STORY BY SATYARTH MISHRA
Sheridan Music Theatre students are ready to perform their first musical as a degree program.
After the transition of the three-year theatre diploma program into a four-year degree program, students have more things to learn.
“It’s awesome. Now our diploma completes as four-year degree program so we don’t have to start again if we go for another theatre program,” said Reid McTavish, a student in the Music Theatre program.
Godspell will run Feb. 13-23 at Studio Theatre and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels will be performed Feb. 11-23 at Macdonald Heaslip Hall.
“This program is complete in itself, it not only helps you in acting and choreography but also makes us understand the entire theatre business,” said McTavish.
Michael Rubinoff, associate dean, Visual and Performing Arts explained that, “Sheridan hired the best professional directors for both shows, Godspell and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and students are learning amazing stuff in their company.”
According to the Theatre Sheridan brochure, “Godspell is the timeless tale of friendship, loyalty and love that has touched theatregoers all over the world. It’s a groundbreaking and unique reflection on the life of Jesus, with a message of kindness, tolerance and love.”
Ari Weinberg, who is directing Godspell at Sheridan, graduated from the college in 2006.
“It is really wonderful experience for me to come back here to Sheridan. I had such a great time when I was a student here and I loved the program,” said Weinberg.
“Students of the Music Theatre Program are so diverse, hardworking, dynamic in their talent and they are so excited to be working on the show.”
February’s other offering, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, is based on the film about a pair of con artists and series of schemes, double-crosses, and masquerades in which nothing is exactly what it seems.
Robin Calvert, 37, has been teaching theatre for 18 years and has worked on many plays. She’s been teaching at Sheridan for seven years.
“I choreographed four shows at Sheridan in the past and now I am choreographing and directing Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” said Calvert.
She explained that the musical has a “large book” and that every single student in the play has dialogue.
John MacCormac plays one of the leading characters, Laurence Jamieson, in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
The show is really fast moving and there are a lot of conmen, he explained, adding that there is a real sense of comedy because of the way it is written, with a lot of mistaken identities, sleight of hand tricks, and different accents.
“The best thing about our show is there are many different wild characters coming out of the show.”