By Mikenna Barcelona, Staff Writer
Mark your calendars and scrub in for a dose of drama: “Suitors N’ Scrubs: A Medical Soap Opera” is the title of the Newman Chorale’s annual spring musical, and it will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. April 25-27 at DeMattias Performance Hall.
Deanne Zogleman, music director at Newman, asked Newman’s technical director Austin Schwartz and Alex DeHoet, both former Troubadours, to write the show, which features lots of songs strung together with a loose plotline.
“...We wrote the show last year and it was a huge success,” Schwartz said, referring to last year’s spring performance, titled “Jukebox Hero.”
Schwartz said that he and DeHoet spent time thinking about a concept and what type of story they wanted to tell during the show. They bounced around a lot of ideas, such as centering the show in an arcade where the games come alive or making it a classic heist story where a team needs to be pulled together.
Eventually they decided to go with a medical soap opera. Zogleman gave a list of songs to Schwartz and DeHoet, and then they began to develop the plot and the characters.
A big change about this spring show compared to the others from the past is that the writers didn’t make this one a non-stop comedy.
“Although it is still jammed full of comedic moments, we had to honor the medical soap opera genre and create some very tragic moments,” Schwartz said. “I think we did that very successfully.”
Cast member Gabe Trevino, sophomore, said that preparing for the show has been both exciting and challenging.
“For this whole semester, we have been learning new songs for the spring show,” he said. “ We have about 16 songs in total that we have learned, and let me tell you, some of them are not easy. Of course, I have had plenty of fun learning these songs, but it took some outside time to learn and memorize them.”
Some songs that will be performed in the show are “I’m Just Ken” and “Dance the Night” from the “Barbie” movie, “Take Me Home” by Pentatonix, “Someone in the Crowd” from “La La Land” and “Rise Up” by Andra Day.
Trevino says that before every performance, he puts a piece of ice in his mouth then rubs other ice cubes on his face to wake himself up so he is ready for the show.
Although Trevino said he is having a blast preparing for the show, he is ready for it to happen so that he can finally sleep after the long hours of practicing.
“Not a lot of people know this, but with shows, it’s not a one-and-done deal,” he said. “You have to be dedicated and work outside of school or practices, and it does take a lot of time.”
General admission tickets for the show are $12, $10 for senior citizens, military personnel, and Newman faculty/staff. Student tickets are $5. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.newmanuniversitytheatre.org
PHOTO: Courtesy photo, Deanne Zogleman
