As a first-year student seeing Fresh Faces for the first time, I was truly astounded by the excellent amount of work and effort that the students and Deep End APO put into this show.
The annual first-year musical theater cabaret included great songs from well-known musicals like “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Rent,” “Newsies” and “Into the Woods.”
It was a true joy seeing how passionate each first year on stage was about every song they were singing. In each musical number, the performers greeted the enthusiastic audience with a chorus of melodious voices, smiling faces and killer dance moves.
The director of Fresh Faces was Meg Borkowski ’18, with Jon Madden ’20 as music director and Sylvie Weissman ’21 as stage manager. Fresh Faces also included a pit orchestra as well as a cast of over 40 people.
The Pause Mane Stage was kept relatively simple with no set pieces. However, to adjust to the mood of different musical numbers, the stage was bathed in various lighting. For example, for the song “Who I’d Be” from “Shrek: The Musical,” the lighting that was utilized was a fitting green color.
Besides the glorious voices, another aspect that made the musical numbers captivating to watch was the choreography, which must be commended. In numbers that involved choreography, the performers would often flow together in sync as they created a beautiful picture of dance and song on stage.
“The upbeat music and harmonious voices of the cast of Fresh Faces 2021 was enough to lift every audience member out of their seats with joy.” – Laras Kettner ’21
Although each song in Fresh Faces was outstanding, several musical numbers stood out. For example, the two male students performing “Wig in a Box” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” truly won the audience over with their passionate singing, as they fully embodied the comedic character of Hedwig. Another hilarious and joyful number was “For Now,” from “Avenue Q” where the singers utilized expressive sock puppets which was quite engaging for the audience. “It Ain’t No Thing” from “Bring It On: The Musical” was a jazzy number, with a band of sassy and funny girls. Finally, “No One is Alone” from “Into the Woods” was a hauntingly beautiful song. In this number, the voices of the freshman students blended together to create a powerful melody that resembled the mysterious wonders that the woods can hold.
The show ended with “You Will Be Found” from “Dear Evan Hansen,” and what a song to end with! Indeed, the upbeat music and harmonious voices of the cast of Fresh Faces 2021 was enough to lift every audience member out of their seat with joy.
kettne1@stolaf.edu
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