Remember Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the Philly actor who won an Oscar for her performance in “The Holdovers”?
If you had been on Temple’s campus many years ago, you could have seen her starring as the witch in the university’s theater production of “Into The Woods”.
Yes, Philadelphia has a vibrant theater scene. Backing it up is a thriving and talented bench of college student actors, directors, set designers, costumers and lighting pros. Some will make headlines on Broadway, Hollywood or in Philly, but most simply enjoy being part of a show.
As spring semesters draw to a close, take yourself to a nearby campus and settle in for some theater – college-student style.
“You can say you knew them when,” laughed Jason Lindner, who has a dual role in the city’s theater community. He’s both associate director of marketing communication for Temple University’s School of Theater, Film and Media Arts and board chair of Theatre Philadelphia, the theater community’s umbrella marketing organization.
“Many of the student performances I have seen I would put up against any professional productions in Philadelphia or beyond. Certain productions are as good as anything I’ve seen anywhere,” Lindner said.
One student you won’t get to see in Temple’s sold-out upcoming production of “Mystic Rapture” is senior Jasmine Pearl Villaroel, who performed in several earlier student productions including “Xanadu”, “Once on This Island” and “Head Over Heels”. That’s because she’s already on Broadway as part of the cast of “The Great Gatsby”, somehow managing to balance it with her courseload in Philly.
Randolph, who will soon be all over the movies with key roles in “Shadow Force,” “Eternity” and “Bride Hard”, had her turn on Temple’s stages in 2007.
Campus theater productions fall into two broad categories – pre-professional and amateur, although lines often blur.
At Temple, where students major in the performing arts, productions showcase future professionals who fully intend (or at least hope) to make drama their life’s work.
Talented, and passionate, amateurs
Most other schools in the region stage shows by enthusiastic and passionate amateurs. They’ll go on to be bankers, lawyers, teachers and doctors. But, in the meantime, they love to perform. Besides theater groups, campuses offer excellent performances in music and dance.
“We have a lot of students who don’t major in performing arts, but have a passion for it,” said Laurie McCall, director of the Platt Student Performing Arts House, which coordinates rehearsal, performance, technical and marketing support for groups at the University of Pennsylvania. She said about 1,400 Penn students participate in 70 performing arts groups.
On the academic side, there are strong connections between Philly’s college and professional theater communities.
For example, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames, now directing August Wilson’s ”King Hedley II” at the Arden Theatre Co., teaches theater at Villanova University.
Ijames won his Pulitzer for his play, “Fat Ham”. Amina Robinson, a theater professor at Temple University, directed it at the Wilma Theater. Pig Iron Theatre Company, with an international reputation for physical theater, is now based at Rowan University.
On campus, “audiences will have the ability to see shows produced on a very high level,” Lindner said. “Universities have access to a [bigger] budget that smaller theaters may not have.”
Also, “the burden of ticket sales is off our shoulders,” he said. “Tickets are not where we get our prime funding and because of that,” there are opportunities to do more experimental work with larger casts who don’t have to be paid, because their work is part of their schooling.
“Larger productions character-wise are desirable because we want as many students as possible to be able to participate,” he said.
A full slate of local university productions
About 20 Temple students will be participating in “Mystic Rapture”. A cohort of graduate playwrights, composers and directors collaborate to create a fully-staged, original musical in a program supported by a legacy gift from Joy Valderrama Abbott, wife of the late George Abbott. He produced, directed and wrote more than 100 Broadway shows, including “Damn Yankees” and “The Pajama Game”.
Another collaboration, “Goblin Market”, closed March 22.
Temple has its share of amateur, just-for-fun theater groups, including Insomnia Theater, an exhausting and exhilarating 24-hour effort in which playwrights write through the night, handing a script over to directors by dawn. The directors have all day to cast and rehearse the work before a once-and-done evening performance.
At Penn, there’s still time to catch final performances of “Once Upon a Crime in Hollywood”, offered through March 28 by The Mask and Wig Club, Penn’s storied 146-year-old musical comedy theater group. The club performs at its own clubhouse on Quince Street in Center City.
But, if you’d rather walk among the flowering trees on Penn’s campus, Front Row Theatre Co. will present “The Wolves” in Houston Hall and the Penn Singers will stage “Sundays in the Park with George” at the Harold Prince Theatre. Many more of Penn’s performing arts groups will be staging shows throughout April.
Whatever you choose, McCall promises a wonderful, and different, theater experience.
“If you are a very serious theatergoer and you just want to hear the performance, you may be disappointed,” she warned, laughing. That’s because, she explained, the audience tends to get raucous, shouting encouragement to their friends and fellow classmates on stage.
“The mood is elevated and high energy and by the end of the performance, everybody’s used to it,” she said. “It’ll be a lot of youthful energy that is fully contagious.”
Here’s a smattering of what’s playing on college stages, with most performances happening in early through mid-April. Ticket prices vary, but students, staff and alum generally get discounts.
University of Pennsylvania: The storied Mask and Wig Club performs “Once Upon a Crime” at its Center City clubhouse, 310 S. Quince St., through March 28. Between now and the end of the semester, student groups offer many shows including “The Wolves” by the Front Row Theatre Company, “Sunday in the Park with George” from the Penn Singers, “9 to 5: The Musical” from Quadramics, “Marie Antoinette” from the Penn Players, and “Richard II” from iNtuitons Experimental Theatre. Follow this link and click below the box on the right for an overview, then this link to get the performance details, and finally, scroll down this link to find out some background about the various groups.
Muhlenberg College: One of the region’s best theatrical training academies is just outside the region, in Allentown, where its talented students will present “The Desire Project”, a new adaptation of “The Convent of Pleasure” by Margaret Cavendish, April 3-6.
Rowan University: There’s trouble in River City, or at least in Glassboro, at Rowan University’s Tohill Theater, where “The Music Man” is on tap, April 3-6.
Villanova University: Everyone’s wish is granted, with complications, in “Into The Woods”, at Villanova’s John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts, April 3-13.
Eastern University: Some amphibians hopped into McInnis Theatre at the university’s St. Davids campus for “A Year with Frog & Toad”, April 4-6.
La Salle University: Do you hate musicals? So does Paul, a regular guy, and the lead character in “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals”, from La Salle’s student theater group, The Masque of La Salle, at the university’s Dan Rodden Theater in Philadelphia, April 4-12.
Temple University: A runaway to a traveling side show faces some challenges in “Mystic Rapture”, a new musical created by Temple’s theater department, Randall Theater, April 25 and 27.Drexel University: Water and toilets may be scarce in “Urinetown: The Musical”, but fun will be abundant in this student performance at Drexel’s Mandell Theater, May 10-17.
