Music Dance Theatre Archives - BYU College of Fine Arts and Communications

A Balancing Act: “Fiddler on the Roof” Explores How Tradition and Modernity Intersect in a Changing World

Alyssa Anderson — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 19:20:26 +0000

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Broadway Star Kristin Chenoweth Emphasizes Individuality and Authenticity in Masterclass with MDT Students

Alyssa Anderson — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 16:33:25 +0000

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BFA Senior Showcase Performer Shares Her Love for the Arts and the Connection It Brings

Monica Chabot — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:07:16 +0000

Calee Gardner, a senior in the MDT program, shares how the performing arts have connected her to others and to herself Each year, graduating seniors in both the music dance theatre (MDT) and the BFA acting program audition for the BFA Senior Showcase. Those who are selected then have the opportunity to travel to New York City and audition for industry professionals, providing an invaluable link between the academic and professional world. MDT major Calee Gardner was one of 16 seniors selected to perform in this year’s showcase. For Gardner, being a performer is an integral part of her identity. “I was given the nickname Miss ‘My Life is a Musical’ by my friend years ago,” says Gardner. “I know that performing has helped me build my confidence and tune in with my vulnerability. It has helped me develop charity and empathy.” Performance has not only helped Gardner connect to herself, but it has also been an outlet that has brought her closer to others. “When you get to know a character, you understand a little more about humanity,” she said. “When you put a lot of passionate performers together, you have a recipe for a lot of life experience.” Read the full story at the Department of Theatre and Media Arts website.

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Behind the Scenes: Meet the Duo That Brought BYU’s Villainous Audrey II to Life in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

Martha Duzett — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 22:38:54 +0000

Voice actor Bronwyn Reed and puppeteer Jared Kamauu discuss the collaborative performance behind the musical’s bloodthirsty antagonist By their powers combined, music dance theatre (MDT) major Bronwyn Reed and acting pre-major Jared Kamauu created a monster — a mean, green, man-eating monster from outer space, diabolically bent on world domination. Both students were cast as Audrey II in BYU’s production of rock musical “Little Shop of Horrors,” with Reed playing the primary speaking and singing voice of the villainous plant and Kamauu stepping into the role — literally, at times — of puppeteer for all four versions of the ever-growing bloodsucker. “I wasn’t just singing, and Jared wasn’t just moving around inside a giant plant puppet,” said Reed. “We were trying to get the storyline across and really create a character. It wasn’t straightforward acting for either of us — it was a challenge, but it was a good challenge.” Though the puppets didn’t arrive until two weeks before the show opened, Kamauu attended music and scene rehearsals with Reed, mouthing along with the lines they had both memorized. In order to sell Audrey II as a living being and not merely a moving set piece, Kamauu needed to know Reed’s intonation and acting choices as well as he would if he were delivering the dialogue himself. “I needed to know how she was singing and saying her lines so that I already had an idea of Audrey II’s personality and movement before I even had the puppets,” said Kamauu. “One of the more technically challenging things was to get the articulation to where it actually looked like the plant was saying the words instead of Bronwyn on a mic backstage. I had to figure out how to move the plant naturally so it seemed alive, but also still be able to move its mouth fast enough to keep up with some very quick dialogue.” Read the full story at the Department of Theatre and Media Arts website.

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New York Showcase Opens Doors for BYU Acting and MDT Students in the Big Apple

Martha Duzett — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 21:09:10 +0000

Graduating seniors transition from academic to professional work with the help of BYU’s faculty-mentored audition showcase When it comes to the performing arts, an academic setting can only get you so far. Each student must ultimately make the leap from faculty-mentored shows and assignments to the professional world. The BYU New York Showcase helps BFA acting and Music Dance Theatre (MDT) majors navigate this challenging, but exciting, transition from campus to career. 2018 marks the 17th year in which BYU theatre faculty members have taken graduating seniors to New York City to guide and support them through their daunting first auditions and help them build a network. “The purpose of the New York Showcase is to take BFA acting and MDT students to New York to perform for and potentially meet with casting directors and agents, so that if and when they move to New York, they will have a connection already made that we help foster through the university,” explained Stephanie Breinholt, the BFA acting faculty head who works alongside MDT faculty head Tim Threlfall to put the showcase together. Students prepare throughout the fall and winter semesters leading up to the spring showcase. They take classes covering various aspects of the audition process and professional life, talk with BYU alumni who made the transition to New York and meet with agents and industry professionals. One such industry professional is casting director Rachel Hoffman, who travels to BYU every March to help students polish their material for the showcase. “The relationship we’ve fostered with Rachel Hoffman has been the single most significant development with the showcase,” said Threlfall. “Rachel is a major casting director in New York City working for the famed Telsey and Company Casting. She is our ‘sponsor’ in New York—Rachel only works with a few universities around the country on their showcase, and BYU is glad to be one of them!’ Hoffman, Threlfall and Breinholt hope to give graduating seniors an informed and realistic view of the world to come after BYU. “We work on preparing students for that transition from university life to professional or pre-graduate program auditions,” said Breinholt. “We work on their skills as a performer, but we also cover ethics, systems and business—all the things that prepare them for the outside world.” “Preparing for the showcase was incredibly daunting,” said Madison Hall, an MDT graduate who took part in the showcase this last spring and made the move to New York shortly after. “It was the culmination of everything I’d learned during my four years as a music dance theatre student. The pressure was intense.” “The best things that I did for myself to prepare was to get involved with as much as I could on and off campus,” Hall continued. “I tried to take advantage of all of the training opportunities I could while they were still available to me. I also reached out to multiple alumni asking for advice on the showcase and moving to the city.” Because auditions require performers to convey their abilities and personality in a short period of time, students prepare a three-minute package, typically consisting of two contrasting short songs or scenes. From there, the individual auditions are crafted into a cohesive show that is presented to talent agents and casting directors when the group arrives in New York. “The showcase includes musical solos, monologues, group numbers and transitions. It is a curated package for not only the students to showcase their abilities, but for BYU to showcase the caliber of talent that comes from our school,” said Breinholt. “The experience was both exhilarating and nerve-racking at the same time,” said Hall on performing for the agents. “It was hard to not let thoughts like ‘this is the most important performance of my life’ or ‘how well I do right now will literally dictate my success in the industry’ take over. I was pleasantly surprised by how kind everyone was. I felt very supported.” “The showcase is a really nice transition,” added Breinholt. “It allows students to prepare for this oftentimes very scary first performance in New York, but it also allows us to mentor and guide them through that process and introduce them to various professionals that they probably wouldn’t be meeting on their own.” After successfully making it through their first New York auditions, students in recent years have also had the chance to perform alongside BYU alumni in Broadway Sessions, a weekly cabaret frequented by Broadway patrons and industry professionals. “It is quite prestigious for BYU to be asked to join the lineup for Broadway Sessions,” said Tim Threlfall. “Most of the Broadway Sessions are performed by the cast of currently-running Broadway musicals. A few select BFA musical theatre training programs are also invited to participate.” Breinholt was able to attend Broadway Sessions this last year to cheer on her students. “The venue was not as pressurized as performing in front of the agents, so the students could sing anything that they really wanted to,” she said. “They were mainly surrounded by fellow artists and performers, and it was a nice chance to see them let go of the fear and the pressure from the more high stakes auditions. We got to see another side of the students.” “The experience was a fun way to relax and let go of the stress that had culminated from the rest of the week,” said Hall of the cabaret. “We were able to celebrate how far we had all come and reunite with BYU alumni.” For many of the students who participate in the New York Showcase, the stress of auditions pays off in a big way. “Many students had immediate callback auditions for several Broadway productions,” said Threlfall. “Several graduating seniors planning on relocating to New York City were able to sign contracts with top-tier agents to represent them for theatre, film and television work. This creates a wonderful bridge from the academic to professional world.” Hall is one such success story to come out of the program. “Without the showcase, I would not have had the opportunity to audition for so many credible theatrical and TV agents,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to sign with my current agent who has made it possible for me to get into important rooms and auditions during my first [...]

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Nauvoo Performing Missions Uplift BYU Students and Help Them Prepare for Future Careers

Mason Graham — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 18:03:16 +0000

Brendon French, Megan Holbrook, Dayne Joyner and Sarah Broyles share their experiences serving and performing in historic Nauvoo. BYU students use the summer months in a variety of ways. Some leave campus for study abroad programs and internships. Some return home to work. Others stay at BYU to take spring and summer classes. A small percentage, however, depart for Nauvoo , Illinois to serve a few months as a Nauvoo Young Performing Missionary, or YPM. YPMs live in Nauvoo for the course of the summer. Since YPMs are full-time church service missionaries, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints provides them with the same housing and resources as they do full-time proselytizing missionaries. The defining difference between YPMs and proselytizing missionaries is that YPMs are called to spend nearly all of their time preaching through the performing arts for the people visiting Nauvoo. “It gets pretty hectic,” said Brendon French, who served as a stage YPM during the summer of 2018. “There are three phases of a YPM mission. There’s the rehearsal phase, where we have rehearsals from morning until night with short breaks to eat and rest. Then we go into the regular pre-pageant summer swing. Once the pageants start, we stick the pageant performances onto the end of our day and do rehearsals in the morning before the day’s performances start.” “It’s pretty draining,” said Dayne Joyner, a BYU student who has served as a YPM twice. “It’s really important to take care of yourself physically and emotionally so you can withstand the trials and the long days.” The constant workload isn’t exclusive to the stage missionaries, who are called to act, sing and dance onstage during the shows. The tech missionaries, who help prepare and maintain the sets, run sound and lights during shows and assist with programming. Band missionaries play in daily concerts, perform on a traveling bandwagon and accompany the stage and tech missionaries in other shows. “It’s pretty rigorous, just for different reasons,” said Megan Holbrook, who has served as a band missionary twice. “When you’re playing instruments, your mouth can only do so much. We would practice and perform all day long.” Tech missionaries have to deal with their own unique struggles as well, performing in a number of shows in addition to routine technical duties. Sarah Broyles, who served as a tech missionary this last year, said: “It can be really demanding running around from show to show. I struggled at thebeginning with finding my purpose as a missionary. I never had time to talk to people, I never really had time with the missionaries and that was so hard for me. How am I supposed to serve the Lord if I can’t serve the people?” Though the YPMs are honest about the specific struggles and strains the mission put them through, they’re also emphatic about thedservice they provide to others and the blessings they received while volunteering. “While the rehearsals and the performances were intense and rigorous, the experience really helped me prepare for my career,” said Joyner. “A lot of performances and theatre companies give you short rehearsal times and expect you to be on your game, on your mark, with little time to spare. I attribute a lot to Nauvoo. It helped improve my talents and helped me in a different way than I expected.” “One of the unique things about the relationships you develop is that they actually last,” added French. “There hasn’t been a day that we haven’t talked and chatted and just caught up. We see each other on campus and we call each other and we text.” Broyles said, “I learned to love those I served with. I love every single one of the missionaries because we spend all of our time together. It creates this family unit,and it’s amazing.” “If anyone’s ever thinking about auditioning, just do it,” said French. “The Lord will use you where he wants to, but you have to make yourself available. The worst that will happen is the Lord has a different plan for you, and that’s not even a bad thing. That’s a good thing.” The call process begins with auditions, which open each year from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30, for the following summer. More information about the program itself and applications can be found online on the Historic Nauvoo website.

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Tony Award-Winners Work with Students at BYU

Rebecca Sumsion — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 19:47:12 +0000

Jason Robert Brown and Kelli O’Hara spent time working with students while at BYU The BRAVO! Professional Performing Arts series does more than just bring world-renowned artists to perform at BYU. When possible, the series also provides opportunities for students to work one-on-one with the guest artists. Broadway star Kelli O’Hara and composer Jason Robert Brown visited BYU this last December to perform to a sold-out audience. The two Tony Award winners held separate workshops to interact with students in addition to their performance. Brown held a forum for music composition and theatre majors where he discussed the power music has in telling a story. He emphasized the importance of knowing who the characters are, what’s happening in the story and understanding what styles exist and when to use them. Brown also talked about two important elements of musical theatre composition: containment and repetition. “The composer of a musical has to constantly negotiate between the sheer musical pleasure the audience and the composer desires, and the basic storytelling that the audience is following,” Brown said. “Containment and repetition. Those are the guideposts the composer uses to help thread that needle.” To composers, Brown addressed the challenge of finding a balance between producing music the world wants to hear and music that the composer wants to produce. Or as Brown put it, “How I can speak my language but still reach people and feel authentic.” Brown also instructed students to pick good material for auditions. He demonstrated one of his compositions as an example of how music can help in storytelling. Music Dance Theatre (MDT) student Caleb Jenson and Theatre student Madison Dennis both enjoyed Brown’s instruction on what makes good material. “He validated this idea that the material we pick is very important,” Jenson said. “It’s stepping outside and finding what music resonates with you as an actor,” Dennis said. “Learning how Jason Robert Brown thinks about creating music for a show can inform an actor’s choices and make our performance more full and honest. O’Hara held a separate workshop where she worked one-on-one with MDT students. At the beginning of the workshop, O’Hara expressed “we’re all here to be better and work harder and to learn things.” Several students performed solos and duets for O’Hara. She focused on helping students find truth in the character they portrayed. O’Hara praised MDT student Tierney Bent’s stage presence but worked with her to find the emotion behind her song. When Bent made an emotional connection while working with O’Hara, O’Hara noted, “That’s beautiful because that’s truth. Now your job is to have all that truth and then have complete control of your mechanism, or your instrument. You can sing this however you want to sing this, you don’t have to scream it. You can have control of your technical voice while you’re letting your heart run wild. It will happen.” Jenson was appreciative for the experience to hear from industry experts. “They can help you know where to focus and where to put your effort and energy,” Jenson said. “Often times we work really hard but sometimes it’s for the wrong reasons or we’re filing our energy into things that aren’t going to help us to grow. Having someone from the industry come to BYU helps you focus or look at something this way and it can aid you.” “Having a completely new set of eyes and ears outside of our own bubble in a field we’re going into by someone who’s working there right now — the benefits are endless,” Dennis said.

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Renée Elise Goldsberry Stressed Individuality and God During Student Workshop

Rebecca Sumsion — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 22:29:22 +0000

Goldsberry shared experiences that have shaped her performing career The BRAVO! Professional Performing Arts series does more than bring world-renowned artists to BYU’s stage. A key mission of the BRAVO! series is to set up experiences where the artists can work directly with students. “Connecting our students with visiting professional guest artists through workshops, master classes and collaborative performances is a significant priority of the professional presenting program at BYU,” said BRAVO! Producer Jeffrey Martin. “These interactions greatly enhance the principles being taught in the classroom and create some of the most memorable experiences for our students during their entire time here at the university.” During Renée Elise Goldsberry’s visit to BYU she participated in a workshop with Music Dance Theatre (MDT) students. Faculty and students were expecting to host a typical workshop where Goldsberry worked with students on their singing and acting. Instead, Goldsberry decided to change the experience to reflect an audition atmosphere. The students who performed were sent out into the hall then called in individually and asked to perform. MDT student Daniel Wallentine, who was chosen to perform for Goldsberry, said it was a shock when Goldsberry changed the workshop to an audition workshop, but he thought it benefitted the students. “I think it was a helpful experience for her to say ‘we’re going to shake things up,’” Wallentine said. “It’s great to work one-on-one and improve technique, but in a real audition you get one chance to perform and then you’re done. So it was neat to have more of an experience like that.” MDT student Libby Lloyd performed for Goldsberry first. Lloyd said she was nervous and didn’t know what to expect but had a great experience. “Renée created a positive environment and a safe place,” Lloyd said. “It didn’t feel like she was judging me poorly. It felt like, if anything, she was writing down things she could help me with. She wanted the workshop to be productive.” One of the biggest takeaways for Wallentine and Lloyd was Goldsberry’s emphasis on allowing personality to come through in their auditions. Goldsberry recounted an audition where she read the wrong lines and did things the wrong way, but let her personality come through. In the end, she received the part because the casting directors saw her true personality, which matched that of the character. “I feel like she was really good at fostering an environment where individuality was praised and accepted,” Wallentine said. “I think, especially in this industry, the push for conformity can feel really strong. Everybody wants to be the highest belter, or the best dancer or whatever it is. I really appreciated the fact that she stressed individuality, personality and a kind of non-conformity.” Goldsberry also shared her own experiences relying on God in her Broadway career. Wallentine paraphrased Goldsberry’s words, “You cannot survive in an audition or performance if you’re confused about which part is your strength and which part is God’s strength. Don’t confuse the two.” Lloyd recounted Goldsberry commenting on how refreshing it was that she could talk about God at BYU. Goldsberry talked about her first Broadway role as Nala in “The Lion King,” and her feelings of inadequacy in the role. “She said her prayers at first were ‘Oh dear God, I’m having a hard time, help me through this,” Lloyd said. “She felt the biggest change in her performance when she changed her prayers to ‘God, I need you to defend me.’ Her view of how he was on her side changed, and it gave her the confidence to do what she needed to do.” Goldsberry’s remarks about God rang true for Wallentine. Wallentine started at BYU as a pre-med student but felt strongly that he should look into performing arts and eventually auditioned for and was accepted into the MDT program. “I really appreciated that she was in no way hesitant to talk about faith in God, the importance of having a relationship with God and how vital that is to the success of a performer,” Wallentine said. Wallentine said he has times where he feels discouraged because he didn’t grow up dancing and singing like several of the MDT students. “Listening to Renée talk about the importance of a relationship with God reaffirmed to me that I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have such intense promptings to be here,” Wallentine said. “Looking forward, it reaffirmed the importance of keeping my relationship with God a priority.

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‘Beauty and the Beast’ Cast Shines During Hawaii Festival

Jeff Langford — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 23:20:55 +0000

The stars of BYU’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast maintained their luster during the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF) hosted in Hawaii bringing home multiple awards. “We really, really showed well,” said George Nelson, director of the tale as old as time. “I was proud. All of our kids supported everybody else, going to all the different shows they were in and were so involved in the festival.” Both the actor who played the Beast and the actress who played Beauty had great achievements. Johnny Wilson won the regional Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship, tallying on the third year for BYU’s winning streak of the award. He also won the Classical Acting Award alongside his partner, Morgan Gunter, who won the Best Partner Award. Twyla Wilson was a popular sensation in the ’10 Minute Theatre Show.’ “She was the most popular actress in terms of everyone wanting to cast her in their show.” Nelson said. The magic continued as Alana Jeffreys (Mrs. Potts) made an impact as an Irene Ryan finalist with her partner Mackenzie Larsen. Kasey Kopp, the dramaturge for the play, received the regional award for best dramaturgy. On top of the success, all of the cast members were selected out of the 100 people to participate in a new musical theatre initiative created at the festival. Cast members including Twyla and Johnny Wilson, Cooper Campbell and Alana Jeffrey, performed two scenes met with high praise: Gaston’s stilt act with Belle and the Tale as Old as Time dance. “They stopped the show. There were only 13 scenes invited to perform around the country,” Nielson said. “The overseer of the KCACTF said ‘We see BYU as the standard.’” This talented cast will rejoin BYU’s MDT (Music Dance Theatre) program to perform the Broadway Revue tonight and tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. PHOTO ABOVE, left to right: George Nelson, Mary Karahnakian, Kooper Campbell, Alana Jeffery, Mackenzie Larsen, Stephanie Breinholt, Jasmine Fullmer, Twyla Wilson, Johnny Wilson, Morgan Hunter, Kasey Kopp, Braquel Egginton, Janine Sobeck, Taylor Hatch.

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BYU stages Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 01:57:31 +0000

The BYU Department of Theatre and Media Arts and interdisciplinary Music Dance Theatre program will present the BYU premiere of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in the Pardoe Theater of the Harris Fine Arts Center, at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 19-21, 27-28, Dec. 1-5 and 8-10, with matinees on Nov. 21, 28 and Dec. 5 at 2 p.m. An ASL performance will be presented on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25, with discounts available for alumni, senior citizens, students, employees and groups. Tickets can be purchased in person at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone at 801-422-2981 or online at byuarts.com. This beloved musical tells the classic story of Belle, a provincial girl who falls in love with the cursed, monstrous prince who imprisons her father. Based on the Oscar award-winning Disney movie, this musical is a parable about looking upon a person’s heart rather than the outward appearance. Director George Nelson is excited to present this enchanting “tale as old as time” to the community because he believes this fairytale is an allegory for the redemption of the fallen nature in the heart of every human being. “This tale is universal because of the truths it reveals,” said Nelson. “Our retelling hopefully combines the magic of this amazing musical with the reality of the powerful influence for good real, selfless love can have on the human heart.” Based on Linda Woolverton’s book, the music is by Alan Menken, with lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Other production members include Mark Johnson as musical director, Becky Phillips as choreographer, Lindsi Neilson as production stage manager, Benjamin Sanders as scenic and lighting designer, Shannon McCurdy as costume designer, Valeri Day as makeup hair designer, Taylor Glad as sound designer, Lizzie Mickelson as properties designer, Travis Coyne as technical director, Kasey Kopp as dramaturge and Theron Christensen as illusionist. Cast members include Johnny Wilson as the Beast, Twyla Wilson as Belle, Kooper Campbell as Gaston, Alana Jeffery as Mrs. Potts, Woody White as Lumiere, Scott Whipple as Cogsworth, Joseph Swain as Maurice, Tricia Zuskind as Chip, Cherie Kaufman as Madame De La Grande Bouche, Devin Neilson as Le Fou, Tierney Bent as Babette, Elsa Hodder as enchantress and Alex Hasse as Rug.

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