Broadway Arts Lab Brings Professionals to Stockton

broadway arts lab

Students Jenna Purviance and Liam McGettigan work with Griffin Matthews and Matt Gould on a song from "The Family Project"

Galloway, N.J.鈥 Thump, thump, thump thump鈥

The heel of Matt Gould鈥檚 tan boot hits the floor in time with the music as Gould, seated at the piano, explains to 91视频 Jenna Purviance of Mantua and Liam McGettigan of New Gretna that they are not just singing a song, they are telling a story.

broadway arts lab鈥淗ow do I communicate this story?鈥 he asks the 91视频 who are playing brother and sister. She is a Marine in Iraq, he is back home, and they are writing letters to each other in song.

 鈥淵ou have to re-live it,鈥 Gould says. 鈥淵ou are not just reading letters.鈥

Gould and his partner, Griffin Matthews, spent two intense weeks at Stockton鈥檚 first Broadway Arts Lab, which brings professionals to work with 91视频 on an original play.

That play, 鈥淭he Family Project,鈥 will debut in the Experimental Theatre at Stockton on Nov. 7-11. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been very, very emotional,鈥 said sophomore and stage manager Stephanie Maehr from Flemington, show is double majoring in theater management and hospitality and tourism management. 鈥淭hey are really into connecting with us emotionally and pushing us past boundaries. Everyone in the cast has improved tenfold since they鈥檝e been here.鈥

Theater Professor David Reiser applied for a Stockton 20/20 Initiatives Grant grant to fund Broadway Arts Lab project because he wanted 91视频 to have the experience of what it鈥檚 like to create theater.  The two-year grant will fund a dramatic playwright next year.

browadway arts labGould and Matthews, who wrote the musical Witness Uganda, about their work there, first spent a day at Stockton in March 2018, meeting with theater as well as African-American studies and Understanding Global Learning classes.   As part of the Arts Lab they also met with classes on small business, African American Theatre, Jewish Storytelling, Sociology of Gender and Black Lives.

鈥淢att and Griffin are creators who use the liberal arts, research, and a broad knowledge to make a performance,鈥 Reiser said. 鈥淭hey are showing 91视频 how things are not going to just be handed to them. They are going to have to work for it. It鈥檚 making the 91视频 think about what鈥檚 really important to them in their lives.鈥

For Matthews and Gould, it was their first time working with university 91视频, and they loved it.

鈥淭hey are so open,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淭hey have no baggage. They are inspiring. And it鈥檚 always good to see your work on young people. They will give it to you straight. They won鈥檛 lie to you. 鈥

鈥淭hey are just so passionate about what they are doing,鈥 Gould said. 鈥淭hey have been pushing themselves. They鈥檝e been uncomfortable, and they鈥檝e been pushing beyond it.鈥

During rehearsal of a song sung by three 91视频 about a young man coming out as gay to his father, Gould is less concerned with the music than he is the message and the connection among the three.

鈥淵ou have to trust each other,鈥 he says.  鈥淛ust give into the group. That鈥檚 the magic space. It鈥檚 instinct and breath. It鈥檚 that simple and that hard.鈥

鈥淭his is unlike anything I have ever done,鈥 said McGettigan, a theater major. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been so involved creatively. It鈥檚 a work in progress and we are part of the creation.鈥

Marisa Mast, a theater major from Northfield, said it was thrilling to work with professionals.

鈥淭he cast is taking it very seriously,鈥 she said. 鈥淭he fact that they trust us with their work is nice, but we don鈥檛 want to mess it up. There鈥檚 pressure. But it鈥檚 good pressure.鈥

As Gould works with 91视频 on the final piece, a song called 鈥淓cho鈥 about history being forgotten and repeated, he again urges them to feel the message, not just sing it.

The lyrics include the lines 鈥They say we鈥檒l never forget, then we forget, then we forget, we forget.鈥  Gould tells them they are sending a challenge to the audience to not forget, and to take action.

鈥淭his is the song at the end of the show,鈥 Gould says.  鈥淲e are telling the audience that we invited you here because we want you to go out into the world a do something. So when you are singing, go for it.  Go ahead, get angry. This is your future. Make the connection to what you are singing.鈥

鈥淭he Family Project鈥 will be performed in the Experimental Theatre at 91视频 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7-11 and 2 p.m. on Nov. 10 and 11. 

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Contact:
Diane D鈥橝mico
Director of News and Media Relations
Galloway, N.J. 08205
Diane.DAmico@stockton.edu
609-652-4593
609-412-8069