A night filled with singing and dancing. Fossil Theatre hosted its first annual Cabaret evening, the theme of the night being “I Dreamed A Dream”. Students involved in the theatre program used this night to sing and perform their dream roles.
This seemed like a very informal evening, no interesting props or set, which was no surprise seeing as the program had just finished “Into the Woods” this month.
Parker Cropp and Alexa Fritzler led the night and kept the audience entertained with their witty jokes and charming personalities, reading from a script as they went.
For The First Time in Forever (Frozen)
The first act starred Lily Hasslebach and Kate Luster playing Anna and Elsa performing “First Time in Forever”.
Hasslebach led the performance with her stunning vocals and led the majority of the performance before Luster came on. The roles fit their stage personalities and I thought the song they chose was perfect for their duo.
Hasslebach drew most of the attention to herself with her wonderful voice and spot-on costume. Both her and Luster’s voices combined nicely and they started the night off steadily.
Time (Tuck Everlasting)
Maddie Evans then took the stage, wowing the crowd with her performance of Time from Tuck Everlasting.
The emotion she carried in her performance was amazing, it felt to me that she has known this song for awhile and had rehearsed it to a tee. She stepped into the role of Miles and hooked the audience every step of the way.
This was the first performance we saw that night played by an opposite gender, originally meant for a male singer. Still, Evans made the song hers and I loved hearing her voice, but luckily for me and the audience that was not her only performance of the night.
She would later play Catherine Parr with five other co-stars, in a classic musical, Six.
Dear Theodosia (Hamilton)
William Gutridge and Jill Ivory then followed Evans’ act with a song from “Hamilton” with their props of babies.
Ivory stunned me with her voice which was amazing but also saddening since I was not able to hear her singing during “Into the Woods”.
This is one of the most emotional songs in Hamilton and Gutridge and Ivory did just that, bringing the audience into the emotional devastation that parents felt during this time, sending their children off into an unsafe world.
Although not the happiest number of the evening, these two singers were very talented and brought the audience into their own world.
Ex-Wives (Six)
This was my favorite performance of the night hands down. I love Six the Musical and as soon as I heard Cropp and Fritzler discussing six wives I had high expectations.
Although it does not seem like a vocally challenging performance, all six performers had to bring out their own personalities in the performance while working well with their other costars. I am not sure what the casting process was like and how each of the girls chose their wife but they chose perfectly.
They embodied each of their characters and their attitudes, especially standing out to me was Zamira Hernandez Calvo playing Anna of Cleves. It is one of the roles with less singing but her facial expressions and attitude is exactly what I envision for that wife.
Calvo was not the fantastic one though, emcee Cropp, who played Anne Boleyn, also made an appearance along with Evans in her second performance of the night.
I also got to see Kaylee Bissell (Jane Seymour) and Fawn Barry (Kathrine Howard) have their chance at a solo, something I missed out on in “Into the Woods”. I did see Laya Greenacre (Catherine of Aragon) in the spring musical, but this role was very different, showcasing her versatility.
Not only did they sing out but had choreography along the way to keep the audience engaged. All the dancers flowed together and seemed well-rehearsed in what they were doing.
I was glad this song was one of the longer ones of the night, and my only request is that I get to see it again.
I Know it’s Today (Shrek The Musical)
I have only heard this song a few times before, but this has definitely been my favorite rendition of it.
Ivory made their second performance of the night, playing teen Fiona, here along with Karoline Maloy (young Fiona) and Aderyn Ketchum (adult Fiona).
They matched in costumes with green dresses but managed to stand out from each other and all of their voices were stunning. I loved the end when they were harmonizing together and this was a great match of singers.
Ketchum continues to shock me with her voice and it is so saddening that she was not nominated for a Bobby G award, her talent is phenomenal and although complimented by the other two singers, stole the show.
Flowers (Hadestown)
Recently, from his amazing performance in “Into the Woods”, Cooper Hand is nominated for a Bobby G award, a distinguished honor in high school theatre. He kept up his reputation in an impressive performance of “Flowers” from Hadestown. This was one of the more challenging vocal pieces I saw throughout the evening, but Hand did not disappoint.
Unfortunately, he did kill a bug during his performance. At the end of his act he took it upon himself to incorporate a bug flying around into his song, but in tragic events he accidentally killed the bug, ending his time on the stage.
This song is traditionally sung by a woman, but during his performance Hand managed to stay in they right key. This was a very brave performance and I am glad he went out of his comfort zone and amazed the crowd.
Santa Fe (Newsies)
Similar to her co-star, Hand, Hannah Schnorr has also been nominated for a Bobby G award after playing the Baker’s Wife in “Into the Woods”.
She placed herself within the song and it did not seem like a song from a musical but her telling her own story. It felt like she had known this song forever, if she did not she has a serious career within this field because she could have fooled me.
I know this role is typically performed by a man, but I think Schnorr should be performing it from now on.
Her voice continuously gives me chills and I cannot wait to see where her future takes her;hopefully it has something to do with singing.
Bend and Snap (Legally Blonde)
This was the best closing number, it involved most if not all the cast of the night and was the most entertaining performance of the evening.
I saw Fossil’s “Legally Blonde” and Ella Soko was amazing, and this was nothing like it, but not for reasons you would expect.
Instead, Cooper Hand and Matt Campbell stole the show, playing Elle Woods and Paulette respectfully. The guys of the Theatre program wore cropped pink shorts as they tried to teach Campbell how to bend and snap while the ladies dressed as men and supported his flirting techniques.
This number brought so much laughter to the theatre and had everyone leaving the show with a smile on their face.
Overall I cannot wait for this event to grow in the future and Fossil Theatre has such talented people come through, so I have high hopes for it.
