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It is 7 p.m. — dress rehearsal night. In the scene shop in the basement of the Dreyfuss Building, two racks of elegant vintage clothing are labeled with each performer’s name. Actors are putting on makeup or trying on costumes that are altered on the spot by Bierly and her assistants.
Patrick Brockway, a freshman who plays Speed, Valentine’s servant, dons a vest, cravat and snappy yellow-and-black pinstriped pants held up by suspenders. “I love Speed,” Brockway says about his character, who delights in word play and bawdy gestures. “He’s insanely funny.” The son of theater professionals and a veteran of community theater himself, Brockway acknowledges that comedy is a natural fit for him: “In school I was the class clown.”
After a brief warm-up exercise, the dry run of the play starts late. The actors deliver their lines smoothly, but the scene changes need work and have to be practiced several times. It is after 11 p.m. by the time rehearsal is over.
On opening night, a Wednesday, everything goes well: lines are read and scene changes made with few problems. Harry charms the audience with his canine grin and occasional walk-abouts. In fact, he gets the loudest cheers, but the audience also applauds Speed’s and Launce’s antics and the fine acting from the leads.
“Everyone liked the dog,” Michaelson admits. “I got upstaged — that’s just how it is, working with animals.”
Students say they gained confidence with every performance, making the language clearer and more enjoyable. “We got all our jitters out,” Amerman says. “As it went on, we got a lot better.”
Senior Sean “T.” McGrath plays Thurio, Valentine’s pompous rival for Sylvia’s hand. Unless he is cast in a spring 2011 play, this will be his last production at FDU. The end of the last performance is bittersweet, he says. “Something you worked on endlessly for five weeks comes to a close. It’s kind of a relief — you have more time for things you’ve been putting off — but it was a little harder to let go of this one. I stayed in the theater a little bit afterward and just walked around, coming to terms with the fact that this is something I’m going to leave in a few months.”
Days later, McGrath encounters associate professor of visual and performing arts Elliot Hoffman, who congratulates him on his performance. “He told me that I’d come a really long way since my freshman year,” McGrath says. “That felt great.”
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FDU Magazine is published twice yearly by the Office of Communications and Marketing, Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1000 River Road, H-DH3-14, Teaneck, N.J. 07666.
FDU Magazine welcomes your comments. Use the comment box above or e-mail Rebecca Maxon, editor, at maxon@fdu.edu.
J. Michael Adams, President; Richard Reiss, Senior Vice President for University Advancement; Angelo Carfagna, Assistant Vice President for University Advancement and Communications; Okang McBride, Director of Alumni Relations; Carol Kuzen Black, Director of Publications/Senior Editor; Rebecca Maxon, Editor and Web Designer;
Contributors: Howard Libov, Tom Nugent, Melissa Payton, John Vitale
Photo/Illustration Credits: Bill Blanchard, Bill Cardoni, Gary Darden, Favorite Son Productions, Don Hamerman, David Hanson, Ted Horowitz Photography, Dan Landau, Mike Malone, Morteza Nikoubazl, Gloria Pastorino, Nick Romanenko, Danny Schwartz, Jayson Scrimizzi, Daniel Twomey, John Vitale
For a print copy of FDU Magazine, featuring these and other stories, contact Rebecca Maxon, editor, at maxon@fdu.edu.
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