On the evening of Friday, April 9, students, staff and members of the community gathered on Chapel lawn to celebrate theatre and enjoy the two most recent productions of the Covenant Theatre Department: “Our Unfinished Music” and “Everyman.”
Photos from Covenant College Theater Department
Professor Claire Slavovsky had been praying all week that it would not rain. The first date set to premiere the project, March 27, had been canceled due to rains and storms, but April 9 was more promising. As the sun sank behind the rooftop of Mills, work-study students set up signs that labeled the sections where guests would sit: children from the cast of “The Sound of Music” and their families, members of the crew, students who had been eagerly awaiting the musical and freshman who had heard the saga of the show cut short.
Cara Smole ’22, the stage manager for “The Sound of Music” and part of the documentary crew, thanked the crowd for coming.
“Having Cara as the MC brought back memories of rehearsals when she was making announcements and getting everyone's attention,” rsaid Sophie Newcomb ’23, a member of the ensemble in “The Sound of Music” and an interviewee in “Our Unfinished Music.” “It was such a joy to see everyone again and to see the kids joyfully running around like they did every rehearsal.”
Seeing the kids was also a highlight for Caroline Morris ’22, who played Maria in “The Sound of Music.” “Coming back together with the kids was one of the things I was looking forward to most about the premiere. It felt like a cast party with them, only our families were with them too—it was really special.”
Newcomb reflected on the closure that “Our Unfinished Music” brought to her and the cast, saying, “Even though we did not get to perform on stage, I will never forget the once in a lifetime experience of being in this show with all of these beautiful people… seeing myself on screen made me realize what a big deal it was to have this opportunity.”
As the credits rolled, guests shivered in the cool night air and settled in for the second highlight of the evening: “Everyman,” a play cast and filmed on stage during the fall semester. After months of tedious editing, the play was finally ready for the student body to see. Members of the “Everyman” cast buckled up for two hours of watching themselves perform on screen, a difficult task for any stage actor.
“Watching myself on-screen was a mixed bag,” said Ray Lantrip ’24, who starred as the titular character, Everyman. “We’re all our own worst critics. That aside, it really was a gift to get to relive the experience of rehearsing and shooting this show where I met many of my closest friends.”
Director Professor Camille Hallstrom spoke on the challenges and advantages of filming a piece of theatre instead of performing it live. “After the usual hard-slogging, four- to five-week rehearsal period, there was only a month or so of more evenings' of work as we shot the scenes, out of order—which makes it harder to get a sense of through-line and build.”
Morris also found performing for cameras different than performing for an audience. “We are used to the actor-audience relationship as a tool in performance, and performing completely without that dynamic made for a really challenging adjustment.”
Nevertheless, Hallstrom found the final product rewarding. “It was good to see a cast so full of first-year students and/or first-time actors pulling off such high-level work. It was good to hear [the] audience reaction of the sort I was hoping for at various points in the show.”
Morris agreed that “seeing myself onscreen as the final chapter for both shows instead of a live closing night made for an entirely different experience.”
As “Everyman” wrapped up, Smole introduced the final piece of the evening: an exclusive recorded interview with Lantrip and Hallstrom, reflecting on Lantrip’s experience in “Everyman” in light of the recent and unexpected death of his father.
“I wanted to do the interview because the play’s content overlapping with my experience losing my dad was just too strange to be coincidental, and it seemed obvious that it was God’s hand,” Lantrip said. “I hope people will hear in my story that God is present even when our worst nightmare becomes reality. His faithfulness never fails.”
While the Theatre Department has had to adjust in dramatic ways to accommodate the restrictions of pandemic protocols, these two films stand as testament to the fact that the show will continue to go on. Both “Our Unfinished Music” and “Everyman” are available on the Covenant College Theatre YouTube channel and on the Covenant College Website.