This season’s online sampling from snc.edu/magazine begins with some of the behind-the-scenes fly-on-the-wall reporting that underpins our new cover story.

Holding the Stage With a Host of Compelling Stories

Zac Dickhut ’19 as Gomez: I’m not going to mess up my lyrics this time.
Vocal director Elle Dannecker ’19: But I appreciate that you came back from it.
Dickhut: I was not going to let that thing sink!

Join us as we peep behind the scenes at the months of prep work, weeks of 10- to 12-hour rehearsal days and sheer creative joy of producing a full-length musical with your college mates. Ladies and gentlemen: We bring you your student-led, student-directed, 25th anniversary production of Knight Theatre’s “The Addams Family.”

...

The audition
The checklist is short: two solos and a monologue. That’s all the aspiring actors need to bring to their auditions. Sing portions of two solos and recite an excerpt of a monologue – all while being judged by your peers.

John Dicks ’20, Knight Theatre producer, uses a warm voice to welcome each student into the choir room and to explain how the audition – and its aftermath: casting decisions – will run. Other members of the production team (artistic director Annicka Rabida ’21, vocal director Elle Dannecker ’19, pit director Erin Hanke ’19, stage manager Kathryn Verheyden ’21) wait with open laptops and reassuring smiles. Michael Rosewall (Music) sits at the ready at the piano, poised to accompany the soloists.

Two solos and a monologue. Not enough to display a full repertoire, but enough to measure the range in talent and the potential among hopeful cast members.

One student, entering the choir room and shooting quick glances to take in the faces that watch her, begins her first solo, “Morning Person” from “Shrek: The Musical,” with a shaky voice, hardly audible over the accompanist. Encouraging smiles from the production team help embolden her, giving her confidence for her next solo.

In the next audition, the singer’s voice fills the room. Kiera Matthews ’19 shows off her stage presence, adding some subtle dance moves while singing “Bring on the Men” from “Jekyll & Hyde.” Her choice of material, which includes a monologue from the perspective of a woman who has become bored with a man’s romantic advances, triggers immediate connections to a character in the minds of the production team: “She’s like a living Addams family member. … And she only wears black!”

Two solos and a monologue – and the production team has found their Morticia.

Dance auditions
Cast auditions include dance practice. Aspiring actors are tasked with learning and performing a dance routine on the spot. Choreographers Jordan Schuman ’21 and Taylor Donoval ’20, along with the rest of the production team, are looking for actors’ abilities to learn new choreography.

“Please make sure you hydrate during this,” Donoval says. “I do not want you to pass out. It’s not that intense, but you could pass out.”

Rehearsals
Work for Knight Theatre cast members starts weeks before rehearsals begin in earnest. The group meets for its first read-through ... Read on

And there’s more …

In 42 seasons
Connie Tilley Day – a retirement so huge it gets its own name! Join in the laughter, hugs and tears as we celebrate the legendary coach. Watch the video

In the gallery
New work by Brian Pirman (Art) can be seen in his Godshalx Gallery show, “Experimental Digital Patterns,” through March 29 – and, in our online gallery. Take a look

In at the deep end
National coach Jack Fabian joined the Green Knights as they prepared for their first season, working with individual swimmers on their form. Watch the video

In China
Frank Kasell ’06 quit his job and spent three months researching a book on Chinese street food. Then he came home and wrote “Chinese Street Food: a Field Guide for the Adventurous Diner.” Our excerpt feeds the souls of armchair travelers. Sample an excerpt

March 8, 2019

Also in Print: Family Portrait

When Chantel Asselin Dunn stumbled upon her great-uncle’s image online, she recognized him immediately – even though it was the first time she had ever seen a photo of him. “Because he was in uniform and looked so much like my grandfather – very handsome and dapper – and others in my family, I knew it must be him.”

Chantel clicked on to find the source of the picture, which was when she discovered our Spring 2018 story on Emil Asselin and the three other men of St. Norbert College who perished in the First World War. Chantel wrote to us: “I was extremely excited to see the photo of him used in the article, as I have never seen a photo of him before. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to see it.” The portrait of the handsome young soldier who died at age 22 was previously unknown to Chantel’s family.

Chantel told us she had been thinking about Emil and how he was a casualty of World War I. “I found some service records through Ancestry, but I thought I might as well Google him with his birth and death dates, and referencing World War I, and found the article. I personally know so little about him that his enrollment at St. Norbert, the few details about his service, and even what he looked like were all new to me!” Chantel wondered if an SNC student in those very early days would have been studying for the priesthood. But by that era the commercial curriculum so foundational to college history would already have been added. Given Emil’s later employment in his father’s motor business, we can speculate that would have been as likely a direction for him.