It’s not every day that a small liberal arts college becomes the first to revive an Off-Broadway musical. However, for NCC theatre students, this exact opportunity came their way. The NCC Theatre Department was the first to revive the Off-Broadway Musical, “Renascence“, since its closure Nov. 17, 2018.
The musical was written by Dick Scanlan and composed by Carmel Dean. Scanlan and Dean took the liberty of transforming the story of the famous poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay, into a musical. Each song in the show includes words from her poems. This is Scanlan’s and Deans’ way of keeping Millay’s legacy alive.
NCC’s version of the play was directed by professor Mitzi Smith, and the music was directed by David Fiorello. The play ran Feb. 16-18.
Diving into character
Since they were the first to revive the show, this left NCC actors a lot of room to dive deep into their characters. Abigail Mckenzie, ’23, shares what this opportunity was like for her and her castmates.
“This experience was so unique for us, because of the fact that there’s only been one other cast, so we were really able to make these characters our own without outside influence. There wasn’t much reference material besides the cast album to go off of; that’s what made it so fun. There was some pressure involved, but I would say the sense of pride greatly overtook any pressure we felt,” said Mckenzie.
Why this show? Why now?
Millay was quite a powerful woman whose writing is central to the play. Mckenzie, who played Millay, discusses the reasons behind this show, this character and NCC’s decision to revive it.
“The show embodies female empowerment. Not only does Vincent herself represent an empowering movement of feminism that the world always needs, but Renascence has a female composer. Female composers in the Musical Theatre world are pretty uncommon, and this show was chosen specifically to celebrate a woman’s accomplishments in that field,” said Mckenzie.
Senior send-off
For many people in the cast, it was their last show at NCC. Jake Rehling, ‘23, explains his feelings around this show being his final one.
“Renascence being my last show feels so bittersweet. As we came to the poem’s closing line in the last number, it made me realize that this was the closing chapter in my college-theatrical life. I’m proud that Renascene could be my final show here because, throughout my years here, I have been building up my artistry and getting to do such a new and barely paved show greatly challenged my artistry,” said Rehling.
Behind the scenes
During its run, the audience got to see the beauty of the perfectly put-together shows. Stage manager Nevaeh Mansur, ‘24, however, describes the process of managing a piloted performance.
“Managing Renascence was quite the beast to tackle. There was no designated path we were told to follow when coming up with blocking and telling the story, so many original ideas came into play. It was such a cool experience to be able to say that I was there from the beginning and was able to watch this show really come to life. I’m so glad I could be a part of the revival of this historical story,” said Mansur.
The heart of the show
Renascence is a show about rebirth, growth and family.
“Millay is often seen as an insignificant poet by today’s standards. However, her work is far from negligible. This show is a rebirth of her legacy to show modern audiences how gifted and important Vincent truly was,” said Mckenzie.
The show’s final number is a powerful, moving, twenty-minute number from the 6-person cast. This number shows unity with all of the characters and expresses the true meaning of trusting the process of life.
As any theatre show does, the magic within Renascence‘s poetic lines bound this cast for life.
“We were able to tell a brand new story together. We all left the process with happy hearts and proud of what we had accomplished collectively as an ensemble. Our music director told us, “I hope you feel like artists,” and I think we really did,” said Rehling.
What’s next
The NCC theatre department is constantly paving ways for its actors to freely create and express themselves through stories. The revival of Renascence has been historical for this community.
Two other shows are coming up on NCC’s agenda for the rest of the year: The Importance of Being Earnest and The Wolves.
