Written by: Mathäus Schwarzen, staff writer
Rudd Auditorium saw an unusual show Feb. 8. “Come So Far” was the senior project of Isaac Hendrix, Teagan Hughes and Rebekah Runner— and it was directed entirely by students.
Runner said the show represented the culmination of everything the seniors have studied over the past four years. Every aspect of the performance was executed by the students. The three seniors were responsible for the lighting, scripting, choreography and costuming.
“You don’t realize how much work goes into a show until you have to do it all,” Runner said. “It was a lot of thinking in advance.”
The trio had to select the songs for their performance five months beforehand due to the amount of preparation each number needed. They pulled from the wealth of songs each has performed during their time at Bryan, such as “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid and “The Book Report” from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The rest of the jobs were divided up. Runner, for example, was in charge of scheduling.
“It is so hard to take 12 college students and find times where they all can meet,” she said. For numbers like “There’s no Business like Show Business,” and “Come So Far,” which require a larger cast, the seniors relied on their fellow theatre students. Even freshmen pitched in to help.
Runner said the best part was not the applause but the ability to say goodbye to so many friends.
“I really liked my song ‘As if We Never Said Goodbye,’” she said. “That was my farewell to Bryan. That’s why I picked it. I could take my own experiences and put them into it.”
The three seniors received a standing ovation from over 200 people from the Bryan community after the last number.
Math
äus Schwarzen is a die-hard Seattleite and a communication major at Bryan College. He enjoys movies, science and very deep conversations, and is very proud of his German heritage. If you’re looking for him, he’ll most likely be in his room, surrounded by the wreckage of his latest assignment and pounding his head on the wall.
