Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes, literally, of your favorite UMass Amherst theater production? The students of Theater 110 are eager to work outside of the spotlight and make sure that everything comes together perfectly.

Theater 110 is a one credit course where the students help a show run smoothly, and be an enjoyment for every guest and cast member. This gives the students an experience other than just performing on stage. It can make an actor or actress appreciate all of the people that work behind the scenes and help them do what they need to do.

Each theater major at UMass Amherst, must take this class, not only once, but three times before graduation. This course shows every student what it takes to run a show, and how all of the things that are a mystery to the show’s audience, come to happen.

The students are divided into “crews and each given specific jobs to do backstage. The deck crew is assigned the job of moving and building set pieces, make up and costume crews are in charge of making each of the actors look the part and repairing any damages.

All of these students work very hard and put in many hours out of their already busy student schedules in order to make the production run smoothly.

“The House of Bernarda Alba" will be put on by a spectacular cast of UMass students on our very own campus. The show was written by Federico Garcia Lorca and is sure to be a crowd pleaser. This play is a more dark production when compared to the Musical that the drama department is also producing. It is the tale of a woman and her daughters as they go through a period of mourning after the demise of her second husband. It is the story of a young girl who wants to defy her mothers’ will. This play was written by a famous traditional Spanish playwright, so it will spark the interest of many classical play lovers.

Rehearsals have been occurring every every week night since September 21^st for the cast, and will continue until the show dates on Oct. 28, 29, 30 and Nov. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 at 8 p.m., Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m.

The cast list for this show was posted on the blog for the UMass theater group, that can be found here. It is as follows…

Bernarda Alba Jeannine Haas

Maria Josefa TBD

Angustias Kate Hare

Magdelena Emily Brown

Amelia Eva Wright

Martirio Brittany Costa

Adela Annelise Nielsen

Maid Monica Giardano

Poncia Linda Tardif

Prudencia Eve Mugar

Beggar Woman Mikayla Dalton

First Mourner Corinne Hushchle

Second Mourner Lily Kaufman

Third Mourner Katie Carver

Girl Julia Lis

The university of Massachusetts held auditions on September 13^th and 14^th for their two upcoming productions. Many hopeful students showed up to show off their talents and

possibly get a chance to perform in an upcoming show. “The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” by Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn will be the musical production. This show first appeared on Broadway on May 2^nd, 2005. It is the story of six teenagers competing in a spelling bee and going through the hardships of adolescence. The show won two Tony Awards in 2006 for both best book of a musical and best featured actor.

The audience will be very interactive in this show and it is sure to get a lot of laughs. The performance will be held In the Rand Theatre right here on the UMass campus, on Dec. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11 at 8 p.m. and Dec. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m.


Come out and support a sure-to-be talented but small cast! Your fellow students will be performing and are looking to give all audience members a show that they can enjoy!