Director Gail Humphries Mardirosian undertook a huge task when she decided to bring a modern musical to AU's Greenberg stage this fall, but choosing the play was not the only challenge. Humphries Mardirosian is taking her production of "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" to Russia this winter, and she knew she needed a play that transcended language boundaries and connected with the audience.
She seems to have found it in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Centered on the dance marathons of the Great Depression era, the story is about enormous hardships faced by everyday people and the extraordinary lengths they will go to survive.
In this story, based on the book by Horace McCoy and originally brought to the stage by Nagle Jackson and Robert Sprayberry, couples of varying backgrounds, lifestyles and human experience come together at the Surfside Ballroom in 1934 Venice Beach, Calif.
The dance marathons were days- and months-long affairs that pitted couples against one another. The last pair standing won the grand prize. To capture that feeling, "They Shoot Horses" is comprised of an ensemble cast that is consistently strong.
Ben Naramore, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences (Rocky), is fittingly vicious as the ringleader of the operation, a nasty man whose sole purpose is to see his contestants suffer for months on end just so audiences will come, watch and buy drinks.
Katie Brobst, a sophomore in CAS (Gloria), plays the closest thing to a protagonist in the story with skill and vocal force. She maintains her strong woman attitude throughout the play and helps to compose the characters that begin to crack under the pressure of the dance marathon. Despite her insecurities, struggles and past tragedy, Gloria knows that this contest could be her big break into show business.
The story is placed solely at the site of the dance marathon but the constant setting serves to put the realities of the daily lives of the troubled contestants into sharp focus.
Jeannie Hosler, a sophomore in CAS (Ruby), plays a character who is pregnant and participating in the contest to make money to raise her child. Cee-Cee Swalling, a junior in CAS (Bertha), and Barron John Weyerhaeuser, a junior in the School of Public Affairs (Stan), portray an older couple at the end of their wits but desperately hanging on to their senses of humor. Aubrie Fennecken, a junior in CAS (Vi), and Mark Almy, a sophomore in CAS (Bucky), have to deal with drug addiction.
It is the mark of a talented actor to accomplish the difficult task of delivering a performance that contributes to the audience's understanding of a character's human struggle.
The ensemble cast members of "They Shoot Horses" deliver these messages with poise and skill well beyond their years, and the group dynamic is an important aspect of telling the nightmarish tales of the Great Depression.
The dancing is on par with the best of theater, mostly due to the hard work of choreographer Brett Smock. Vi and Bucky's complex dance sequence is effortlessly performed and fun to watch. Bertha's solo number breaks the sadness with a brief moment of laughter. However, it is the opening sequences for the first and second acts that best exhibit the true multi-layered talents of the actors.
Brobst and Naramore have the most polished vocal performances, but other solos by Hosler, Chelsea Rae-Abbate, a sophomore in CAS (Alyson), and Bethany Lynn Corey, a senior in the School of Communication (Jacki), are strong as well. Although some of the other vocals are still in need of improvement, the cast as a whole does a beautiful job.
The musical direction of Douglas Bowles mirrors a professional theater troupe and the live orchestra adds a sense of magic to the production.
Humphries Mardirosian has done a wonderful job in bringing "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" to life for audiences. It is a story not often told, but the fresh approach and original production show evidence of true inspiration. The cast and crew are to be commended for starting from scratch on a little-performed and hardly-known play.
However, bringing this play to the stage was only the first challenge to overcome. The true test will take place in Russia.
But, as Humphries Mardirosian put so eloquently, "If ever there were a group of people to act as arts ambassadors, this is the group." She may just be right.
