Jessica Henry
Student Writer
It isn’t every day that a poster for an event at Messiah clarifies that the dress code is black tie optional. The Dessert Cabaret presented by Alpha Psi Omega Wednesday night gave attendees the opportunity to dress up and be entertained by a variety of performers. Theatre and dance majors performed stand-alone musical theatre pieces of their own choosing.
“In the theatre department, there aren’t a lot of opportunities for musical theatre majors specifically to get to just perform songs for an audience other than in voice studios and recitals,” APO Treasurer Brittany Grove said.
Aidan Lewis and Elena Rossetto perform.
Pieces came from musicals including Ordinary Days, Spamalot, Dogfight, The Last Five Years, and Kinky Boots.
“I thought it was a great way to branch out from normal plays and allow each actor to perform what they wanted to,” sophomore social work major Dakota Kelso said.
APO is the National Theatre Honor Society and is associated with the Department of Theatre and Dance.
“I don’t think a lot of people know what APO is, and this event helped to advertise for the organization,” sophomore communication major Cate Cutting said.
APO holds meetings for its members with different purposes, including opportunities to practice original monologues or songs they’ve written. Members also have the chance to direct their own one-act plays that show on campus. However, this event was a turn from the familiar for the organization.
“Besides the one-act plays, this is one of the first big events that APO has hosted in a long time. There hasn’t been a lot of events that could involve the entire student body, so it’s cool to see this happening,” APO member Paige Waldron said.
The cabaret also featured a preview of one of those student-directed one-act plays. “Tracks”, directed by Abbie Jean Litman, will be performed April 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Poorman Blackbox Theater.