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Students from the MCC Theater Department recently made a trip to the Orpheum Theatre in the Twin Cities, thanks in part to a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council, which was made possible by an appropriation from the Minnesota State Legislature.
According to MCC Theater Director Isaac Harms, 29 students attended a Sunday matinee performance of the Broadway National Tour of the musical Les Miserables.
Harms said it was a chance to expose the students to professional, Broadway-caliber theater and allowed them to experience a quality largescale production. Vocal performance, musical direction, set and lighting design and technical execution and more at a professional level gave the students an opportunity to take a look at their own creative perspectives and even gain some inspiration for next years’ productions.
“The students returned excited and motivated. They came back energized with ideas we can adapt to our own stage,” Harms said. “Trips like this connect classroom learning to realworld performance. It makes everything we teach more tangible.”
Harms said the bus ride on the way home was full of conversations and creativity – exactly what he hoped for when the trip was planned. Another bonus was the positive group bonding experience.
Student comments: ● Seeing a Broadway tour in person was completely different than anything I have experienced. The energy and scale of the production were incredible.
● It gave me new ideas for how we can use lighting and set pieces in our own shows next year.
● I didn’t realize how much detail goes into every single scene. It made me appreciate all the work that happens behind the scenes.
● The music and emotion of the show really stuck with me. It reminded me why I love being involved in theater.
● It was inspiring to see what’s possible when a cast and crew work together at that level.
Harms said a goal is to grow the theater program through educational travel experiences.
