When Alexis Cardwell transferred to Syracuse University last fall, she ventured to the student activities fair with hopes of finding a group that would offer her new friends.

As a previous musical theater major, Cardwell wrote down her name for What Theatre, not realizing that she would soon be the director of the group’s next two productions, a member of its E-board and its co-executive producer.

Under the direction of Cardwell, a history and social education major, What Theatre is working toward the production of its first musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” The group will perform the show on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Schine Underground. Tickets for the show are $3 at the Schine Box Office.

“Right now we are doing a spring musical because we are trying to jumpstart the program,”
Cardwell said. “Next semester we will get on track when we perform ‘Hair’ which is also a musical. We want a rotation that is opposite of the First Year Players, so our musical is not the same time as theirs and people will go to both if they want to.”

“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” is a long one-act musical that focuses on six students who compete at their middle school spelling bee. During the show, four audience members are brought up to the stage to participate alongside the actors.

Architecture students began the organization, Cardwell said, and the “What” in the group’s name stood for Warehouse Architecture. A few years ago, theater students took it over and started doing more recognizable plays. Now, Cardwell and her friends are in charge, and they have hopes of doing a fall musical and spring play every year.

Cardwell also stressed that a vital part of What Theatre is that it is an outlet for non-theater majors of any year to experience theater in a relaxed setting.

“I think the reason that I love this group is that we are very laid-back,” she said. “Not in the sense that we do not work to get things done, but we’re not very intense, and our rehearsal schedules are manageable and always do everything we can to include everyone.”

Charles Keppler, a freshman aerospace engineering and physics dual major, auditioned for the show on a whim after not having done theater for years. After receiving the part of Chip Tolentino, one of the spellers in the play, he said the show’s cast members have become a sort of family to him.

“I love how small and endearing the group is,” Keppler said. “There are a lot of groups on campus that are pretty big and while that is great, it’s nice to have such a small yet diverse group. It makes it easy for me to get to know and love everyone.”

Dina Resnick, an undecided freshman in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, echoed Keppler’s thoughts as she described how she was looking for a close group much like her theater friends in high school, and found exactly that in What Theatre.

“I got really close with a lot of kids in the show because of how small it is,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of bonding.”

Resnick also said Cardwell was a perfect balance of tough yet endearing when it came to directing the show.

“Alexis was really laid-back, but when push came to shove we got everything done,” she said. “She was always so supportive of me, I never felt any pressure when I missed some rehearsals because of Greek life and she really brought the show together.”

Published on April 1, 2015 at 9:49 pm

Contact: ararcham@syr.edu