The song “Stop Time” reminds Megan Fitzgerald to pause and reflect on her last days as an undergraduate at UCLA.
“Stop Time” will be the first song in this weekend’s performance by UCLA’s Act III Theatre Ensemble, said the fourth-year theater student, as the group closes out the school year with a play that pays tribute to living in the moment and capturing milestones in life.
Act III’s production of Ryan Scott Oliver’s “35mm: A Musical Exhibition” opens Saturday in Fowler Amphitheater, marking the West Coast debut of the play. Dialogue-free, the show consists of 22 songs coupled with corresponding photographs. Fitzgerald said the actors must convey their characters’ stories through their singing and reactions to these photographs.
Fitzgerald, who co-produced the show along with third-year theater student Emily Zetterberg, said Act III thought of the play’s lack of dialogue as a chance to tell meaningful stories in a nonconventional way. While past productions have used the absence of speaking to create a concert-like experience, Fitzgerald said the group decided to combine both musical and visual aspects of the piece so that the performers are immersed in the production.
“We really integrated the photographs and projection design into the set of the show, and the actors are truly interacting with the production,” Fitzgerald said. “It creates their world, rather than being like ‘here’s a song’ and ‘here’s a photograph.’ We kind of combine (these elements) in our production, like ‘here’s a story.'”
Fitzgerald said the absence of dialogue also affected casting. She and fourth-year theater student and director Charlotte Hook handpicked performers that could hold an audience’s attention just through singing.
One of these performers, second-year theater student Hunter Lowdon, plays a struggling alcoholic named Adam who faces adversity in life and love. He said that a discussion about wedding vows with his acting teacher helped him create an honest portrayal of this character.
“I talked about it with (Hook) and we decided to make the song as kind of singing my wedding vows to my wife,” Lowdon said. “That was the seed we needed and everything else followed to create the arc of Adam.”
While Lowdon said a religious motif runs through his performance, second-year dance student Sarah Summers said her performances convey a more haunting vibe. This disparity in genres works for the show, Summers said, which is not plot-driven but united in its portrayal of humanity.
“I believe the show is driven by a love for storytelling and a love for storytelling about real people experiencing real things,” Summers said.
May Zeng, a second-year music student and the show’s conductor, said she was affected by the show’s far-reaching message as she looked through photographs taken in high school. She said that, when met with old memories, working on the play reminded her to consider her personal growth over the past few years.
Fitzgerald said she hopes the show provokes similar self-reflection in the audience.
In addition to the absence of dialogue, the show’s outdoor setting distinguishes it from most of Act III’s previous shows. Summers said this environment makes sense for a play that has real-world implications and reminds the audience to appreciate the here and now.
“Being outside, the show is going to exist in the real world rather than be in this theatrical space,” Summers said. “It’s going to feel very expansive.”
The show will honor the interacting art forms and life experiences that shape human beings into the people that they are, Fitzgerald said.
“I feel like I’m at a very sentimental time of my life because it’s my last quarter,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s nice to work on a show that pays tribute to appreciating the moment and capturing significant moments in your life.”