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The final stage: Bridegroom premieres
By Adam Goldstein
goldstea@mscd.edu

Oscar Wilde perceived the noblest part of human artistic achievement in drama. “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms,” he said. “(It is) the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.”

In the final installment of our three-part series, we document the final stages of Metro’s fall foray onto the stage, as the cast and crew of The Robber Bridegroom premiere their finished product for a live audience and prepare for the end of an endeavor that spanned six weeks.

Part 1 | 2 | 3

Photo by Heather Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu Jose Zuniga plays Goat in Metro’s production of The Robber Bridegroom, which ends its run Nov. 19.

Bud Coleman stood in the small Studio Theatre in the King Center surrounded by eager and avid spectators hanging on his every word.

“It’s a real pleasure for me to be here,” he said. “I’ve never had a chance to see a show here at Metro.”

The assistant professor of theatre at the University of Colorado visited the King Center Nov. 11 to offer his professional insights to the cast and crew of The Robber Bridegroom, Metro’s current student musical.

His input carried a special weight for the assembled Metro students and faculty. As a nominee for the Rocky Mountain Theatre Association’s annual Festivention conference, The Robber Bridegroom may be chosen to travel to Gunnison to compete with other plays by schools from five states. As an official adjudicator, Coleman’s advice about lighting, blocking and line delivery served as a valuable outside assessment.

“It’s good to have somebody that’s knowledgeable in theater come and tell you … what they thought of it,” said Melissa Morris, who plays Raven, the avian companion of the villainous Harp brothers.

Though rehearsals were officially over, the input helped the cast and crew in the continual process of improvement and refinement.

“It’s consistent polishing … There’s always something to work on,” Morris said.

Coleman’s tips came after the fourth performance of the show in front of an audience. Only four more performances remained, inspiring both relief and nostalgia for cast members.

“I’m sad the show’s going to end,” said Jose Zuniga, who plays the backwoods simpleton Goat.

Robert Waldman and Alfred Uhry’s 1975 musical The Robber Bridegroom tells the story of Jamie Lockheart, a highway robber whose plan to steal Clemment Musgrove’s fortune is thrown into disarray by the allure of his dazzling daughter.

The action takes place in 18th century Mississippi and is rounded out by a diverse cast of country characters, from rubes, such as Goat and his sister Airie, to grizzled back roads robbers, such as Little Harp and the decapitated head of his brother, Big Harp.

The Metro performance features a three-piece musical ensemble serving as the constant orchestral voice, a 16-member cast who share the stage throughout the performance and a complex blocking scheme involving almost all of the Stage Theatre.

After a month of auditions and rehearsals, the cast and crew has honed a fluid, funny and flamboyant show. Performing in front of an audience helped finalize factors in the execution and served as a guidepost to the players.

“It’s a matter of feeling it in your body,” Zuniga said. “You can feel the way an audience is reacting to what you’re doing.”

At the tail end of six weeks worth of auditions, rehearsals and performances, the cast and crew have forged not only a dynamic and entertaining play, but also connections with each other.

“Here at Metro, there’s such a sense of trust in the ensembles,” Zuniga said. “It’s like they’re part of your family now.”

Despite the bittersweet feelings attached to the final stages of the show’s run, the cast and crew alike look forward to the end of the process as a sort of resolution. Whether or not the show gets chosen, the production of The Robber Bridegroom, from its first auditions to its final performance at Metro, has been a valuable and memorable experience for all involved.

“To me, the wonderful thing about why we get the bug of theater is that there’s a beginning, there’s a middle and there’s an end,” director Scott Lubinski said. “I think that’s part of the process. Sometimes the middle part’s a little bit longer … but there’s always an end to a show. Always.”