Pit

Tech Staff

Artistic Staff

Production Staff

Director's Notes

Hello! Welcome to FYP’s production of Carousel. Thank you for coming out and supporting our cast, pit orchestra, and technical crew. Everyone has worked extremely hard for the past few months; their incredible talent will speak for itself.

The most common questions I have received since I began directing this semester’s musical were, “What is Carousel about? Why did you pick this show?” To answer honestly Carousel is not a musical that can be summarized easily in a sentence or two. Its plot is a love story, a tale of personal growth and struggle, a duality between light and dark in the world, as well as many other themes. I chose Carousel because of its intriguing plot, gorgeous score, and empowering message.

While watching the show tonight, I invite and encourage you to watch for some specific aspects on stage. The characters of the show all undertake a personal journey, the main focus being on Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow. Despite the characters experiencing events that would usually change a person, they do not always react in predictable ways. The motif of a carousel and its circular pattern is woven throughout the script. If life were to be compared to riding a carousel, how do we choose to get off? Events happen daily that change our perspective and course through life, but that does not mean the direction has altered. Is it possible for a person to truly change the path of his or her life?

These questions all pertain to the inevitability the characters of Carousel seem to be perpetuating. Life can be an enormous cycle, but that does not mean we have to stay on the ride’s route forever.

Pick a character to follow through each scene. The community that the cast has created feeds the small-town feel of late 1800s New England. See if they are stuck on a circular carousel, or if they have broken free and grown from experience.

First Year Players is breaking new ground by performing Carousel. It is the first Rodgers & Hammerstein II production the organization has done, and it includes ambitious elements that stand apart from the Student Activities Building. Please enjoy the ballet, the amazing set and technical elements, the music of the pit orchestra, and the story from the cast.

We are constantly striving to set new standards of student-run theatre, and your support is greatly appreciated. Though life can present struggles and hardship, we all must remember that we are not going through it alone. Best wishes, and enjoy the show.

--Jacob Lyon

While this is not my last semester as a member of First Year Players, it is my last semester as Producer, and I would like to use my notes tonight to thank those who have made this show possible and then close with some brief reflections on my time in FYP.

I cannot express enough how fortunate this organization is to have Jacob Lyon directing this masterpiece. Jacob, the insane love that not only your cast and your staff have for you, but that the entire organization has for you is the hallmark of an incredibly successful director. You inspire greatness in everyone around you and that inspiration will continue long after the set of “Carousel” comes down. You should be so proud.

There is a special spot in my heart for Katie Ulmer, our super star of a Technical Director. The TD is one of the most thankless jobs in the entire organization, and is a position that only former TDs can understand. I have never been a TD and can therefore only imagine the amount of work it takes to help turn the SAB into what you see before you. Katie, when I look back on my time as Producer, you are everywhere to be found. I knew that with this job there would eventually be some tears, and hopefully lots of laughter, but I never imagined how close we would become during this year. Thank you for being a great friend, and a great partner. We did it.

I began my time in FYP at 10 am on a Saturday afternoon in The Forum at O-Hill. I was auditioning for “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and we warmed up our voices by singing “FYP is fun and not scary [half step]”. This warm up is a staple of FYP and is something that brings so many of us together. FYP has never been scary, but the idea of leaving this organization certainly is. While the phrase “once a member of FYP, always a member of FYP” is nonetheless true, imagining a life where FYP doesn’t dominate your day-to-day existence is something I don’t like doing. I’m going to miss this place, but it’s hard to describe this organization without saying the same thing that people have for nearly 30 years. Perhaps that’s the beauty of it. Perhaps this organization can grow and progress while remaining inherently the same for three decades. FYP was founded as a place to give first years a place to call their own from their first day at U.Va. It is that feeling of belonging and ownership that keeps people here long after their first semester. This organization has a way of giving anyone and everyone a place where they can explore, where they can fail, where they can succeed, and where they can love in the company of the most genuine people on earth. I only hope I have given back to FYP what is has given me.

Logan McClellan