The Clark State Theatre Arts Program will deliver an epic production with a cast of more than 30, 20 professional artists and a live orchestra to bring “Something Rotten!” to the Clark State Performing Arts Center at 8 p.m. Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9, and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 10.
Tickets are available for all performances.
Show producer Theresa Lauricella and Troy Berry, who is co-directing with Josh Compston, wanted to give the Theatre Arts Program’s post-pandemic comeback a grand feel and “Something Rotten!” fit that vision. Lauricella said it’s like the beginning of a new era, a Renaissance for the program, if you will.
“ ‘Something Rotten!’ is a big show with characters that are big and fills the Kuss Auditorium, a perfect show to be coming back with after a two-year hiatus from live performances,” Berry said. “It has it all – tragedy, comedy, a tragic attempt at comedy – audiences will be rolling in their seats.”
The cast has Clark State students, alumni, staff and community members, some traveling from Columbus, Cincinnati and Miamisburg to perform.
“The cast blended well throughout the rehearsal process. All of these characters are bigger than life and it’s brought out a lot of the actors’ goofy sides,” said Berry. “For this show, I tell them every night that if they don’t feel absolutely ridiculous onstage, then they’re not doing it right.”
The wait to do live theater again hasn’t been easy and the program didn’t idle, focusing on learning new skills to create live theater virtually according to Lauricella. It wasn’t the same as being in the same room with an audience, but gave the experience of storytelling in a live environment.
She admitted there were event doubts for “Something Rotten!” to happen, so for every show the program has presented since fall 2020, they’ve prepped multiple shows at once, first planning for live and then retreating back as the cases picked up.
“But like we’d been doing, we kept inching forward,” Lauricella said.
Auditions were in person, although masked and socially-distanced, unlike any previous and streamlined. The interim brought things like improved virtual communication and a virtual green room was created for rehearsals and allows for conversations outside of rehearsals, creating further bonding.
“Even in our strict organization, there was a buzz of excitement within the production team and actors and we knew we had virtual options to fall back on if we needed them and we did,” said Lauricella.
The first rehearsal was virtual, not due to COVID, but weather. And that was the only one and the buzz still permeated the group, Lauricella said.
Berry was in a show that was supposed to open in March 2020 and canceled three weeks before opening and it still stings him. Understandably, he didn’t want to experience that again, staying cautiously excited about this.
“Things have gone in the right direction this time and I couldn’t be more pleased,” he said. “This is an amazing group of performers and crew and we all made it through everything wearing masks and social distancing and it will all pay off for audiences.”
HOW TO GO
What: “Something Rotten!”
Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Ave., Springfield
When: 8 p.m. Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9; 2 p.m. Sunday, April 10
Admission: $19.90
More info: www.facebook.com/clarkstatetheatre/
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