Georgia Rhodes
The State News
After almost six months of rehearsal and less than a week until opening night, the MSU Department of Theatre is putting the finishing touches on "Babes in Arms," its version of the classic "Let's put on a Show!" musical.
The production features the original Broadway choreography of two-time Tony Award nominee Randy Skinner and the guest direction of Greg Ganakas, an award-winning Broadway director, choreographer and founder of the renowned musical theater program at New York University.
"They were really, really impressive to me," Ganakas said of his cast. "You know, the audience will tell, but they have worked so hard. That's all I can say."
Working with Ganakas has been a positive educational experience, said Miranda Wigginton, a theater senior and assistant stage director for the show.
"It's interesting getting thrown in with someone you've never met before and then having to learn how they work," Wigginton said.
For cast member and theater senior Annie Moss, having Ganakas' stage direction has been a refreshing break from the routine of MSU theater productions.
"You just get so used to working with the same directors that you get into a groove," she said. "We basically know how (the rehearsals) are gonna go and what they want, so it's nice to have (Ganakas') unpredictability."
But Wigginton said there are challenges of working with a Broadway director. Ganakas said he was absent for a majority of rehearsals as he was working on professional productions.
Meanwhile, students encouraged one another to maintain the level of professionalism that Ganakas expected on stage.
Although it was a collaborative effort between the cast and crew, it was Matthew Karr, a second-year theater graduate student and stage manager of "Babes in Arms" who best filled Ganakas' shoes.
"Matt did a great job keeping it going and making sure everything was run well," Wigginton said. "(He was) the stage manager, the director, or assistant director, and also Greg's assistant. It was a lot to handle, but we got through it."
But Karr wasn't the only student filling big shoes. Theater sophomore Kellyn Uhl, a cast member and dance captain, learned Skinner's original Broadway choreography and taught it to the cast. Before she could teach the choreography to the tap-intensive musical, however, she first had to teach cast members the basics of tap dancing.
"Some of us knew how (to tap)," Uhl said. "But obviously, most of them didn't … We just had to really push them, and a few of them obviously struggled because it's very difficult, but they went out of their way (to learn)."
After the show was cast, the first three months were dedicated to learning the choreography.
"All of them can do it, so it's really cool," Uhl said.