Welcome to In the Spotlight.
I'm Janelle Broderick.
With past productions such as "It's a Wonderful
Life," and "A Christmas Carol," HCC's Arts
Collective has a history of embracing the
holiday season.
This year's winter production features not
one but two classic family-friendly tales
by C.S. Lewis.
Presented in two one-acts, Arts Collective's
interpretation of the Chronicles of Narnia
is a joy for fans of all ages.
Producing Artistic Director, Sue Kramer, selected
Arts Collective veterans, Daniel Johnston
and Cheryl Campo to direct "The Magician's
Nephew" and "The Lion, The Witch, and the
Wardrobe" respectively.
As Johnston recalls, it was a joint decision
to pair these two books from the Narnia series.
I've been asking Sue to direct "The Magician's
Nephew" for years.
Um, it's my favorite book.
Um, so I think she's the one who ran with
the idea of adding "The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe" to it.
But the, the two shows work really well in
tandem.
You know, they seem to go together better
than any of the other books do I think.
Yeah.
And I also tend to think they're good stand-alones,
each of them on their own.
And they both sort of have a similar trajectory
I think too.
There's a lot of redemption by the end, there
are characters who are sort of on these journeys,
and then there's like a salvation sort of
end moment in both of the storylines that
I think are complementary.
Christian author C.S. Lewis created Narnia
as a world rich with Biblical symbolism, but
the universal themes of selflessness, sacrifice,
and family, resonate with audience members
from all backgrounds.
A lot of the, the Christian overtones are
more about morals which apply to most every
religion and even people who are non-religious.
Though Campo and Johnston have been directing
the plays separately, they share actors, tying
the two pieces together for a creatively seamless
experience.
There are a, a few Easter egg type casting
things.
Um, Edmond is one of the young people in "Lion,
Witch and the Wardrobe", and he's this character
that I refer to that goes through a, a journey,
a personal journey.
But because of where he starts in that journey,
which is maybe not the nicest place, um Daniel
found a way to feature that actor in "Magician's
Nephew" as an um an elemental being ... that
tends to be a little bit more fiery and maybe
um sharp and edgy.
Arts Collective routinely welcomes actors
and directors at all levels of experience,
creating an educational atmosphere for participants.
Campo, who teaches middle school theatre,
appreciates this practice.
And I think whether you're a seasoned actor
or a newcomer to the stage, it's, it's often
just about that storytelling piece.
And I think that is really the most important.
And, yeah, sometimes we'll bring in some more
technical terms, like yesterday we were working
on music and I started bringing some of my
music knowledge to the table.
But, you know, Sue was there so she was like,
"Oh, what is an octave?"
For Johnston, working with children is a new
and enriching challenge.
It's very new to me.
Um, so it's, it's a how do I communicate my
direction to someone who thinks differently,
you know?
They're, they're thinking about things differently,
they're seeing the world in a different way.
How do I communicate?
I'm not a seasoned director.
I have musical directed quite a bit and I
have to say that even as a, a sort of newbie
director, it's been really great 'cause I'm
surrounded by people with experience and,
and people who have been affiliated with the
Collective for a while.
And yeah being amongst friends and like just
bouncing ideas off of each other ... has been
w-, it's been great.
I kind of want to do every show this way now.
Here, I'll do act one, you do act two.
We'll meet in the middle.
That collaborative spirit didn't stop in the
rehearsal room.
Campo and Johnston worked with a team of designers
and a choreographer to bring Narnia to the
stage in the Horowitz Center's Studio Theatre.
We have a huge fight, the battle, the big
battle at the end of "Lion, Witch and the
Wardrobe" which involves everyone, with the
exception of one actor, um from both our casts
in it.
And that would not have been possible without
Sarah Luckadoo, who is our choreographer.
Um, and she's gone to such lengths to like
make every moment and every little vignette
of that fight interesting to watch.
And we're still working that out so that's
definitely one of the biggest challenges of
my, my piece but its, it's just lovely and,
and we have a sound designer who's creating
original music for that part.
A lot of it's trusting the designers to, to
help us bring it to the next level.
For more information on upcoming Arts Collective
productions and opportunities, visit howardcc.edu/artscollective.
I'm Janelle Broderick for In the Spotlight.
See you next time!
