by Lola Furbee
Yet another North Central College Theatre Department production has concluded on campus. In collaboration with Porchlight Music Theatre from Chicago, Broadway By The Decade served as the Department’s second show of the semester. The show was housed in Madden Theatre, under the direction of Lorenzo Rush Jr. and the music direction of Michael Oldham. Much as the title of the show would suggest, Broadway By The Decade was a revue of sorts, with its actors reciting the history of and singing songs of Broadway throughout the decades. Starting in the 1920s and progressing all the way to the 2020s, this was truly a performance for all of the fervent musical theatre fans out there.
Broadway was made up of a stellar ensemble cast: Lily Barger, Sara Bendel, Marisa Blomberg, Carleanne Cagampang, Madeline Cuttle, Joie Fagaragan, Marina Jòkanović, Jake Keller, Mariella Santoro, Daniel Sarmiento, and Emma Schmalz. Each cast member had various solo pieces throughout the show, and served as ensemble voices for their fellow castmates. Enough compliments cannot be said about the talent of each and every member of this cast. Once the performance began, it quickly became clear that each member was cast in Broadway for a reason. Whether it was the smooth, melodic songs fit for Blomberg’s voice, or the upbeat, comedic moments fit for Keller, this ensemble was able to perfectly capture the endless musical styles of Broadway.
Going along with the masterful voices of the cast, Michael Oldham’s music direction was equally as impeccable. Oldham himself was on stage for the entirety of the ninety-minute performance, playing the piano live for all the actors’ songs. Along with this accompaniment, he could also be seen lightly playing in the background while the cast was reciting the history of Broadway to the audience. There was an especially endearing moment during the performance when Santoro and Sarmiento were singing “The Song That Goes Like This” from Spamalot, where the lyrics allowed the two actors to poke fun at Oldham for constantly raising the key of the song. It was times like this, though, that made it clear that the cast and Oldham had not only spent a lot of time working together, but also formed a tight-knit connection that comes with working with an accompanist for a long period of time.
A specific, and unique, design aspect that was featured in Broadway By The Decade was the projections. A simple projector screen was framed upstage of the performance space, backed by a red curtain. Designed by Michael Weber and Porchlight Music Theatre, the projections played a key part in the show–changing throughout to reflect whatever was occurring on the stage. When the actors were delivering their lines on the history of Broadway, the projections offered a helpful visual of the shows and playwrights they were describing. The projections also featured the playbills of the shows from which each cast member was singing, changing on a song-by-song basis. The most compelling moment in which the projections were used was highlighted right at the beginning of the show. Once the lights dimmed, the projector turned on to play a five-minute montage video, picturing (again, quite literally) Broadway by the decade. The video featured performance clips from countless Broadway shows and played a music compilation from some of the best scores to grace a Broadway stage. Needless to say, while not often a common element in a theatrical show, the projections were pivotal to this distinctive production.
As one of those aforementioned fervent musical theatre fans, I feel obligated to say that Broadway felt like a performance perfectly tailored to me. Even before the show started, when I first sat down in my seat and opened the program to see what I was in for, I knew that I was going to be thoroughly enjoying the next ninety minutes of my time spent in that theatre. I became eager to hear this remarkable cast sing a particular set of songs that were listed, and I was even more excited to see how the performance would flow together. I was instantly enthralled by the projected theatre montage at the start of the show, and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the several history lessons of this industry that I fell in love with so long ago.
As previously stated, every performer on the stage held an unbelievable amount of talent. That said, there were two cast members in particular that really blew it out of the water. Lily Barger and Daniel Sarmiento were both featured on multiple songs, and rightfully so. Barger flawlessly captured the dramatic distastefulness of Miss Hannigan in her rendition of “Little Girls,” and I can honestly say I felt a chill in the room following her performance of “On My Own” from Les Misérables. Sarmiento, on the other hand, sang a plethora of musical genres seen on Broadway, though I feel he thrived the most during his staging of “She Loves Me.” His comedic timing was spot on, while also managing to express the wonderful romanticism of the lyrics. As I see it, Barger and Sarmiento were the standouts in an already downright exceptional cast.
To sum up my thoughts in one sentence, Broadway By The Decade healed my musical theatre loving heart. The actors’ brilliant voices highlighted these extraordinary songs, and the live accompaniment made the show feel especially intimate. Watching performances from some of my personal favorite musicals, like Spring Awakening and Into the Woods was so compelling, and as someone who could write essays on my appreciation for Merrily We Roll Along, it felt so special when the performance concluded with the cast singing “Our Time” together. Every moment of Broadway By The Decade was an encapsulation of my devotion to musical theatre, and it was so nice to be reminded of it on the campus of North Central College.
