Being involved in student theatre is a totally unique experience. I’ve done theatre in various settings throughout my life, including community theatre, high school theatre and the TND department here at F&M. Still, nothing matches the feeling of putting together a musical with nothing but a group of college students, who really care about creating the best performance they can. At F&M Players, our productions are entirely student-run, meaning every single aspect of the show, from teaching songs and dances to designing and building intricate sets, are done by F&M students: not for money or credit, but for the genuine love of theatre.
“Something Rotten” is my fifth show with F&M Players. In this production, I played Shylock, a supporting comedic role. I also served as one of three music directors who taught the show’s songs to the cast. Both of these roles were incredibly rewarding. I love the feeling of stepping onstage and getting to be unapologetically over-the-top. With such a silly show, it was so much fun playing off of the joy and laughter of the audience. That’s really what makes live theatre so powerful — the performers use the crowd’s energy to create a show that really feels alive.
Every production I’ve done in Players has a special energy that only exists with that specific group of people working on that specific show. In “Something Rotten,” there was a special camaraderie that we all shared, building each other up at every chance we had. So much positivity filled the rehearsal room; it made every person involved look forward to being there, no matter how much work it took to put together all of the complicated moving pieces of the show. Every moment we spent on this show was so rewarding, and being able to share it with the community was a wonderful culmination of our hard work.
Junior Leah Sirota is a contributing writer. Her email is lsirota@fandm.edu