By Jennifer Mustoe and Craig Mustoe
UVU School of the Arts in Orem, Utah conjured a magical afternoon, seeing our two favorite Wicked witches in a Wicked Workshop, or Masterclass. Since seeing Wicked a few weeks ago, the songs and tears and laughter from the show hasn’t been far from my mind. I’ve listened to the soundtrack over and over–something finally might have replaced Hamilton as my running playlist. Today in the new and not yet fully-open Smith Theater at UVU’s Noorda complex, Jackie Burns (who plays Elphaba) and Kara Lindsay (who plays Glinda) gave a Workshop/Masterclass for students that brought us laughter and some tears.
The first half of the Masterclass was short five-minute scenes for four students each. The scenes were funny, and written in such a way as to give the students and mentors a lot of ways to interpret the pieces. Most of the scenes were very funny, clever, and Burns and Lindsay gave each student some great tips and advice. It was amazing how confident the students became after doing the scene once, getting advice, and then performing it again.
The second half of the Masterclass was when the talent exploded for me–lots of applause, and with a few of the singers, some tears. Again, almost all of the performers were excellent (and a few of them had performed scenes from the first half of the class.) It was obvious who the favorites were from the UVU theater and voice classes, because even as a few of them got up to sing, the applause started. Each singer sang their piece once, each one said they were nervous (I’d say!), and the mentors helped them relax, gave them tips on how to do the piece better, and then–magic! Each time the singers sang their piece for the second time, they did even better. I will say, UVU has a LOT of talent in their musical theater program. Many of the songs were from shows I wasn’t familiar with, and that whetted my appetite to look them up. Even Burns and Lindsay weren’t familiar with some of the pieces and I may have heard that they might use some of those songs for their own repertoire–high praise, right?
As an actress and singer myself, I drank in all the advice. One I know I will use is Jackie Burns said she grounded herself before each audition by patting herself down from head to foot to get the jitters out. I’m going to try that. I loved all the suggestions and advice–all of it was relevant and not specific to the performers. These were legitimate tricks of the trade.
After the Masterclass, Craig and I were able to spend a few short minutes with the stars. Another press person (from the Daily Herald newspaper) and I asked the stars questions. What struck me most was how chummy and trusting these two women are with one another. It’s nice to know they are friends off stage as well as onstage, as they are traveling all over the country and doing eight shows per week everywhere they go.
Noorda Ribbon Cutting Facebook Event (March 25, 2019)
An Evening with Jason Alexander Facebook Event (March 25, 2019)
Sierra Boggess in Concert Facebook Event (March 29, 2019)
UVU is doing two more Masterclasses this semester, so go to their Facebook pages to keep track of when. And the beautiful new theater will have its Grand Opening at the end of March, so be sure to attend that as well. UVU also presents a wide variety of performance arts. Go to the UVU School of the Arts Facebook page and see some amazing performances.
Utah Valley University, 800 W. University Parkway, Orem, Utah 84058
Contact: 801-863-7529
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