Miah Fox
From October 2nd through the 5th, the Hastings College Department of Music and Theater presented Ride the Cyclone: The Musical. The musical had a cast of eight, received positive reviews from audience members, and was stated to be the source of fond memories for the production team.
“The students did phenomenal work.” Kathleen Lorenze, the show’s technical director, said, “I thought the students really made it shine. It was beautiful.”
The show was about the death of six students who were a part of the Cassian High School Choir of Uranium, Saskatchewan, after a rollercoaster accident. Characters Ocean, Noel, Mischa, Ricky, Jane, and Constance all enter into a game upon their deaths, where the winner gets to live again. The strangers reflect on their lives through song, and at the end of the musical, one soul departed the theater to enter a new life.
A few of the actors shared their thoughts about the show.
Jordan Parker spoke fondly of his character, Noel, who in the musical was a young queer man. “At first I listened to the song (Noel’s Lament) and thought, ‘this is an empty dream’, but then I thought, ‘no, I relate to this’.” Parker spoke about how he appreciated how the musical was a story about accepting your life. “It’s just appreciating the little things life gives you.”
“I really enjoyed it,” David Udlock, the actor for Mischa, said, “It was one of the most rewarding show experiences I had ever been a part of. I miss it so much already.”
Maxwell Blankenship, the actor for Ricky, also spoke about the excitement about the show. “It was really cool seeing everything coming together.”
Of course, every good show came with its share of struggles. Almost all of the cast and crew mentioned the time crunches that they were under.
“Time is always a huge obstacle,” Lorenze said. “And the kids always dream big.”
“A lot needed to be done.” Morgan Ashcraft, the lighting designer, said, “It took a lot of testing and tweaking.”
Still, the show managed to pull through on time, and the audience seemed to love it. Faith Bolt, one of the audience members and a student at Hastings College, spoke about what she thought of it.
“I loved how their energy was shown throughout the entire thing,” Bolt said. She talked about how she found the songs starring Mishka, David Udlock’s character, the funniest.
“If anything,” She said, “I think it would be really cool to get musicals with a bigger cast.”Of course, the Hastings Theater does not plan to stop with this musical alone. They have already started working on their new musical, Trail to Oregon, which will be coming up in the winter.