Original musical co-directors talk auditions, teamwork and writing an entire show
Claire Donnan
They might have written and directed an entire musical, but Sophia Arellano and Shabira Palasanthiran say, that’s not the hardest part of co-directing.
“Scheduling,” said Palasanthiran, as Arellano shook her head and laughed.
Arellano and Palasanthiran are the co-writers and co-directors of the new, original musical A Mid-Semester Fever Dream, being performed by Unity for Action March 28-30. This jukebox musical is the philanthropy club’s primary fundraiser this year, intended to raise money for Youth Services Jeunesse, a charity that supports vulnerable youth in Ottawa through programming, housing and other outlets.
Mid-Semester is a fictional play with roots and inspiration in media like Narnia, Dead Poet’s Society and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was Arellano and Palasanthiran’s second foray into playwriting, and they’re glad this is the show that was chosen out of all potential applicants.
“With this we knew like, ‘okay we want an idea that we can kind of flesh out.’ So, we went about writing a couple of scenes and then we were like ‘yeah we can work with this,’ and then we went forward and pitched it,” said Arellano
This show was also Palasanthiran’s first experience with the theatre community on the University of Ottawa campus. However, she says it was a positive one.
“All these people, so it was just a bit stressful in case it was cliquey. But everyone was very nice and polite. It was odd to have authority, but also like, ‘I have authority’,” said Palasanthiran.
In casting their first show, they sought a variety of different skills and traits. Mid-Semester is a show that contains everything from modern jokes to old-school swordfights, and every character is different. However, there is one trait that they sought above all else: Adaptability.
“We knew that we were looking for people who could just be adaptable to our styles as well, and who would be open to learning with us,” said Arellano. “Adapting a show that we created, everything is new, basically, and we were looking for people who were ready to be in for the ride.”
Palasanthiran is proud that each character gets to have their own unique arc within the larger story. Both directors have also loved getting to watch their vision and words come to life over the last several weeks – especially thanks to their talented performers.
“Listening to them [some of the cast] sing Only Us, oh my,” said Palasanthiran. “Success for me personally, cause that was like a religious experience. We have some really good singers on the team and I think that’s cool.”
At the end of the day, Arellano and Palasanthiran are proud to be able to use this opportunity to raise money for charity.
“We are supporting Youth Services Jeunesse and we want to be able to raise a lot of money with our art and share art with a lot of people to support this great charity,” said Arellano.
