Where You Belong: A Homecoming Cabaret Dazzles EU
Photo by Ian Murphy
Elmhurst University’s fall musical cabaret was an engaging and heartfelt spectacle. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me proud to be a Bluejay.
The lights come down in a warm and crowded theatre. Bright stage lights illuminate a bare stage hosting only a recreation of the Gates of Knowledge on campus, projections of campus life and history shine through a projection screen onto the back of the stage.
Where You Belong: A Homecoming Cabaret begins. The first two pieces performed are big, full-company dances from famous Broadway musicals. “Welcome” from The Who’s Tommy and “Where Do You Belong?” from Mean Girls.
After the grand opening, Maddux Masopust, our host for the evening, welcomes us to the Mill Theatre and invites us for a night of music.
He thanks alumni for joining us and sets up the format of the night. Performers will come on stage and sing and dance about home, whether that be here on campus, away with your family, or wherever you’re able to hang your hat.
After an exciting hour and fifteen minutes of music, Masopust and the rest of the ensemble close the show to Grease’s “We Go Together,” and we’re once again returned to reality. The time flew by and yet I was still left feeling like I had lived a lifetime in that seat.
I loved the performance. Unlike a traditional stage play or musical, a cabaret-style show features an individual or ensemble and a collection of loosely related or themed works, as opposed to a single plot and throughline for the entire production.
Where You Belong’s throughline was Homecoming. Speaking with director and choreographer Amy Lyn McDonald, she said,
“[I wanted] something in the spirit of belonging, having somewhere to go home to- a place to belong to”
That was the impression I received watching the show. Each number transported me to a world within music. The excellent lighting design from Micaiah Brown and inviting (and just a little campy) choreography from McDonald meant my entire focus was the performers on stage.
The scenery and projections, designed by Sean McIntosh, were barebones and simplistic, but not basic or uninteresting. The Gates of Knowledge, standing firmly in the background, planted the audience mentally at home in EU, even if the song never mentioned it. The projections were a nice touch of visual interest.
The performers truly felt like they were having fun! In the second number, “Where Do You Belong,” soloists Ella Boyden and Devin Thomas felt like they were trying to get along with the new students on campus and having fun while doing it.
Master of Ceremonies Maddux Masopust was featured in the number “I’m Not a Loser,” originally from The SpongeBob Musical. In speaking with Amy Lyn McDonald, it was the only song in the production that she didn’t initially choose.
McDonald claims Masopust approached her in the spring.
“[Masopust] talked to me and asked me about a specific song and I hadn’t thought of it, so I actually included it!”
The song, compounding on fantastic soloistic performances from Treasure Indiamaowei, Aron Gomez, and Ella Leon in the songs prior, made me tear up. It’s a campy tune from a musical about a cartoon sponge, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need.
The show was fantastic. Though it only ran for one weekend, McDonald claims she wishes to host more cabarets of this nature in the future.
Elmhurst University’s fall musical cabaret was an engaging and heartfelt spectacle. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me proud to be a Bluejay.
If you want to see another cabaret-esque show featuring music, dance, and EU students, the Department of Theatre and Dance is hosting An Evening of Dance on Nov. 23 and 24 of this semester.
