared to the beginning. It just ended up us breaking up, so I can understand it from that point,” said Larco.

Larco continued, “My character keeps referencing things that happened in the relationship, like dancing in the park or laughter in the dark and I think a lot of people can relate to that.”

“The song ‘Marry Me’ is about trying to convince someone to like you. I feel like everyone does that. When you go on a first date you always try to get them to like you. You may be an exaggerated form of who you are,” said Larco.

To put together any theatrical performance it requires a lot of teamwork and collaboration.

“There’s a choreographer who has to coordinate with me because I’m the music guy, and we have to coordinate to the desires of the director. That three-way collaboration between musical director, choreographer, and the stage director works well,” said Hoglund.

“A stage manager’s job is to make sure everything runs smoothly…they make sure everyone is aware of the schedule, what they need to bring, where they need to be,” said stage manager Cassie Bartlett.

There is also sound design, lighting design, set design, costume design, and hair and make-up involved behind the scenes of it all.

The cast of singers, dancers, actors, and actresses are involved help bring the show to life, too. This cast was a smaller cast of majority female, the way it was originally casted by Kander and Ebb.

“It’s a lot of time management, a lot of just getting by…the good thing is we all really care about each other in the cast, in the department,” said Alexis Ermels, one of the cast members.