Humbly named but ambitious, the student- and alumni-run musical theater club Off-Off Broadway promotes the appreciation of Broadway music and the ideal that anyone is welcome to perform onstage. Their current production, which opens Thursday night and runs until Sunday, is "9 to 5: the Musical" and promotes female empowerment, which is perfectly in line with the club's idealistic mission statement.
“The beautiful thing about ‘Off-Off’ is that it’s a safe place just to perform. If you want to perform, come here and at the same time it heightens your skills,” Colleen Kelly, one of the co-directors along with third-year criminal justice student Cory Morrell, said. “I know people who come in here with stage fright and come out feeling free to sing duets and trios and be on stage themselves.”
Off-Off Broadway puts on at least two musicals a year, some of which are revues. Revues are student-written shows paired with songs from various musicals. The cast practices for roughly 15 hours a week and between 25 to 30 hours a week during tech week, when they begin rehearsing at 6 p.m and often don’t stop until 1 a.m.
“It’s been a neat experience to meet other people who really appreciate Broadway music and who have a similar type of humor that goes with that, “ Madeleine Vath, first-year journalism student who plays Judy Bernly, said. “Being a freshman, it was nice to automatically have that group of friends.”
Cast members remarked on how wonderful it is to have an outlet to perform, since many of them don’t plan on pursuing theater as a career.
“I think it really works with everyone who aspires to be on stage or even behind the scenes in any aspect,” Daniel Egan, first-year business student who plays Franklin Hart Jr., said. “They’re very flexible about working with you, whether you have two free hours a night or five free hours a night.”
Many of the actors also said they acted or were involved behind the scenes in high school, but didn’t have the time or the confidence to do main stage productions at USC.
Hayley Brown, first-year journalism student who plays Josh, said that she worked on costume design in high school and is now grateful to be head of the costume committee.
Their spring production, “9 to 5 the Musical," is a hilarious, vibrant take on a 1980’s movie of the same name that deals with sexism in the workplace and female empowerment.
This raunchy comedy, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, tells the tale of three women who are victimized by their sexist boss, Franklin Hart Jr., and decide to rise up against him. The women, who are at first very timid, each grow a backbone by the end of the production.
“Feminism is definitely a very big theme in this play, because the three main women take over the office, basically,” Vath said. “Standing up for yourself is big theme whether you’re a man or a woman.”
Kellyis a proud Off-Off Broadway alumna and has participated in 10 productions. She auditioned for the club her freshman year and immediately fell in love with the organization. The USC theater department doesn’t offer musical theater, but that didn’t stop Kelly from keeping her passion alive. She is grateful that her Off-Off Broadway family has given her the courage to perform.
The actors have a blast with the mature adult content, such as joint smoking, but they try to pair silliness with tastefulness. A lot of the play is made up of nonsensical, satirical actions, including lethal fantasies about murdering their boss. Each one of these fantasies is communicated throughout songs and outrageous dancing.
“My personal artistic vision was bringing an era of realism to it,” Kelly said. “But also getting the craziness that is musicals.”
Fair warning: Due to “mild language, sexual undertones, and drug use," this musical is rated PG-13.
“I hope that [the audience] gets some laughs and take away this idea that women can stand up and they can be in charge because it kind of relates to today’s world still,” Kelly said. "There’s still a lot of companies where women can’t get ahead and I hope that they kind of take away that this is an issue that’s still out there and that women can stand up and be leads and be CEO’s.”
Editor's note: Madeleine Vath also works as a copy editor for The Daily Gamecock.
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