Pacific Index

The Music Department Puts on a Thought-Provoking Performance in Ride the Cyclone

Ride the Cyclone is a dark, murky musical set in the afterlife. It follows the tragic tale of six choir students who succumb to a tragic death after a roller coaster accident. The students get trapped in limbo and have to prove to the mysterious fortune teller Karnak, why the life they have lived makes them deserving of another chance at life. While a thrilling watch for all ages, Ride the Cyclone is a perfect musical for the college audience. It plays on themes of death, fate, and the meaning of one’s life while maintaining a comedic hue. 

   With the complex plot and technical intricacies, this musical takes great effort from the production team to pull off. Faculty director and producer, Anne Reed, shares, “This show takes a broad variety of needs in terms of tech.” Highlighting just some of the various roles and positions, Reed adds, “One of our music faculty, Dr. Ryan Francis, is supervising our student technicians. The roles that our student techs are involved in are Chip Garrigan, who is creating and designing  all of the sound effects; Sanne Cai, who is doing light design; and Jack Weger, who is doing photo and video creation and design.” Each role carries a crucial weight in production. 

   Despite complex schedules and minor technical headaches coinciding with this production, the music department is poised to create a spectacle. From the get-go, actors have been looking inward into what makes their characters’ gears turn. Reed recalls the early days of production when students were tasked with deciphering what it was about their character’s experience that was the most meaningful to them. She echoes the thoughts of these students, “‘If this was someone’s real life, how would this affect how they would present themselves? How does this experience resonate with me as a human being? Is it something that I understand? Is it something that would make me feel regret? Is it something that would make me feel eager? Would I want to vote for this person, so to speak?’ Just talking about those concepts was really insightful.”

   Following these profound reflections, production switched focus to the main stage rehearsals: scenery, lighting, costumes, props, and sound engineering. Reed comments on recent developments, sharing, “It has been super fun seeing the choreography come together: that’s another big element. There is a lot of choreography, and we have had two of our cast members, our student choreographers, in the production, and they’ve really put together some really amazing work. Seeing that come together has been really fun.” As these individual pieces slowly become one, the dark whimsy of the musical come to life. 

   The musical will be presented on November 16 and 17. As far as what to expect, Reed concludes, “I think that they should expect to be both entertained and hopefully moved. To hopefully see through the superficial humor to the depth of what the characters are actually trying to express because it really is a ‘meaning of life’ musical.”