BWW Blog: I am NOT Part of the Starving Class

Dear readers of BroadwayWorld, my name is Christopher Lindquist and I am so excited to be a student blogger for BroadwayWorld! I am a current theatre major at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. I can't wait to shed some light on my life at a community college, life as a theatre major, and the transfer process.

This blogging position has given me something to do between shows. COD, or College of DuPage, runs five productions a year: two plays in the fall, two plays in the spring, and a musical over the summer. Every student, regardless of major, can audition for one of the productions, or both. The catch is that they are only going to be in one of the two if cast. The great thing is that the production counts as a class, so you get credit for it. If you need to reach a certain amount of credits to transfer, or you are going to have too many credits, the good news is that you can take this "class" for anywhere from 1-3 credits. You do the same amount of work, but you can choose how many credit hours are rewarded.

The College of DuPage, even though it is a community college, there is still a great big deal of different majors, classes, and activities. The main campus is in Glen Ellyn, but if I needed to take a business class before I transfer, but I can't find the time to drive out to Glen Ellyn, I can easily register for a class at one of four centers around the county: Naperville, Addison, Westmont, or Carol Stream, along with the option for online classes. Classes for theatre majors don't stop at the general Acting classes. At COD, there is everything from general theatre appreciation, to unique classes such as stage combat, stage management, play directing, or stage makeup. Set building, costumes, lighting, and sound are all directed by professionals within the theatre world, with the help of students looking forward to going into those fields.

This fall, I was in Curse of the Starving Class, where I played Sergeant Malcolm. This production was the first production that I have ever been in outside of high school. Curse of the Starving Class, by Sam Shepard, is an absurdist play that tells the story of a dysfunctional family with a consistently drunk father, the overly ambitious mother, the rebellious daughter, and the "perfect" son, where things start going crazy when the mother brings a sneaky lawyer into picture, the father wants to sell the house to a wacko club owner, and the police sergeant has to come in to inform the mother that the daughter was arrested for a variety of things. Sadly, we closed on October 21st, running for three weekends spanning from Thursday-Sunday. I had a great time with this wonderful cast and I hope the best for all of them, maybe I will see them next semester when I audition for the next two productions!

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