{"id":6649,"date":"2011-07-28T09:41:20","date_gmt":"2011-07-28T13:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=6649"},"modified":"2011-08-23T09:52:13","modified_gmt":"2011-08-23T13:52:13","slug":"convent-capers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2011\/07\/28\/convent-capers\/","title":{"rendered":"Convent Capers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"From<\/a>

From left to right, Wright State alumni Darien Crago and Molly Emerson join Jessica Buda (not an alumni) on stage in West Virginia Public Theatre\u2019s "Nunsense."<\/p><\/div>\n

When most people think of nuns, their minds do not immediately jump to musical comedy. But recent Wright State University graduates Molly Emerson and Darien Crago say that while they were acting in West Virginia Public Theatre\u2019s run of Nunsense<\/em> the laughs were plentiful.<\/p>\n

Nunsense<\/em> is a hilarious show centered around a morbid premise: the cook has accidentally poisoned 52 of the sisters, and there\u2019s not enough money to bury all of them. Four of the unlucky departed have a temporary resting place in the convent\u2019s freezer. In true Tin Pan Alley tradition, the nuns decide that the best way to raise the funds is to put on a show.<\/p>\n

Each sister is called upon to dust off some skill or talent. Crago portrayed Sister Mary Leo, who dreams of being the first \u201cnun-ballerina,\u201d as Crago puts it. Emerson played sister Amnesia, who can\u2019t remember much about her talents or her life after suffering a debilitating blow from a falling crucifix.<\/p>\n

\u201cNunsense<\/em> is a fun, silly musical,\u201d said Crago.\u00a0\u201cIt has a classic show-within-a-show plot, and the whole show is full of witty jokes and parodies many iconic musicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crago and Emerson should know about iconic musicals. Both performed in numerous Wright State productions, including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/em>, The Pajama Game,<\/em> and this spring\u2019s smash hit 42nd Street<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Wright State\u2019s musical theatre program has long prided itself on preparing students for careers in professional theatre. It is an intensive immersion in dance, singing, music theory and every aspect of stage acting. Graduates have gone on to perform on and off Broadway, in touring shows and on cruise lines and in amusement parks. Some have gone on to become movie and television actors.<\/p>\n

Crago and Emerson both say that their time in the musical theatre program helped prepare them for their job in Nunsense<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy most important lesson from the Wright State theatre department,\u201d said Crago, \u201cwas how to present myself as a capable, professional actress at auditions and within the rehearsal room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emerson agreed, citing the faculty and her fellow students as instrumental in her development as an actress. \u201cEvery teacher was willing to help at a moment\u2019s notice,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re willing to put forth the effort, they\u2019ll be there to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of her classmates, Emerson said, \u201cwe encouraged each other throughout our four years together and I learned so much just from watching them perform and approach their material.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that Nunsense<\/em> has wrapped up, Crago and Emerson will be performing in the West Virginia Public Theatre\u2019s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee<\/em>. Afterwards, Emerson and Crago are is headed to New York City and the Great White Way. Emerson will begin rehearsals for the national fall tour of Andrew Lloyd Weber\u2019s famous musical Cats<\/em> and Crago will begin auditioning \u201cwith the big kids,\u201d as she put it.<\/p>\n

With any luck, she\u2019ll end up with her dream role, one of the Chicago <\/em>killer dillers, Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dreamed about moving to the city and being a performer for so long, I can\u2019t believe its actually here,\u201d said Crago. \u201cBut I couldn\u2019t be more excited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When most people think of nuns, their minds do not immediately jump to musical comedy. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":6651,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[733,725,747,715,719],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-news","category-special-categories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6649"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6662,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6649\/revisions\/6662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}