SUNY Cortland’s lineup of plays and musicals for 2024-25 begins with an original, and ends with a classic.
“By Any Other Name,” a production by CreateTheater, opens Oct. 3 at the Dowd Fine Arts Center. This is the debut production of the show, which is still being worked on and fine-tuned as it is being rehearsed, said Ben Wells, publicity coordinator and production manager.
“CreateTheater is like an incubator for people who are working on shows,” Wells said. “A show doesn’t just magically happen. You really need to workshop, try things out on stage, see how things play out and make edits; that’s where the students come in.”
The pop/rock musical follows Shakespeare’s trio of witches from “Macbeth,” who throw other Shakespeare plays into their cauldron and mix it up. This results in Juliet, Helena, Hermia, Viola and Ophelia getting a second chance at things, while they forge their own identities and learn about gender roles.
Getting perspective from industry professionals is invaluable for students, said Director Kevin Halpin.
“Having an established playwright learn from your performances and listen to your ideas about the life of the character teaches our students how important their place is in the collaboration on a new piece of theater,” Halpin said. “The confidence and sense of self-worth that provides is an invaluable foundation for the start of their careers in the theater.”
The first play of the season, “John Proctor is the Villain,” runs Nov. 7 to Nov. 10 at the Dowd Fine Arts Center lab theater.The play takes place in a classroom, where students are studying “The Crucible,” with their teacher, Mr. Calloway, while a small-town scandal unfolds.
“The hardest part of my role, for me, is that Calloway is a complicated character, so giving clear implications of his thought process on stage will be difficult,” said senior Nick Webster, who plays Mr. Calloway.
“Eleemosynary,” runs Feb. 27 to March 2 at Cortland Repertory Theatre Downtown. The title is a spelling bee word, meaning charitable, that the youngest character has been studying for her upcoming competition.
“This is kind of an intimate show,” Wells said. “It’s going to be perfect for the CRT downtown space. There are three characters, and it really studies the connection between three generations of women in one family.”
The season then goes from a three-person, emotionally charged play, to one of the biggest spectacles of broadway’s golden age. “Anything Goes” runs from April 4 to April 13 at Dowd Fine Arts Center.
The musical comedy is a mashup of a gangster movie, antics and social satire, the SUNY Cortland website says. There’s also some insanely big tap numbers, Wells said.
