Alpha Psi Omega (APO), the theatre honor society, is creating nostalgia at NMU with its performance of “Heroes and Villains,” a cabaret showcasing songs from favorite childhood fairy tales.
“We thought we would do something that appeals to all ages. It appeals to our age group because we grew up with these songs, and they hold a lot of nostalgia,” said Elizabeth Trueblood, APO president, “Heroes and Villains” director and NMU junior. “But it’s also community outreach because we’re holding a children’s matinée to help get our name out in the larger Marquette
community.”
APO has been working on the cabaret since the beginning of January, Trueblood said. The group is asking for donations at the show in hope of raising money to put on a full scale production of “The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon” in October in the Forest Roberts Theatre.
“We’ll be accepting donations at the door, but I think more important than that is to get our name out,” Nathan Morgan, a junior biology major and APO member, said.
According to Trueblood, APO has been an organization at NMU since 2014 and has put on smaller scale productions but has never done a large scale production. The group hopes that this production will help bring attention to the group and will bolster membership and participation in the theatre.
A cabaret is the ideal performance for APO to put on, according to Trueblood.
“A cabaret is really simple. It’s really fun to put together, and it gives a lot of people the opportunity to perform, which is something that if you’re not cast in one of the main stage shows, it gives you the extra opportunity to perform,” Trueblood said.
Beside the show being a lot of fun to put together, Morgan said that the best part of the show is how it’s produced entirely by students.
“My favorite thing about it is that everything was done by students completely,” Morgan said. “From the poster design, to the lighting design, to our accompanist on the piano, to the direction and everyone involved, it was all student participation and student built from the first concept to putting it on the stage.”
During the evening performances, the 10-person cast will be singing 19 songs, all from different movies. The songs were chosen by Trueblood and then voted on by the rest of APO. Full costume will only be worn during the children’s matinée, which will have a shortened setlist, but regular clothing meant to emulate the characters will be worn during the evening performances.
The cabaret will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 11 and 12 in the Panowski Black Box Theatre, with a children’s matinée show at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
