Falling in Love with Theatre — Again (McGoldrick)
By Molly McGoldrick.
Unfortunately, I missed quite a bit in February due to Covid-19, but this week I got to see some of the amazing theatre productions I missed while I was sick, including SIX: the Musical and Heathers: the Musical, which was actually the show I was able to perform in right before leaving for London. It was nice seeing a professional production, and it definitely reminded me of some fond memories. But despite being in so many theatres this week, I also had some doubts about my decisions to pursue a career in theatre.
Recently, our class went to Bletchley Park, the place where many people, code breakers, went during World War II to decipher military codes and ciphers, which played a big part in the Allied victory. I really enjoyed learning about the efforts that were made for the war effort behind the scenes. My math brain especially loved thinking about what these incredible people and machines were calculating and what puzzles they were solving. Although it made me a bit sad because I was originally planning to major in math at Providence before switching to a double major in musical theatre and philosophy. The museum got me thinking about what might have been if I hadn’t switched majors.
But seeing Heathers the Musical on Sunday reminded me of why I chose to pursue theatre. Heathers also has ghosts in it, much like 2:22: A Ghost Story, a play we saw last week as a class. While 2:22 was not my favorite show and I normally don’t enjoy thinking about the possibility of ghosts, our class discussion this week was one that I really enjoyed! 2:22 also got me thinking about celebrity culture here in London. Cheryl, a famous singer here, is currently starring in the show and is surely attracting more of a crowd, but generally celebrities here are not revered the way they are in the United States. It makes one think about culture and wonder what made the United States more “celebrity crazy” and whether other countries generally feel similarly. It makes one wonder what makes each city unique and what makes them the same.
