The show runs April 10th though the 13th. Tickets here.
Anything goes when you’re sailing in the middle of the ocean. Especially when an Evangelical turned nightclub worker and newly engaged debutant collide in the musical comedy by the same name.
This year in Anderson Theatre, those two leads will be played by two first-years: Niko Tahja-Johnson ’28 and Jamy Randrup ’28.
The two shared similar experiences with auditions and rehearsals, as they both thought they would get ensemble roles. Tahja-Johnson went so far as to think that a mistake was made when the casting list came out.
But that was not the case. “High school theater is a place where a freshman getting the lead is something that can easily cause a lot of drama, but here, none of that is present,” says Randrup. Says Tahja-Johnson, “I know that if I make a mistake on stage, no one’s gonna make fun of me. Everyone’s there to lift each other up.” Unlike the audition process, which Randrup says is “the most nerve-wracking part,” rehearsals have been smooth sailing, “truly such a fun time, because it just feels like I’m hanging out with a bunch of my friends,” says Tahja-Johnson.
“High school theater is a place where a freshman getting the lead is something that can easily cause a lot of drama, but here, none of that is present.”
Both Randrup and Tahja-Johnson have had a lot of fun embodying their roles, doing so with accents and stage presence. While learning the script and their characters, they both found lines that stood out to them. For Tahja-Johnson, it is “Evie, hot pants means I’m crazy about you.” Along a similar vein, Randrup’s is “I’m crazy about him. Oh, this is tragic. I’ve ruined my life, I’ve ruined his life, I’ve ruined everything.”
The stage is a place where many people feel like the most authentic versions of themselves, and this is no different for either of our leads. Randrup has been a fan of the theater since a whopping 16 months old, when she went to see her first show with her mother. She walked out thinking it was what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. She’s performed frequently since. Regardless of this love for theater, Randrup plans a career in law. “I knew going into college that it wasn’t going to be my career, so I was like, this is my last chance to do theater.” (And boy, is she “doing” theater.)
For Tahja-Johnson a love for theater also started young because of their mother, who runs a theater. Constant exposure meant that this was always the path they felt drawn towards. Another reason performing is so important to them is that being on stage separates them from the other worries present; it’s one place where they are not anxious. “It’s like everything is quiet and I am just here with my work, and it’s beautiful,” they say.
In other words, for these two first-years, Gustavus Theatre really floats their boats.