By Brandon Banda, Contributing Writer
Last Friday, members of the Sunderman Conservatory of Music partook in A Night on Broadway—an event based around pieces from famous musicals such as “Guys & Dolls,” “Anastasia,” “Jekyll and Hide,” and many more. One to two students performed each piece which culminated into a fifteen-song set. The production was led and directed by Susan Hochmiller, the associate director of voice at the Conservatory. Scott Crowne accompanied each song with his masterful skills of piano playing. Hochmiller and Crowne should be thanked as well despite the copious amount of talent on stage that comes first to people’s minds. Over the course of the hour-long set, three words perfectly encapsulate the performances from the students: selection, range, emotion. These are what come to mind when viewing the multitude of talent that took the stage at the Majestic Theater in downtown Gettysburg, PA. Of note, three pieces really captured the audience’s attention, those of which should be written about as best as possible, even though seeing it in person sufficed more.
Undoubtedly one of the shorter pieces of the night, but one of the few that got a handful of “aw” sounds from the audience, was the performance of ‘I’ve Never Been in Love Before,’ a song from “Guys and Dolls.” Elizabeth Bishop ’23 and Natalie Dolan ’23 performed the piece as a duet, and what sold it was not only the sonics of the piano, not only the lyrics, but the emotion that Bishop and Dolan drew out of each other. Keep in mind that the stage was not frilled nor was the theater or nature of the performance supposed to be a big spectacle. It was under an intimate roof under intimate circumstances with an intimate piece of music. Therefore, the eye contact, the two standing shoulder to shoulder, and the slight graze of hands that Bishop and Dolan implemented is what made the interjections from the audience so validated and so powerful.
Later in the show saw Ana Maria Griffin Morimoto ’25 evoke heart, depth, and despair out of her lungs, but more importantly, out of the audience. The amount of range her voice carried throughout the song was a spectacle to behold. Morimoto’s ability to sell “Requiem,” a piece from “Dear Evan Hansen,” to this audience—perhaps some of which did not even know it was a musical—was exemplary of the talent she embodies as both a singer and, one would say, an actress. She made me care about this story I have never heard about because of lyrics like this: “Why should I have a heavy heart? Why should I start to break in pieces? Why should I go and fall apart for you?”
If this stanza does not do you in, I cannot say what in life possibly can. So, you can only imagine that viewing and listening to Morimoto perform this piece along with Crowne made this so much more of an emotional gut punch in person as opposed to just reading about it.
Despite these love-story tracks that drew emotion out of the audience, there were also moments of comedic relief. One of the more notable pieces was from one of the beloved professors of the Sunderman Conservatory, Russell McCutcheon. Because it is not labeled in the pamphlet from the show, I cannot say what famous musical he performed from, but the purposive grouchiness, quick wit, and undeniable comfortability in stage presence had all the audience in tears of laughter almost instantly. Any form of a joke he gave the audience, they graciously received. He undoubtedly received the loudest roars from the audience, which was somewhat surprising considering the bevy of talent from the students. It must have been because it was not scripted, and let’s be honest: people love fun surprises, and surely, he brought his A-game to that performance.
In a similar way, Aiden Ludka ’24 gave the audience some much needed respite from heartbreak that occurred after McCutcheon’s performance in the show. Ludka performed “It’s Not About Me” from “The Prom.” In this musical performance, Ludka plays a self-absorbed actor bordering between arrogant and comedic when trying to advocate for a LGBTQ+ member not being able to attend prom because she is a lesbian. Both the ignorance of Ludka’s character and the pushed-aside, sarcastic demeanor of the character Laura Duffy ’23 played made the deadpan comedy of this segment so hilarious, and it paid off.
All in all, Night on Broadway displayed the multifaceted talents of the students as a part of Gettysburg College’s Sunderman Conservatory. The 15 performances ebbed and flowed with emotion, depth, heartbreak, love, joy, comedy, and intensity. 15 may sound like a lot, but the hour went by like a breeze. I was not expecting to go into the performance and feel a sea of emotions be drawn out of my soul, but the performers were easily able to accomplish that. Sometimes we just need to feel all things in life, and a cold Friday in October seemed like the best time to ride that roller coaster of emotions called Night on Broadway.
