Well-known for long ticket lines and almost always sold-out shows, Family Weekend audiences have annually flocked to the Department of Performing Arts’ first major showcase of the year.

Collage has become synonymous, in the mind of the Elon community, with expressive, energetic performances. It returns this weekend with four chances to enjoy the show.

Opening Friday night, Sept. 28 with back-to-back showings at 7 p.m. and 8:15 p.m., and at 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, students and family members can experience a Broadway medley of song and dance.

Student performers play an integral role in both the on- and off-stage work. Senior music theatre major John Say serves as assistant director for Collage.

“We actually bring back numbers from Grand Night, the department’s big spring production,” Say said.

Having that foundation functions as a diving board for Collage. Bringing back past acts provides a sense of familiarity for both the performers and audience.

“It’s really nice to start off the year with audience favorites and numbers that we [the performers] are comfortable with,” Say said. “But they also give us a chance to incorporate the freshmen and new talent, filling spots that graduated seniors held.”

In addition to all the fun for performers and possible comfort they may have with the past numbers, there’s still a lot of hard work involving lots of rehearsal time and careful attention to ironing out the kinks.

Junior Katie Emerson performs in several of the acts in this year’s production. In addition to performing in the numbers she participated in for Grand Night, she has had to learn a whole new number for this show. She’s no stranger to hours of rehearsal required to make Collage a success.

“We [the performers] have been having rehearsals since we returned to Elon,” Emerson said. “We rehearse in the musical theatre departmental which occurs once a week and the other numbers in the show get together as often as needed to clean up their numbers and add new performers to them.”

There seems to be a general consensus among the performers that despite the work involved, it’s a great occasion for them, that’s both thoroughly enjoyable but also a nice chance to display their abilities.

“Collage is a short, yet beautifully sweet introduction to the extraordinary amount of talent that comes to Elon to study theatre from all over the United States,” Emerson said. “It is filled with a wonderful variety of musical numbers that include numbers from ‘Rent’ to ‘I Got Rhythm’ that is sure to leave everyone feeling blissful.”

Collage represents an event that is exciting for everyone involved. Enjoy student performers deliver favorites from “The Scarlett Pimpernel,” “A New Brain,” and “Damn Yankees.”

Reporter: Amanda Kennison - 09/26/07