By Lacey KorevecAsst. Features Editor

Last Friday night, the Yvonne Theater was transformed into a 1950s television studio. Well, not exactly, but Rider’s presentation of My Favorite Year, directed by Patrick Chmel, was success-ful in making Rider’s little Yvonne Theater seem like Broadway anyway.

The story begins when the main character, Benjy Stone (John Bow), a young man just emerging into show business, is thrilled to learn that his favorite actor, Alan Swann (Jason J. Leonard) will be the guest on the sketch comedy show that he is working for. Upon meeting him, however, Benjy learns that his hero is the exact opposite of the characters that he plays in his movies and is in fact very flawed.

The cast was well chosen. Each actor seemed to truly become their character to the point where it felt as though no other person could have por-trayed the characters as genuinely. The acting performances by John Bow, Kim Hausler, Katierose Donohue and Jason Leonard were especially noteworthy.

Humor was another factor that contributed to the show’s excellence. The stage business was so plentiful that it was rare for the audience not to find something witty to chuckle at. Characters “Rookie” Carroca (Arnaldo A. Ortiz), Benjy’s mother (Sarah M. Toben) and Alice Miller (Katierose Donohue) played key roles in delivering laughs. The “Welcome to Brooklyn” number, in which big shot Alan Swann visits Benjy’s mother’s apartment for dinner, leaves the audience roaring with laughter when the quirky family is star-

struck, to say the least.The lead actors exude a lot of con-

fidence in their singing, which allowed for great projection. The chorus on the other hand, seemed a little timid in some of the big numbers and could have been stronger.

There was room for improvement in the choreography. The dancing seemed a little too modern for a show set in 1954. In addition, moves were not sharp and the chorus was lacking stage presence and animation.

While the set changes were smooth and professional, the sets themselves were fairly simple and drab. However, the colorful costumes worn by the actors worked to balance out the lack of color in the sets.

In addition, there were professional musicians playing in the pit. It seems that between Rider and our world-renowned music school, the Westminster Choir College, the talent amongst students should have been available.

Also, the character Alan Swann was portrayed by alumnus Jason Leonard. Although he tackled his dramatic role, it is confusing that a student was not given the chance to play one of the big-gest leads. While it is understandable that the character was meant to appear as a middle-aged man, certain student-actors in the show, such as Sarah Toben and Arnaldo Ortiz were successful in portraying older characters.

My Favorite Year pushed the limits of a collegiate musical and established a new standard for future shows. With the exception of a few small factors, it is well worth its ticket price.

By Lacey KorevecAsst. Features Editor

Last Friday, Rider’s presentation of My Favorite Year danced its way into the Yvonne Theater. The curtain rose at 8 p.m. and from then on the audience was witness to two and a half hours of sheer musical and acting talent.

According to senior Katierose Donohue, the director had a big hand in making the show such a huge success.

“Dr. Chmel is insane but he’s also the greatest man ever,” Donohue said. “Only he could take on a project as big as this and make it work so beautifully. He’s a genius. He’s a great teacher and a mentor and our surrogate father.”

Donohue, who took on the role of Alice Miller, has taken part in sev-eral other theater productions, but was particularly impressed with this show’s cast.

“The cast was a really good group,” she explained. “We worked really well together. It was a great dynamic, a lot of fun hardworking people who love doing it.”

Freshman Gina Maria Cicchino, who played Aunt Sadie, was among the elite group of freshmen who were cast in the show.

“This is a great way to start. It’s been an awesome, awesome run and I’m so glad to be a part of it,” she said.

According to Cicchino, a tremen-dous amount of time went into putting the show together.

“We had practice everyday for about three to four hours, seven days a week, since the beginning of school,” she said. “It was a lot.”

Donohue said that My Favorite Year

was one of the more challenging shows she has worked on.

“Being able to make the character human was a challenge,” she said. “I think we all hit that brick wall at some point and had to figure out how to relay the bricks.”

According to freshman Kim Hausler, the audience on opening night had a lot of positive energy, which was helpful to the actors.

“The audience was really good. They laughed so much and responded to things that I didn’t even necessarily think were funny, which is always inter-esting,” she said. “They were nice and really supportive and responsive.”

Senior John Bow, who was cast as the male lead, Benjy Stone, said that for him, working on the show was an excel-lent learning experience.

“It’s a show people really haven’t done that much because it’s relatively new, so it’s nice that we sort of got to discover it by ourselves,” he said.

Amy Pulchlopek is the Stage Manager for the show and said that the crew has been hard at work since August.

“This show is so much bigger than all the shows we’ve ever done here. Usually we have a cast of about eight and this was a cast of 24. It’s a much bigger cast with much bigger sets. We have about 11 set changes throughout the show,” she said.

According to Donohue, the future looks promising for My Favorite Year.

“Opening night was a success,” she said. “I think that we are already selling out for next week so I’m pretty excited and nervous.”

Friday, November 22, 2002 Page 5Friday, November 22, 2002 Page 5

Rider production ‘My Favorite Year’ sets new standardThe Rider NewsTheater Review

Teacher AssistantsLakeview Child Center,nationally accredited childcare organization, has several part time positions available. Top pay. Flexible schedules. EOE Lawrenceville 896-0500

www.lakeviewchildcenter.org

#1 Spring Break Vacations!

• Mexico • Florida• Jamaica • Texas

• Bahamas Campus reps wanted.

Best prices. Free parties and meals. Call 1-800-234-7007

endlesssummertours.com

Spring Break2003

Is now sponsored by Student Express!Cancun • Acapulco

• Mazatlan • Jamaica • Bahamas •

South Padre • Las Vegas

• Florida • IbizaBook early and get free meals!Student Express sponsors the best par-ties and is now hiring salaried Salespeo-ple, Campus Reps and On-site Staff. Contact www.studentexpress.com or1-800-787-3787 for details

Spring Break with StudentCity.com!

Air, hotel, free food and drinks and low-est price guarenteed.Reps wanted. Organize 15 friends, earn two free trips and cash to promote StudentCity.com. Call 1-800-293-1445 or e-mail sales@studentcity.com today!

USA Spring BreakPresentsSpring Break 2003Campus Reps WantedEarn 2 free trips for 15 people Cancun, Bahamas, Mazatlan,Jamaica, Acapulco,

South Padre and FloridasCall Toll Free1-877-460-6077www.usaspringbreak.com