LEAH GRAZIANO
Special to The Leader
One of the most interesting aspects about Fredonia is that it has such a strong theatre presence.
There are multiple clubs that showcase theatre performance.
One of them is Fredonia’s Performing Arts Company, or PAC.
It was founded nearly 10 years ago and has become a well-established group on campus. It is completely student-run.
Anyone, regardless of major, can join PAC.
Every season, it puts on four to five shows. PAC’s shows tend to be ones that aren’t performed often.
Unfortunately, PAC couldn’t perform one of its shows this season.
The student run company planned on performing a play called “Indecent” by Paula Vogel earlier this semester.
However, a regional company in Rochester wanted to perform the same show and had purchased the rights.
To put on a performance, you have to obtain the rights to the show. PAC also purchased the rights from a company called Dramatists.
“If another theatre wants to put on the show, usually within a one to two hour radius, they pick which company is allowed to do the show, so the company that lends the rights thought that. If we did it as well, they would lose audiences and make less money over in Rochester,” said Hannah Lee Hernandez, a senior BFA musical theatre major who serves as the vice president of PAC.
This is the first time this has happened to PAC.
“Our director, Jack Levenberg, had spent a lot of really important work and a lot of well thought out time in putting together this production and [was] ready to cast and unfortunately we found out within the first week of the semester that the show was not going to be happening because the rights have not been cleared because there was another company,” said Hernandez.
“Indecent” is about the retelling of the controversial play “God of Vengeance” written by Sholem Asch.
“We tend to pick shows which are off the beaten path and ‘Indecent’ falls into that category but in this political climate, you see a lot more people doing more diverse theatre,” she said.
Normally, when there isn’t a licensing issue, PAC goes through a long process of preparing for a show.
After all of the rights and scripts are purchased, then begins casting, two months of rehearsals and setting up the stage filled with props from PAC’s prop closet.
PAC also does independent projects.
These are for people who want to do their own show. Independent projects are planned during the school year which differ from PAC’s mainstage series. Its mainstage series is planned in May and those productions are performed the following academic year.
However, PAC will only pay for the rights to the show but not for anything else.
Some of the independent projects that PAC has in store for this year include the following: “Measure for Measure,” ”Next To Normal,” “Almost Made,” and “Melancholy,” which just closed.
The reason that PAC is putting on so many independent projects this year is because it couldn’t perform “Indecent.”
“Usually we do one or maybe two. But because we have that extra budget, we have been able to distribute it between four different [independent] shows. We are putting up eight shows this year, which is a lot, but it is very exciting,” Hernandez said.
PAC’s shows differ from the Walter Gloor Mainstage series, which is part of Fredonia’s Theatre and Dance Department.
Every year, the Walter Gloor Mainstage Series puts on more well known productions. This year, the musical “Anything Goes” will be playing in the Spring at Marvel Theatre.
Through the past ten years, this series has put on well-known Broadway shows such as “Victor Victoria” in 2008, “The Sound of Music” in 2011 and “Cabaret” in 2015.
These shows are open to students and the general public.
Preparation for these larger-scale shows take up most of the academic year.
Auditions for the Gloor shows begin in August, rehearsals begin in February and the show is normally performed during April.
Theatre majors and minors are able to obtain credit for being a part of the Walter Gloor mainstage production.
“So, for those of us who are majors, [it] actually counts as a one-credit class. So, if you’re cast, you get one credit working on that for however many months you spend preparing for that [show]. If you’re not cast, then you’ll work backstage at one production a semester,” said Hernandez.
Becoming a theatre major at Fredonia is not like any other college application.
To apply to the BFA programs in acting and in musical theatre at Fredonia, prospective students have to audition in person.
For BFA applicants, they need to go through a pre-screening process through Acceptd. This is an admissions portal for the Fine Arts. It is one of the largest admission portals in the country.
After this pre-screening process, those who advance are invited to Fredonia for an in-person audition.
Those who want to become part of the BA theatre arts program apply just as they would apply normally to the university. They don’t need an audition.
There are other student-run groups that you can join if you are interested in the arts.
One of them is Play on Words.
This group on campus reads plays and discusses them.
“Everyone gets together and you sit down and talk about the play and you analyze it. The things you liked, the things you didn’t like, if you were to see this on stage, how would you want things to be portrayed,” said Hernandez.
Another group on campus is Artist Alliance. This one is less focused on theatre and is open for those who want to showcase various artforms, whether it be sculptures, spoken word or stand-up comedy.
“It is more about celebrating life as an artist and looking through the lense of someone who creates art,” said Hernandez.