REBECCA HALE and MO SADEK
Assistant Reverb Editor and Staff Writer
Over the weekend, the Performing Arts Company opened their first show of the semester — “Ordinary Days,” written by Adam Gwon. The production played in the basement of the Fredonia First United Methodist Church and was directed by Cassandra Buscemi.
The show itself is a simple musical, as can be assumed by it’s name. It features only four roles — two males and two females — who live in Manhattan. Warren, described by actor Carl Denlinger as “happy go lucky,” encounters Deb, (Dominique Kempf) a graduate student who is struggling to find herself. On the other end of the show, Jason (Kevin Stevens) and Claire (Sarah Mullen) are two lovers who seem to have two different ideals in mind, and struggle to make things work.
Denlinger, a senior music and theatre arts double major, describes the show as “four stories of four ordinary people,” and says that it is “so beautifully simple.” “Ordinary Days” has been Denlinger’s first appearance in a Fredonia show.
Denlinger, who is familiar with the city, connected well with the setting of the musical.
“I see all of these characters every time I’m in the city — all of them are so believable,” he said.
Conversely, Sarah Mullen, senior BFA musical theatre major, said “The energy of the city is so well captured in the script and the score — it helped me set the mood with something I’m not familiar with.”
Though the musical is set in such a jam-packed city and the two sets of characters never meet, the connection between the two pairs is strong and it seems as if the characters have more insight about each other than they do themselves. Similarly, the actors got to know each other well, through the many rehearsals and productions.
“I actually really enjoy the intimate aspect of the production,” said Denlinger. “Even though I never directly interact with Sarah and Kevin, we all still bond so much based on the fact that we are always together.”
“These characters rarely interact in the two stories so it’s very interesting seeing them overlap and use the same songs and the same themes but for completely different stories,” said Dominique Kempf, senior theatre and public relations double major and PAC Executive Producer.
Eventhough the plot of the show itself is simple, the characters each house their own complex issues, most of which are relatable to an audience of college students. Warren struggles to find friends in a place where he seems invisible, Deb has no idea what she wants to pursue in life as a career, Claire wants to let go issues of the past and Jason yearns for someone to share life with.
Even Kempf said she found herself relating to her character after the show was all said and done.
“When we first went into the process, I had a really hard time finding my connection with Deb,” Kempf said. “Now I’m [seeing that ] I’m just like Deb in real life. I realize we have so many similarities.”
“[During] the entire show, we are projecting and telling our deepest, darkest secrets to the audience,” Denlinger explained. “We are exposed one-hundred percent of the time.”
Even the musical score for the show was simple, featuring only keyboard played by Steven Saelzler, though many of the songs were very fast-paced.
“‘Ordinary Days’ isn’t meant to dazzle people with large-scale numbers and all the other glitz that is associated with musicals,” wrote Buscemi in her director’s note. “It shows us that even the simplest thing can capture your heart, can make you feel.”