by: Emma Fleming
Opening night for Parkland’s 28th Annual Student Production, Come Blow Your Horn, is tonight! The comedy show, created by famous playwright, Neil Simon, is directed by Melissa Goldman and includes an all-student cast and crew. The show will be held in Parkland’s Second Stage Theatre and will begin at 7:30 p.m. The show will be followed by a student-led talkback to answer any questions that audience members may have. The show times for Come Blow Your Horn are Friday, Feb. 8, Saturday, Feb. 9, Friday, Feb. 15 and Saturday, Feb. 16 all starting at 7:30 p.m. There is also a matinee on Sunday, Feb. 17 starting at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person.
Melissa Goldman, the student director, says that this production is unlike any other. “It’s an all student production,” Goldman said. “Every aspect of the show is student done, like student costume design, lighting design, and sound design.” To Goldman, one of the most attractive features of Come Blow Your Horn is that the show is produced by Parkland students, alone. “We get a budget and we all put it together within the time that we have,” Goldman said. The cast and crew have spent a lot of time together working on the show, and Goldman hopes that students and community members will be able to see that. “Getting to work with the cast and seeing them get along with each other has been a really nice breath of fresh air,” Goldman said. “I hope that the audience takes away the opportunities that Parkland gives for theater, and that just because shows are student produced doesn’t mean that they can’t be high quality.”
With the time that the students have been allotted, Goldman said that her cast and crew have been preparing for the production for almost four weeks. Goldman and her team have been trying to bring the hilarious story of Alan and Buddy Baker to life. “This show is about two brothers,” Goldman said. “It is about how Alan lives a swinging 60s bachelor life and does what he wants and his little brother, Buddy, is ready to experience that life under his brother’s wing.”
Thom Billam, who plays Buddy Baker, added that the show is a comedy about the messy lives of the two brothers. “One day he [Buddy] decides he’s had enough of living at home, so he moves in with his brother, Alan,” Billam said. “It happens at the worst possible time for both of them, and things get more and more chaotic.” Billam plays one of the lead roles, alongside David Katz who is playing Alan Baker. Other members of the cast include Celia Mueller as Connie Dayton, Lizz Morris as Peggy Evans, David Laker as Mr. Baker, and HeatherAnn Layman as Mrs. Baker.
Another important aspect of the show is the set design. Considering that most of the show takes place at home, a convincing apartment atmosphere is necessary. Parker Evans, the student set dresser for the show, says that the set design process has been both tedious and rewarding. “It’s exciting to see all the different pieces come together into one show,” Evans said. The student-designed set closely mimics that of an actual apartment; this adds a realistic element to the comedy show. “The proudest things for me were definitely the wall paper and the counter-tops,” Evans said. “Those are definitely the things I put the most work into.” Evans said that the set was complete with wallpaper, furniture and appliances after one week, after approximately one hundred 60s-themed rectangles were painted onto the apartment walls.
With a student designed set, student designed costumes and lighting, and a student director, the show should be something exciting for Parkland students and community members to see. For more information about tickets, accommodations, or Come Blow Your Horn, please visit Parkland’s theater page which can be found at www.parkland.edu.
