One of my favorite classes this semester is called Survey of Theater & Drama. The class tracks the development of theater from ancient religious rituals to theater in the 21st Century. As part of the class, we are studying the origins of the American musical. One of the musicals that we are looking at is George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin’s 1935 musical Porgy and Bess.
The Annual Fall Show organized by the Yale College Council came with all its excitement: the frenzy, the tickets, and of course, the celebrity comedian Bo Burnham. “The Last Comic Standing” had been held a week before in order to determine which Yale comedian would pre-stage Bo Burnham, and that too had been a fun-filled evening. In a room full of excited Yalies, the comics brought their best jokes, engaging their audience with their applicability and knack for making the most ordinary of situations extremely funny!
On Wednesday, my class of 16 went into New York to meet Stephen Sondheim. Wearing his typically avuncular sweaters, he sat in front of us as he casually discussed his philosophy on lyric writing and music composition. We had been nervous with anticipation all morning on the train ride to the city, daring each other to tell him about our new idea to cast Sweeney Todd with muppet characters, or refer to him as "Uncle Steve" as an expression of our admiration.
Since when did my homework assignments turn into required meetings with celebrities?
I waited for the audience to file in, nervously moving the sound mixer up and down to calm my jitters. I didn't have my stage manager that night, so I was learning how to balance the sound that night.
"Josh, do you think all of the light cues are ok," I asked, turning to my producer. He laughed again, because I had asked him that four times that night already.
Fifteen minutes later, the fire speech ended, the lights dimmed and the culmination of my semester's work began.
