The production of 42nd Street provided a throwback for the audience as they followed the experience of an actor on Broadway in the 1930’s.
Through the performance we meet main character Peggy Sawyer played by senior Kallie Lindquist as she travels from Pennsylvania to New York for an audition with Julian Marsh to perform on his Broadway show. Along the way she has to overcome multiple obstacles.
Lindquist was perfect for this role as her personality and drive to succeed matched the characters. All aspects of the broadway show dancing by Lindquist were some of the best I’ve seen, such as the tap dancing.
As Dorothy Brock, senior Sharlan Skrupa had multiple solos and grand stage entrances which well represented her character’s arrogant and confident personality while also showing Skurpa’s own talents.
Julian Marsh was played by Senior Colin McMahon, who has played a main lead role in the past four musicals and wants to continue his acting career in New York. His character of Marsh provided a dark and more serious perspective to the musical by using a deeper voice and wearing a black suit to present an authority figure.
Senior Aidan Clarys played the charming Billy Lawlor who tries to woo Peggy Sawyer throughout the performance by trying to get her to go out to lunch with him and spend time with him, then at the end they both go to a party together.
The orchestra imposed an instrumental aspect that accentuated the mood of the scenes to go along with the actors’ performances, such as the act 2 finale when McMahon was getting more intense on stage the pit was getting more articulated. Several musicians used multiple instruments such as senior Sydney Dallege who played the alto sax, soprano sax and the aerophone.
The set included stairs that met at the top with lights lining each step. Many of the numbers used the stairs to stagger each actor to show everybody tap dancing on the stairs. The costumes really pulled everything together; Peggy Sawyer’s red dress for the broadway production fit the scene appropriately with the red fringe and sparkles.
One of the most memorable numbers was “We’re in the Money!” toward the end of the show and included props such as large coins that the actors danced on in sparkly gold dresses. This scene was overall the most eye-catching one thanks to the high energy the audience could feel from the performers.
42nd Street was the first musical performed with seniors in all leading roles. This show was definitely one of the most memorable performances I have seen, all of the actors seemed comfortable up on stage, and it flowed wonderfully from one scene to the next
