By: Brooke Rhoads
Some of those who follow the theatre department may be wondering why the winter play, Oscar and Felix, opened on a Wednesday; as shows customarily open on a Thursday and run until Saturday night. But this year, theater director Jeff Baldwin is mixing it up.
“I turned the dates in last May, when we got back in August they [the secretaries] told me that we couldn’t have a Saturday performance because of some conflicts,” Baldwin said.
You may be wondering how there could be so many conflicts that there was no way to have a Saturday show. The original performance dates requested were Thursday, Feb. 9 ; Friday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, Feb. 11. Baldwin was told that he couldn’t have those dates because of Court Warming. The two weeks following were also unavailable due to various sports events.
Baldwin then asked for Thursday, Feb. 2; Friday, Feb. 3 and Saturday, Feb. 4, but those too were not possible due to a conflict on Saturday, Feb. 4.
“I tried to bump [the date] back, that didn’t work,” Baldwin said, “I tried to bump it forward, that didn’t work, so I was left with either bumping it to March and cutting into Theatre for a Cause, or bumping to Jan. and cutting into rehearsal [for Oscar and Felix].”
After much contemplation, the only option that didn’t affect rehearsals for upcoming performances was to have a show that runs from Wednesday to Friday.
Choosing to have opening night on Wednesday was no easy decision.
“It’s hard to sell seats because people aren’t as free during the week,” said assistant stage manager, sophomore Sierra Sheppard.
It’s still not all bad, according to junior and cast member Courtney Wiggins. While it’s not what audiences are used to, it’s not impossible to draw a crowd all together.
“It’s just a lot harder to get tickets out and to advertise the show,” Wiggins said. “But I think that Thursday and Friday will be better.”