The latest performance given by the theater department at Bene­dictine College was titled “Songs for a New World.” The department teamed up with the music de­partment to perform the concept musical written by Jason Robert Brown.

The cast of “Songs for a New World”, which runs in the Mabee theatre through Saturday. (Alzbeta Voboril I Photo Editor)

Senior John Urbik said they chose it with an awareness of the amount of singers in theater and they wanted to accommodate.

Junior Hannah Menzel thought it was a smart choice but still risky considering their audience. Urbik agreed that it was a bold choice and that the vocals are demand­ing.

“When you have an audience it’s easier and a lot more fun,” Menzel said. The actors react to their au­dience’s reactions to their perfor­mances, such as from their laugh­ter. It helps them to know how much further they can take it.

Menzel said that from the music standpoint, the show was fresh.

The stage was simple with dif­ferent leveled platforms set around the band, which consisted of in­struments such as a drum set, pi­ano, and bass guitar. The lighting was also kept simple, highlighting the solo acts brightly and keeping any others on stage in shadows.

Junior Corbin Hernandez was in charge of the lighting design for the musical.

For the lighting, Hernandez gave a fresh look with a lot of warm colors and tropical colors to keep the mood up. The tone setting is utilized by single lights or light­ing the whole stage to give a bright open feel.

“It was my first time doing lights by myself, it was terrifying,” Hernandez said. “The first night of type rehearsals were the most ter­rifying of my life I thought I was in a nightmare.”

Hernandez said the lighting fit the play because the mood, both musically and lyrically, implies a fresh start. “I think that the set lets itself be an open canvas that can be painted with the characters and the light,” Hernandez said.

“Looking at the results of the show, really seeing it all the way through I am happy with it,” Her­nandez said. “There are a few things I would change, but I’m happy with it.”

The ensemble performance of “The New World,” summed up the theme for the musical. The indi­vidual performance’s showed the progression of independence.

Menzel gave a hilarious perfor­mance of “Just One Step” where she screamed her independence into a cell phone to ‘Murray.’ Act Two began with another perfor­mance from Menzel, called “Sura­baya Santa.”

The comedic act was swiftly followed by a chilling one sung by Erin Conry called, “Christmas Lullaby.” Sitting for the duration of her performance of the song, Con­ry was strong and emotional.

The strongest performance had to be Urbik’s, “Flying Home.” Not only was his voice amazing but it hit at every level, causing the au­dience to clap and give out some ‘WOO’s.’

Over all, the musical was able to take the audience through every emotion with songs ranging from hilarious to sad to triumphant and hopeful.