What would you do if you were threatened with work on a farm because your touring vaudevillian parents could no longer pay for your upkeep? Put on a show of your own! At least, that's what the teenagers in "Babes in Arms" do to avoid this drastic fate.
Bowdoin's Department of Theater and Dance will perform the musical this weekend in Pickard Theater. Most people familiar with "Babes in Arms" know the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. However, the 1939 movie is not faithful to the original 1937 production by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers. The movie keeps only two of the songs from the original score and changes the plot line completely.
Bowdoin's production will return to the 1937 version of the musical. The College has not presented a musical in several years, and according to Associate Professor of Theater Davis Robinson, the main reason for putting on a musical now is the availability of rehearsal time.
"Beyond the hours of regular rehearsal you'd have for any play, there's also music rehearsal and choreography," Robinson said. "We needed a block of three months for rehearsal, which is why many colleges do their musicals in the spring. Usually we have the Spring Dance Concert, but this year they agreed to perform in Wish, so we got the space in Pickard. The stars just seem to have aligned."
Robinson added that "there was always an interest in doing musicals, but because we don't have a musical theater department, we don't know how many talented students we have. That's part of the reason we chose 'Babes in Arms,' because not only is the music beautiful, but it's also not really hard."
With old-time favorites like "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is A Tramp," "Where or When," and "Johnny One-Note," "Babes in Arms" was an easy choice. Robinson also said that part of the reason this musical was picked was because that while the music is popular and well-known, the context behind the songs is not, allowing the cast a little leeway to imagine and create.
The show will be accompanied by a live orchestra led by the Department of Music's Concert, Budget, and Equipment Manager Delmar Small, which adds to the energy and excitement of the show.
"The chemistry between the actors and the musicians is incredible," said Robinson. "Delmar has done a wonderful job since the beginning in helping the actors and actresses learn their music. He's a great piano player. With the orchestra though, it's amazing. These musicians are really smart and they can respond to what the actors and actresses are doing and add their own little things. The orchestra is like a jet engine under the whole event."
Robinson said that because the play was written in the 1930s, some racial references in the script are "not what we're used to" but that some of the social themes present "still ring true."
"Working with the play has helped us to examine what we have learned and what we have improved upon as a society," said Robinson. "There are still stereotypes out there, but plays like this and the Vagina Monologues have helped us to see how things have evolved. People are talking about racism now. We didn't want to do what they did in the '50s, just cut out everything and pretend it didn't exist; we want to learn and evolve."
The choreography was done by Raymond Dumont. The set was designed by Judy Gailen, the costumes by Julie McMurry, the puppets by Libby Marcus, and the lighting by Nicole Sirois.
"It's so good-spirited and the music so lovely, that the students are really going to give the audience a delightful treat," Robinson says.
"Babes in Arms" will be performed tonight and tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are free and can be picked up at the Smith Union Information Desk and at the door.