Musical Theater Comes to Stony Brook’s Pocket Theater

“Good evening, sinners! My name is Mr. Applebee,” shouted Mark Mancini in his rendition of “Those Were the Good Old Days,” from the Broadway show Damn Yankees!

The song was featured in the musical revue put on by Stony Brook University’s Pocket Theater in the Tabler Center for the Arts, Culture and Humanities on October 9th.

“This is the first time Pocket Theater has done anything musical related, so it’s very exciting,” said David Greenberg, secretary of Pocket Theater.

The performance showcased the singing and acting talents of six students, some of whom had no experience in theater performance.

“A few of my friends are performing for the first time. There’s a few good singers so I’m really excited to see everyone,” said first-year student Mandy Liang.

The musical performances featured songs from popular movies and Broadway shows, including “Friend Like Me” from Aladdin and “Defying Gravity,” an astounding ballad from Wicked.

“I love musicals,” said Neha Gandhi, a first-year student. “People doing them always makes me happy.”

The dim lighting added to the intimate feeling as the night’s pianist played the music for each song. The performers all remained in character throughout the showcase, sometimes making silly faces and gestures during their performances, which added to the theatrics of the night.

As one might expect from a student-run program, the costumes weren’t very elaborate. They ranged from a colorful satin and velvet jacket to traditional Chinese Cheongsam’s worn for the Mulan piece, “I’ll Make a Man out of You.”

The night ended when Alaska Butterfield sang a rendition of the ballad “Defying Gravity” from Wicked. Dressed in a witch costume complete with a broom, hat and green hair, she belted the words, “It’s time to try defying gravity. I think I’ll try!”

“I’m hoping we get to do this again, since it was a trial run,” said Butterfield. “The school doesn’t do many musicals so having the opportunity to do so was amazing.”