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| The Bing Crosby Theater on Friday, October 20th at 7:30pm |
Honk!
A Musical Tale of the Ugly Duckling
Whitworth Theater is presenting the musical Honk! at the Bing Crosby Theater this month. Built in 1915, the Bing Crosby Theater was originally used as a silent movie house. It now serves as one of the most prominent performing arts theater in Spokane. It hosts all kinds of events- from musicals, to concerts, to comedians. Hosting the play at this well-known theater was a great way to get Whitworth into the larger Spokane community.
Honk! is a musical adaptation of the Hans Christian book, The Ugly Duckling.It is directed by Whitworth professor Brooke Kiener, a Whitworth alum. The colorful cast included a mix of students from freshmen to seniors. Cast members are from all over the west coast: Washington, California, Idaho, Arizona, and Oregon. .
The setting of the play was gorgeous. If the beautiful, historic theater with it's rich colors, warm lighting, and painted murals wasn't enough, the stage set for the play was absolutely perfect. They used different styles of lighting to add to the mood of the scenes. As the seasons changed, so did the lighting and even some of the costumes. It couldn't have been easy designing costumes that had to resemble the characteristics of farm animals without looking too ridiculous.
Even though I have known the story of the Ugly Duckling for many years now, seeing it as a college student, on a stage and not in a book- I gained a whole new appreciation for the story. Ugly, the main character played by senior Sean Stoudt, is the runt of his brothers and sisters. He's perceived by everyone around him as a hideous creature who doesn't belong. Director Brooke Kiener believes that the feeling of being different and left out is fairly universal. She says that Ugly's perseverance is a huge reason that she wanted to direct the play. Throughout the story he is able to face his fears, confront the bad guys, and ultimately accept himself for who he is.
I agree with Brooke Kiener. I think that everyone at one point in their life has felt a little bit like an "ugly duckling." I know that I have felt that way, and continue to feel like that from time to time! Learning to love yourself and accept your quirks and differences is one of the greatest and most difficult lessons in life. Whitworth Theater was able to re-teach this childhood tale to a crowd of 800 (mostly) adults, some from the University and some from the community. One of my favorite things to do during a play is to take a moment during the show to shift my attention from the stage to the audience members around me. Last night I looked around and thought about how many people the story might be resonating with. Whitworth Theater used lights, costumes, scripts and music to entertain, but ended up reminding us all of something very important- to love ourselves.
There is one more showing of Honk! on Sunday, October 20th at 2pm.
I like what you said about observing the crowd during the play. The crowd response (during and after) is definitely a huge indication of the quality of the play, and it was clear that the crowd absolutely loved the showing that I went to. There was a large applause at the end of each scene/song and occasional cheers in support of specific characters. I'd say that this definitely was, in part, because the story resonated with them...not to mention that it was well-written (very whitty) and well-acted!
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