Musical shows talentof USF theater troupe

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of seeing our theater department’s production of the musical “Bat Boy.” What else can I say, it left me speechless. Now, I know theater.

I have seen numerous Broadway and professional shows, and this is definitely a rival to them. Starting with the theater itself;, how many universities, let alone professional theaters, can boast having lifts so the actors can rise to the stage from the ground level? How many theater’s have enough fly space to conceal huge plastic sheets and then fly them down in a blink of an eye? Which theaters can have actors repel down from the ceiling? Not any that I have been to.

The sets were amazing and wonderfully built. They were simple yet complex. The puppets used in the song “Children, Children” were extraordinarily made and looked very much like the puppets seen in the Broadway show The Lion King. The choreography went beautifully with the songs and music. No dance move seemed forced or out of place.

The hardest part of being an actor is to make the audience care about your character and these actors certainly did that and more. They brought life to their characters; no longer were they just lines in the script, they were living, breathing people that the audience grew to love when they first stepped out onto that stage. The singing quality of all the cast was amazing. Each of them had beautiful voices, and you could feel the emotions coming through in their songs.

The theater was full, and the cast had a standing ovation at the end of the performance. We at USF truly have a gem in our School of Theater. I hope that everyone will support the arts and see all the wonderful shows that the School of Theater and the Fine Arts have to offer.

Amy Darden is a freshman majoring in music education.