Colorado Mesa University’s latest musical production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” stars junior Carly Nugent in the lead role. From auditions that took place last semester to opening night on Feb. 22, the process of putting together a musical involves hours of rehearsal and individual practice time.
The process began with auditions, callbacks and casting.
“It was a really fun experience,” Nugent said. “I think everybody was really happy with how it turned out casting-wise.”
During winter break, the program waited for scripts and scores to ship while the cast was on vacation. No formal rehearsals took place, but the members of the production were still expected to work on their parts.
“Over break, we hadn’t gotten scripts or scores in yet […] so our homework over break was to get familiar with the show and get to know where your character stands,” Nugent said. “I basically took the break to make sure that I knew as much as I could […] watching different versions on YouTube so I could figure out what my style and my character was going to be.”
From there, rehearsals began in the spring semester.
“I think my favorite part was our very first rehearsal; we did an initial read-through [and] sing-through. We got the whole cast together, all the directors, and we just read through the show and sang all the songs just to get an initial idea of what everybody was going to sound like,” Nugent said. “It finally felt like it was real, [and] the actual show was starting.”
The cast rehearsed every weekday night from 6 to 10 p.m., and Nugent had additional rehearsals throughout the day to work on her individual part.
“Basically any chance we get to work on stuff, we’re all working on stuff. Even when we’re not in rehearsal, we’re working on music and working on our dances and making sure we know everything that’s going on,” Nugent said.
The musical also required frequent individual preparation, from memorizing lines to developing a unique musical style to perfecting choreography.
“For me, I try to make it to a practice room and practice my music at least once a day before rehearsal. I take any spare time I have to, at the very least, mentally go over all my choreography,” Nugent said.
Nugent explained that many of her friends and roommates are involved in the show, so they frequently gather in informal settings to work on their parts. Nugent said she could often be found in a group of fellow cast members in the Moss Performing Arts Center lobby, singing through their parts or talking through blocking and choreography.
“It’s so much a part of our lives that it’s a constant rehearsal process.”
The students and faculty in the production developed positive relationships with each other throughout the rehearsal process, and Nugent said the rehearsals were both fun and productive with people who worked well together.
“We’re all very professional in the rehearsal environment, but we’re all friends and we’re all very close with our professors, too, so it’s always a very fun and happy atmosphere,” Nugent said. “I’m really excited to be working in the next few weeks with the other principal actors because they’re all so talented. I’m really excited to be able to share some stage time and share some scenes with them.”
As the semester approached the beginning of February, the cast began to put the entire show on stage and run it all the way through.
“Everybody is doing incredibly well, everybody is making huge improvements, and it’s really becoming more like art and less work because everyone really knows what’s really going on now,” Nugent said.
The runs did not include a fully-constructed set or all the props, but blocking, choreography and music were all ready to be rehearsed in a more detailed setting.
“It’s gotten to a point where it’s really understandable and starting to become very enjoyable,” Nugent said.
“I think the whole cast and crew is getting more and more excited.”
The week of opening night, the cast and crew began dress rehearsals every night leading up to the first performance. These runs included full costume and props with a completed stage set.
Nugent said that with the basics of the show already memorized and properly executed, the cast could focus on developing the subtleties of their characters and creating their own unique styles.
“Now that everybody’s very sure of what they’re doing, everybody can put their own special things into what they’re doing,” Nugent said. “They’re embellishing now.”
Three days before opening night, Nugent was fighting off a cold and preparing for the performance both physically and mentally. She said she had her own regimented warm-up process, and that pre-performance rituals are very individualized and specific to each cast member’s needs.
“Everybody’s got their own juju that they have to do to make a show happen the way they want it to go,” Nugent said. “I usually just try to prep myself […] make sure my body is ready and my voice is ready and my mind is ready.”
As she nears the end of her journey with the show, Nugent looked back on the process from start to finish.
“I’ve learned, especially because this is new to me, that nobody is going to get mad at you for asking questions, and nobody expects you to be perfect the first time,” Nugent said. “It’s an up and down process the whole way through, and nobody is expecting perfection, ever, because this is not an art form where there can be perfection. There is no perfection in art.”
As some say the show must go on…
As opening week approached for the musical at Colorado Mesa University “Thoroughly Modern Millie” more and more of the cast began to fall ill.
“I believe Carly was the first, but then the cast was hit with tonsillitis, a stomach bug and three cases of strep, myself being one of them,” Anna Dworkin, understudy for the lead Millie and character Ruth said. “It was amazing how so many people were sick, but all with different things.”
Nugent who was playing the lead fell ill with tonsillitis. At noon on Friday Nugent, the director, the music director and Dworkin all met and it was decided that Dworkin would go on as Millie at the Friday night performance.
“Although she [Carly] was on the mend, she didn’t feel as though she was at her best to perform,” Dworkin said. “The director double checked that I was feeling alright and we just went from there.”
As an understudy Dworkin had to know Nugent’s part as well as know her own part.
“It was a surprise and not a surprise all at the same time. I have been an understudy a few times before at CMU, but I have never actually had to go on for someone. In the professional world, understudies are used all the time because there are hundreds of performances, but in college it’s not the same. We have fewer performances and the main cast members almost never get sick. But, in this case, Carly had started to feel under the weather a few days before we opened so I knew it was a possibility that I would go on. However, it wasn’t until I was actually told “Be prepared, you are going on tonight,” that the fear and reality of the situation set in,” Dworkin said.
When Dworkin stepped in as Millie, Cassidy Phillips had to take over Dworkin’s other role of Ruth who is one of the main Priscilla girls and a large part of the ensemble. Phillips is considered a swing which means that she is the understudy for all of the women ensemble.
“So, when I found out I was going in for millie, Cassidy quickly stepped up and learned my Ruth character so she could cover me,” Dworkin said.
Dworkin explained that although she had been studying the part and was ready, that she was fearful of going on.
“Honestly, I was just really scared. Never in my wildest dreams did I think of this scenario happening, so when it did, I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel. I had a rush of emotions that involved excitement, fear. I was worried because I knew I wasn’t as prepared as I wanted to be, and also felt awful for the situation itself. It was cool that I was getting to perform, but I didn’t like the reasoning behind it,” Dworkin explained.
Dworkin gives credit to all of the cast for putting on the performance Friday night.
“I am so proud of not only myself for somehow being able to get through the show, but I am also so grateful for the rest of the cast and crew because they really made last night happen. I did the best I could on my own, but it was because I had so much help from other that it was such a successful show,” Dworkin said.
With the amount of hours and dedication the cast and crew has put into this musical, it can be difficult to get sick and pull off a performance and to have understudies step in. For the Saturday performance on Feb. 24, Dworkin was again on the stage as Millie as another cast member also fell ill with strep.
As Brooklyn Buhre who is part of the cast puts it, “It attest to our passion for theater when we push through to give the show the audience deserves.”
