NKU SOTA Streams EDGES To Kick Off 2020-21 Theatre Season

Northern Kentucky University's School of the Arts presents the song cycle Edges by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul as the first installment of the 2020-21 Theatre + Dance academic season. The scheduled performances of Edges will be available to view online through ShowTix4U on Nov. 5-8.

"I felt Edges would be a perfect show to attempt during a time in history where we are asking so many questions," said Jamey Strawn, director. Edges is not a traditional musical; it is a song cycle that highlights burgeoning adults asking classic coming-of-age questions. The songs cover universal issues as love, commitment, identity, and meaning. Characters deal with confronting emotions, escaping expectations, and deciphering complicated relationships.

Creating theatre at a university under COVID restrictions revealed many challenges and required a production team willing to think outside the box and develop creative solutions in a completely fluid environment. This production's primary goal was to create theatre safely while incorporating new experiences. Actors met for rehearsals one-on-one with the director, rotating rooms every 45 minutes to ensure air circulation, and everyone remained masked at all times. The show was recorded with one actor at a time, in a completely isolated and distanced environment. The entire process was in compliance with the Norse Nine guidelines.

"We embraced the challenge of coming up with creative ways to film the show to reflect the isolated situations of the characters," said Strawn. "I'm proud of the dedication of the students, faculty, and staff that worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this production. We all yearn for that moment in the future when we return to live theatre, for now we view obstacles as opportunities and celebrate the learning opportunities in this new environment."

The NKU cast features Megan Carlson, Chloe Hedrick, Makenna Henehan, Caroline Rakestraw, Randolph Geers, Kanai Nakata, Alex Simpson and Tre Taylor. Special thanks to Norse Media and Chris Strobel for providing filming and editing support during the production process.

Edges is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.