From, March 1-3, the Theater Department presented the first performances of a new musical Dee, written and directed by Professor Ken Prestininzi with music by Alphonso Horne. Dee narrates the life of a working-class Italian American woman from Detroit, Michigan who wants to become a singing sensation.
Presenting new work is a challenge for any company of performers. Large parts of the script are constantly subject to change as the show’s writer determines what works well on stage. Scott Leff ’20 who is choreographing the performance, notes that it is valuable for students in any college theater department to experience creating works that have never been performed before, given that productions of new work are regular undertakings for many professional theater companies. However, Leff also notes that he and Prestininzi have attempted to make their process friendly to students by avoiding taxing practices such as handing 30 pages worth of script rewrites to performers to learn in one day, which can occur with rehearsals in professional settings!
For Ariel Salerno ’21, who plays Dee, the protagonist and namesake character, it is her first performance at Connecticut College in a leading role. She has made previous appearances in three Department shows, including last year’s production of Spring Awakening. Salerno came to the College with significant theater experience, having performed in around 25 plays and musicals in her schools and community. She is now pursuing a self-designed major in musical theater and hopes to succeed in the industry after graduating. Salerno notes the similarities between her own dreams as a performer and the character Dee’s interest in becoming a “star.” She believes that this element is relatable to any college student hoping to land their own dream job.
Dee’s performers see both benefits and disadvantages to getting to create a play that’s never been staged before. George Grotheer ’19, who plays several roles including the father of Dee and King I-Doll, the owner of a failing record label, notes that the lack of reference material for the show has been a challenge for him; the only recording of the songs and their accompaniment he had access to prior to rehearsal was made by the composer.
Max Toscano ’21, who performs several roles including the avian themed Buzzard and Freddie the Bird Catcher, feels that the lack of source material to base his performance on is a “freeing” element for his rehearsal process; the fact that he is the originator of his roles means that he is able to create his interpretation without being conscious of how it differs from a professional’s work on the same show. Toscano finds the fact that he is collaborating with Prestininzi as writer and director of the show helpful in this regard as he is able to understand if his interpretation fits with Prestininzi’s original intentions for the piece. He looks forward to the show’s opening this weekend, noting that it’s his and the cast’s opportunity to give the public its first ever sense of who the characters Prestininzi has created are. Salerno agrees with Toscano that there’s an advantage in not having significant source material to compare her performance to.
In terms of inspiration, Dee is a loose adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s epic play Peer Gynt mixed with the life and rise of the singer Madonna and Professor Prestininzi’s own experiences growing up in Detroit. Grotheer describes its genre as absurdist, particularly in the second act, which is focused more on the protagonist’s struggles, whereas the first is focused on a less metaphorical telling of the protagonist’s attempt to become a successful musical artist.
All of the cast members interviewed for this article describe the collaboration of Prestinizi and Leff as an excellent asset for the show. The cast finds that Prestininzi is able to give easily understandable direction, and Leff works well to accommodate his choreography to their needs. This is particularly important as much of the cast lacks dance experience. The cast is excited for audiences to finally get to see the musical. Toscano believes viewers will particularly appreciate the wide variety of music genres presented in the performance. He describes it as overall a “nice, special show,” and “something that’s not afraid to be itself.” Grotheer is also excited for audience members to see the show for the first time, noting that they will appreciate it very much if they come in with an open mind for viewing this new work.
