To ensure that the freshmen arriving on campus today get a better taste of Tufts theater than he did during his orientation week, sophomore Michael La Fazia took on the task of directing Torn Ticket II's portion of the Orientation Show (O-Show), Falsettoland.
"I remember seeing the O-Show last year, and kind of saw it as testing the waters of Tufts theater," he said. "While I enjoyed [it], I think it kind of misrepresented Torn Ticket... I think I may have gotten the idea that that's all we were capable of. "
The sophomore engineer got his first taste of Tufts theater when performance organizations Torn Ticket II and Pen, Paint and Pretzels (3Ps) presented (O-Show) a production during freshman orientation featuring two short plays.
But while La Fazia enjoyed Torn Ticket II's version of the parody revue Forbidden Broadway, he admits that the production did not quite reach his expectations for musical theater at Tufts.
Two semesters later, La Fazia has changed his mind about Tufts theater. He performed in the group's productions of Into the Woods and Hair last year, and realized Torn Ticket's ability to put on what he described as "amazing major productions."
For the O-Show he chose the 1990 musical Falsettoland, a piece that he already knew he wanted to direct at some point during his time at Tufts. La Fazia saw the Orientation Program as the perfect venue to mount the musical, which will be performed by Torn Ticket later this week alongside 3Ps' production of the play Thanks.
"[Falsettoland] has some rather catchy songs that I know the cast can handle, and some great opportunities for some great dancing, and hopefully some wonderful acting," LaFazia said. "I wanted to show the entering freshmen a taste of this talent... I think Falsettoland allows us to do just that."
Falsettoland is the middle segment of a trio of one-act musicals that detail the relationship of a family coming to terms with AIDS, divorce, and homosexuality. In the section performed by Torn Ticket, the family explores whether the happy occasion of a Bar Mitzvah can be properly celebrated under such turmoil.
"I think it's a show that shows family isn't necessarily who you think it is, and despite all the fighting and bickering, there really is a strong support base that you don't get to see until something negative comes about," La Fazia said, explaining why he likes the musical so much.
Though the complexity the show gives La Fazia the chance to showcase the talent at Tufts, the cast faces many challenges simply because of the nature of an orientation production. The cast and crew arrived on campus just this past Sunday, with only three and a half days to block the show followed by an evening of tech work and four full run-throughs.
"The time restrictions held on an O-Show are a bit of an obstacle," La Fazia said. "Since we are given only one week to rehearse, a director has no time to really experiment."
The cast members were given copies of music, a script, and a CD in the spring and were expected to arrive on campus having the material already memorized. La Fazia spent much of his summer creating the artistic vision of the show, blocking everything in advance.
The cast and crew kept in touch over e-mail, which La Fazia said, "allowed us to prepare as much as we can without actually being together." This was also crucial for the cast in regard to obtaining costumes and props - the O-show works with a small budget, meaning that cast and crew members had to provide items from their personal wardrobes.
But the most difficult obstacle presented itself just days before rehearsals began with conflicting news regarding the renovations of the Balch Arena Theater, which is being converter to a proscenium theater for the coming year. La Fazia said that he was told the stage would not be changed until after orientation, when the changes had in fact been made over the summer. As a result of this misinformation, he had blocked the show as if it was to be performed in an arena.
"For a person that has spent months blocking this show, this was not happy news," La Fazia said. "However, I'm sure we can get through it just fine... with a little tweaking, an arena show can easily, hopefully, be turned into a proscenium show."
Freshmen and other students on campus this coming weekend will have a chance to see the final product this coming weekend. Falsettoland debuts Sunday, Sept. 1 immediately following 3P's 7:00 production of Thanks. On Monday, Sept. 2, the show will play alone at 7:30.
