The Appalachian Musical Theatre Club gives students the opportunity to display their abilities in acting, singing, and dancing through their upcoming show, “Chicago.”
The show will take place in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of the Plemmons Student Union on Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. The AMTC’s event page promises students a night full of “sex, murder, greed and, of course, ALL THAT JAZZ!”
One of the many students involved in this play is Breanna Glosson, a senior theatre arts major. Glosson will be playing the character of Go To Hell Kitty, a murderous hellion with a cheating husband.
“She’s insane, and I love it! She screams and bites people, and shoots her husband and his three lovers in bed with a machine gun,” Glosson said. “Of all the murderesses in the play, Kitty kills the most people and in the most ruthless way.”
Glosson heard about Chicago while working with the AMTC’s production of Assassins. She said that the club hosted dance workshops, which she used to her advantage. From there, she went through the audition process of learning choreography, singing 16 bars of a song and performing a monologue.
Although Glosson enjoys her role as Kitty, she said that she thought of herself as the character’s opposite. In the musical, Kitty diverts the attention from other characters in order to fuel her own popularity with the press.
“She’s angry, rich, proud, loud and impulsive,” said Glosson. “There’s always a bigger, more exciting story, and my character is exactly that.”
Grayson Rieth, a senior theatre education major, will play the role of Mary Sunshine in this production.
“I’m very excited because this is the first role that I’ve ever had in drag,” Rieth said. “It’s also somewhat challenging as Mary identifies as a female, and I identify as a male so there is a complete change in gender mindset in order to get into the role.”
Rieth said that he is very heavily involved with the theatre department and decided to audition for Chicago when he heard about it from many of his friends.
Rieth’s character, Sunshine, is the head female reporter. He said that Sunshine is one of the primary characters that is supposed to be swayed by the lies told by characters Billy Flynn and Roxie in order to get Roxie off from being found guilty.
Sophomore Savannah Bennett will be playing the headstrong character Velma Kelly.
Bennett said her character murdered her husband and sister after catching them having an affair. Kelly gets used to having the spotlight on her and competes with character Roxie over press coverage. Kelly is a vaudeville performer who uses her sensuality to take advantage of others.
“The relationship between the characters of Roxie and Velma are what shape and establish the main idea of the show,” Bennett said. “It’s such a fun show to come and watch and be apart of, but when you really look at it, its kind of like ‘Wait, we’re actually laughing at some pretty dark stuff.’”
Roxie and Velma are used to advance the show’s mockery of the fact that criminals are made celebrities by show business and media, she said.
Whether it be to honor hard work or to listen to the message the show has to offer, each of these students feels Chicago is important for Appalachian students to come see.
“When truly talented creative people pour their souls into what they do, the result is usually fantastic. We have been working hard and I am beyond proud of the product,” said Glosson.“It’s a musical theater classic, and it is so entertaining. As the first line states, it’s a “story of murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, and treachery; all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts.”
Story by: Molly Flinchum, Intern A&E Reporter