To Bluhm, the instruments tell the story. And as a guitar player, he knows that bluegrass can carry a dialogue. \u201cBluegrass is the genre that I\u2019ve found the most expression in as a performer,\u201d says Bluhm. \u201cYou can improvise and riff off of others. It translates to the context of storytelling.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jenny Wu \u201923 also offered a musical thesis. She adapted Something Rotten! <\/em>(2015), a comedy set in the 16th century. It follows two brothers competing with Shakespeare\u2019s success in the theater industry and includes a series of tap-dance choreography scenes. Wu\u2019s cast consisted of members of Masque and Triangle, Colgate\u2019s student theater group, who performed March 31\u2013April 3. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have friends in Masque and Triangle, so when they reached out to me to direct their musical, I was very excited that I was the kind of director they were looking for,\u201d says Wu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When she picked Something\nRotten!<\/em>, Wu was inspired by the\ncomic flair of its script.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomething Rotten! <\/em>is so over\nthe top with its humor,\u201d she says.\n\u201cWhen I first saw a recording of\nthe show, I thought, \u2018I need to\ndo this.\u2019\u2019\u2019\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since then, Wu has\nprioritized creating a fun\nenvironment for her cast, where\nthey can laugh on and off set.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to build a cast\nthat deeply loves the musical,\u201d\nsays Wu. \u201cWe\u2019ve all been sharing\nlaughter during rehearsals, and\neveryone has been excited to\nlearn tap.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The third thesis is an original\nwork by Diego Abanto Ibarguen\n\u201923 titled Moths and Butterflies<\/em>,\nwhich presents a coming-of-\nage tale set in a high school.\nButterflies, as we know them,\nevolved from moths \u2014 Abanto\nIbarguen\u2019s show analogizes this\nphenomena to the transition\ninto adulthood.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn this transition, people\nhave to consolidate parts of\nthemselves into who they will\nbe,\u201d says Abanto Ibarguen.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four cast members made the hour-long show, which was divided into two acts and presented April 26\u201327. The story follows these students\u2019 senior year of high school and the relationships that define their experiences. Altogether, the drama aches with the pains of youth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMoths and Butterflies <\/em>is all\nabout how we have to let go of\nsome friendships and how we\nfind new ones,\u201d explains Abanto\nIbarguen. \u201cIt gets sort of violent,\npersonality-wise, because the\ncharacters come out of their\nshell so strongly.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The script reflects Abanto Ibarguen\u2019s aim to put his memories on the stage. Spring performances range from a Shakespeare satire to a drama about the pains of youth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1272,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1592,1594,1495,1591,1593,115],"coauthors":[1451],"class_list":["post-12183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-scene","tag-crossroads","tag-moths-and-butterflies","tag-performance","tag-senior-thesis","tag-something-rotten","tag-theater"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-3av","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12183"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12418,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12183\/revisions\/12418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12183"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/04\/Butterfly-1024x673.jpg\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tried to keep Moths and Butterflies <\/em>as close to me as possible,\u201d Abanto Ibarguen says. \u201cWhen you write plays, I feel it\u2019s most effective to draw from your own experiences.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"