The Undergraduate Theater Collective is hitting the ground running this year. Led by Kelsey Strouse '13 and Tess Suchoff '13, the UTC has prepared an excellent fall season, complete with traditional events like the 24-Hour Musical on Sept. 9 and a fresh set of dramas and comedies. Confused about which shows to see? JustArts emailed with several UTC directors and is here to help!

The 24-Hour Musical is an annual event put on by Hillel Theater Group and Tympanium Euphorium in which all students are invited to participate, either on stage or behind the scenes. "We'll be holding auditions for four days, 4-5 hours each day during the week prior to 24 Hour," three-time stage manager and first-time president of the 24-Hour, Strouse, explained in an email to the Justice. "Every person is asked to prepare a fun, upbeat song that they'll sing a cappella. ... Beforehand, we come up with prompts for specific characters, but we'll also throw in our fair share of decoy prompts-prompts that may lead people to think it is a completely different show or just prompts that are hilarious but completely unrelated to the show itself."

Only a few days after the auditions, the show is revealed (usually along with a kitschy, Jewish-themed spoof title), rehearsed and performed, all within 24-hours. Past productions have been huge hits; to put on a performance as entertaining and fun as previous years' (like Legally Blonde the Jewsical and The Wedding Tzinger) HTG and Tymp will need all the help they can get. Co-director of this year's show, Ellyn Getz '13, confessed in an email: "When a show comes together in 24 hours, it's almost impossible for it not to be filled with improvised moments to cover up forgotten dances, dialogue, blocking, and music."

Though it may seem like a lot of work, co-director Viktoria Lange '13 assured that the experience is one of the most enjoyable of the year: "When is the next time you're going to camp out in the [Shapiro Campus Center] and have it be a fun, positive, wacky, crazy good time? Certainly not when you're studying for your bio final in the library come December, let's be real."

And if you want to be involved with the UTC during the rest of the semester, the 24-Hour Musical is a good place to start: co-director Yoni Bronstein '13 compared it to "the orientation for Brandeis undergraduate theater." Strouse added, "It's an intensive day of theater that unites Brandeis theater veterans, first years, and people who have always wanted to work on a show but never had the time ... The last two years there were over 100 people in the cast, so there is never a dull moment!"

Brandeis Players' Or, directed by Justy Kosek '14, will begin rehearsing shortly after the Musical finishes, and will be performed the weekend of Oct. 11 to 14. Or, written by Liz Duffy Adams, premiered off-Broadway in 2009. The New York Times, in a 2009 review of the show, compared Adams to Tom Stoppard, with her ability to "take liberties with the facts" and entertain. Kosek revealed that he chose to bring the play to our University because he thought it was "a piece Brandeis thespians will be able to pull off with a lot of aplomb." He is a huge fan of the show because he feels it connects "the art and politics" of the 1660s, and that this juxtaposition of the two seemingly separate realms is something we see today as well. The story revolves around Aphra Behn, the first female playwright following the removal of Puritans from the governance of England and the return of the royals. Adams stretches the truth and provides a comedic take on the illicit relationship between Behn and King Charles II. Hopefully Kosek's take on the show will echo what The New York Times declared "a tribute that is more funky daisy chain than funerary bouquet" in its first run.
Rounding out October, on the 25 to 28, is Brandeis Ensemble Theater's Metamorphoses, written by Mary Zimmerman. For some (minus Latin nerds like myself) Jessica Rassp's '13 decision to direct Zimmerman's version of the Roman poet Ovid's Metamorphoses might not seem like a good one. Fear not: though the play takes its plot from a series of well-known myths (like those of King Midas, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Narcissus), Zimmerman's telling is very modern and allows these tales to show their relevance to our lives. Rassp hopes to emphasize this aspect of the play (her first as a director at Brandeis, though she assistant-directed for Rent in 2011) and "truly put [her] heart into everything onstage." With Rassp at the helm and the universality of these ancient stories, Metamorphoses has a good chance at providing something for everyone.
Tympanium Euphorium brings us Bat Boy: The Musical Nov. 8 to 11, directed by Lizzy Benway '14. The show is based on the Weekly World News story of which you surely have heard, even though it came out when most current Brandeis students were not yet born or were in their first years of life. If you aren't familiar, here's the gist: In 1992, the tabloid published an article about a boy-bat hybrid found living in a cave and detailed his upbringing. Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming took this seed of an idea and nurtured it into a full-fledged musical about race, religion and prejudice.
When three spelunkers discover Bat Boy and bring him home with them, neither the sheriff nor the local veterinarian know what to do with him. Eventually, the vet's wife takes him in, but many people in the town are not happy about the presence of this interspecies being. An angry mob gathers, and Bat Boy, re-named Edgar by the vet's daughter, must hide, while at the same time face his self-inflicted shame.
Benway has big plans for the show, which she admits is "a difficult production to put together, with complicated music and an outrageous plot line."
Judging from the plotline and the play's messages, as long as Benway casts actors who have strong musical ability, this show has the potential to be the highlight of the semester.
Lovers of I Love Lucy or Arrested Development, Hillel Theater Group may have just the show for you! Fan of playwright Neil Simon (who also penned Sweet Charity) Neal Rabinowitz '13 will be directing Simon's Rumors Nov. 15 to 18. Rabinowitz writes that Rumors is "suspenseful and hilarious" and that he is excited to take on the show as his directorial debut. In the play, wealthy guests at a dinner party show up at their hosts' home to discover that the host, the deputy mayor of New York City, has shot himself through the earlobe and his wife and servants have disappeared. The guests decide together that they must hide the scenario from the police and media, and comedy ensues. Full of farcical moments and unforeseeable events, this show seems worth the wait!
Auditions for these plays will be held Sept. 3 to 6. Auditions for the 24-Hour Musical will be held Sept. 4 to 7. Visit the UTC tables at the Activities' Fair on Sept. 3 for more information.