All-American musical

The classic “Meet Me in St. Louis” debuted Dec. 4 at the Tower Theater

“So won’t you meet me in St. Louis, Louis, meet me at the fair?”

The cast of Liberty University’s Department of Theatre Arts encouraged audiences to join them as they anticipated the opening of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri through the production of “Meet Me in St. Louis.” The play opened Friday, Dec. 4 at the Tower Theater.

Director Chris Nelson, an associate professor in the department of theatre arts, chose the show because it is a classic.

“We were looking for a classical musical because we look to hit many different styles and genres of production pieces our students should be familiar with,” Nelson said. “It’s a nice piece of Americana. It’s such an iconic piece because of the movie and Judy Garland. It’s nice to see our students learn to appreciate the classics.”

Senior Makenzie Pusey, who plays the main character, Esther Smith, noted the challenges of the role in the musical in light of the movie version.

“It has the potential to be kind of cheesy and like the movie, so I think finding the depth and thinking the way these characters actually are thinking and feeling what they’re actually feeling and remembering they are real people is most rewarding,” Pusey said. “With Judy Garland originating the role (of Esther), a challenge is finding a good balance of being like that and being myself.”

Although anticipating the fair is a central part of the plot, the story is really about family.

“There’s things people can relate to because it’s just a normal family going through life,” Dean Cestari, who plays the next-door-neighbor John Truitt, said. “You’re able to see into this life of this typical American family and relate to it and be able to feel them and understand what they’re going through.”

Sophomore Christopher Young, who plays Lon Smith, Jr., felt the show was a classic example of the American dream.

“It really is the American dream in one play,” Young said. “When you picture a house with a white picket fence, that’s what you see onstage.”

The idea of family had a personal meaning for senior Nathanael Westover, who plays Grandpa Prophater.

“One of the rewards of this show was getting to know a lot of new people,” Westover said. “There’s a small senior class left. With this show, we became a tight-knit family like the characters. It’s fun getting to know the underclassmen, meeting new people and just getting together.”

Young echoed Westover’s opinion on the bonds between cast members.

“Being my first show at the Tower Theater, the friendships I made have been great,” Young said. “I didn’t really expect that. (With me) you have some little emo kid from South Jersey who doesn’t really fit in with the theatre scene, so I didn’t really expect to fit in as well as I did.”

Since the show is set between 1903-1904, the show provided cast members an opportunity to learn more about the time period.

“It was really cool to do research because I enjoy history,” junior Kimberly Camacho, who plays the family matron, Mrs. Anna Smith, said. “I did a lot of research on the Fair and didn’t realize how big it was. One of the facts I found I thought was cool was the world’s largest pipe organ during this time was in there and the auditorium alone sat 4,500 people; and that was just one auditorium of 20 buildings. It was also the first time the Smithsonian was putting stuff on display.”

Through her research process, Camacho also learned to appreciate the lifestyles of people during the time period.

“They called this the ‘Time of Optimism,’” Camacho said. “People didn’t hope they would become wealthy and have a good life; everybody expected it. If you didn’t have a family and weren’t well off, you weren’t living fully, that’s what everybody expected.”

Camacho was able to compare lifestyles of then and now.

“It was also right before the time when women’s feminism started, but nobody even thought about it because their minds were so focused on being a wife and a mother,” Camacho said. “It’s interesting to think of that because that’s obviously not how things are today. Even though it makes no sense to us, it made complete sense to them at the time and that’s interesting to think about.”

Although the show is a musical, which Camacho realized some audience members might not enjoy, she, along with the rest of the cast, encouraged people to come see the show for its message.

“It’s just a good, classic musical,” Camacho said. “I know not everybody’s into musicals, but (the show is) just about life when you take out the dance numbers. It’s about a family that’s not perfect that’s dealing with situations and how they come together to deal with them and how they’re resolved.”

The show runs through Dec. 13. The remaining show dates are Dec. 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. as well matinee showings Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. and Dec. 13 at 3 p.m.. More information can be found at
liberty.edu/theatre.

Maurer is a feature reporter.