OCU STRIPPED announced its season’s first production theme and date.
The STRIPPED production, “Reclaiming and Reinventing: A Night to Challenge Type,” is a part of their performance project series, a collection of in-person and prerecorded showcases taking the place of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music spotlight series.
Meghan Rooney, music theater senior and STRIPPED co-director, said the School of Music asked the STRIPPED team to be the virtual performance study option over the summer, and the members of STRIPPED spoke to Dr. David Herendeen, director of opera and music theater, about what they could do.
“We were kind of left to do whatever we want for the performance study. Dr. H told us what he was doing, and we were wondering what would be most helpful for students here. We talked about type a little bit and how it’s easy in a collegiate setting to have one idea of yourself or play one type of role,” Rooney said “We wanted to give people an opportunity to play something else that is in their wheelhouse, but not what they generally get to play.”
Rooney said the team decided to split the production into two parts: reinventing modern theater and reclaiming Golden Age musical theater. Rooney is directing the latter section.
“Over the summer, I was working on a masterclass and got a note to reclaim my song. And I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I’m obsessed with that.’ And then I kept taking ingenue songs this summer and giving them their humanity back,” Rooney said. “Because I feel like often times the humanity of these women gets stripped away and play the coyness and the ‘wink wink’ of these Golden Age characters. When you take that out, I think the lyrics stand for themselves and create a more impactful performance.”
Rooney said she was hesitant about the theme but realized there was demand for re-examining Golden Age material during the audition process.
“From the two-minute excerpts that everyone had to submit along with their videos, a lot of people were talking about how they love the revival of ‘Oklahoma’ and when they take Golden Age material and flip it on their head,” Rooney said “We were like, ‘wait, maybe people do want to do this,’ and that is when we had our confirmation to go ahead with the idea.”
Rooney said the performance will be filmed and edited together for a YouTube premiere on Oct. 2. She said the production was originally going to go up on Sept. 25 but was pushed back a week to give the performers time to perfect their acts after their first scheduled recording session.
“We gave every person 30-minute time slots to do their two group numbers. It was just so packed. We were stressed. They were stressed,” Rooney said, “We spent more time fixing notes than we did with individual people because we had never heard them sing in person.”
Rooney said the School of Music gave the team permission to add a week of filming, which allows for more polish.
Simón Gómez Villegas, music theater/composition senior and STRIPPED co-director, said his section of the production is centered around re-imagining modern theater.
“The weekend before we started rehearsals, Meghan had already come in with the idea for reclaiming Golden Age stuff, and I was completely blank. I just wanted authentic actors,” Gómez said. “And when I realized Meghan had honed in on Golden Age material, I figured I can hone in on contemporary music and find ways to reinvent these contemporary songs, whether that’s through gender bent songs or challenging stereotypes.”
Gómez said the industry’s current stereotypes about gender and archetype are limiting.
“Watching the auditions, I kind of realized that anyone could honestly play most roles if they walk in an audition room with an intention and purpose for being seen for that role. If you walk in and you are initially seen as a gay best friend or a sidekick just because of the way you look or the way you talk, you have to do something about that, or they will box you in,” Gómez said. “If you do the work and show up intentionally and specifically with what you have in mind, I think that comes through more than anything.”
Hunter Semrau, music theater junior, is performing in Gómez’s section of the production. He said the process has introduced him to material he never considered before.
“I am performing a gender bent version of ‘Always Starting Over’ from ‘If/Then,’ and I am so happy I have the opportunity to do this. I legitimately think this might be the best song I’ve ever sung. It fits so perfectly in my voice, and I will be doing it for the rest of my life,” Semrau said.
Semrau said working with Rooney and Gómez has been an excellent experience of artistic exploration.
“There’s just been so much dialogue making sure everybody feels happy and safe in rehearsal,” Semrau said.
Rooney said “Reclaiming and Reinventing: A Night to Challenge Type” will stream at 8 p.m. Oct. 2 on YouTube. Students can follow STRIPPED via their Facebook or Instagram.
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