Tag: Amanda Cox

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Campus News

An Evening of Opera and Shakespeare

Lyric Theater
Credit Kaitlyn Avery
By Abigail Bates ('26)

Houghton University’s Lyric Theatre will perform “An Evening of Opera and Shakespeare” in the CFA Recital Hall both this Friday and Saturday.

Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the show will include excerpts from plays, operas and even a few musicals. Emily Quick (‘25) explained that although Prof. Amanda Cox is Lyric Theatre’s director, several scenes have been led by guest directors. Quick has collaborated on scenes with Rachael McVeigh (Class of ‘23), and professors Dr. Kimberly Prins Moeller (Associate Professor of Voice) and Prof. Luke Odgen (Graduate Music Coordinator and Part-time Music Faculty).

Quick explained that while people tend to equate Shakespeare and opera to the words “boring” and “dull,” the directors and cast members have tried to make the performance fun for all audience members.

“In reimagining some of the iconic scenes in this show, we’ve incorporated our own twists; in addition to the expected drama,” she said, “we have fun science experiments, bubbles, and no shortage of comedic moments.”

Warren Torraca (‘26) explained that cast members have multiple roles. He will be playing scenes as Lysander from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Beadle Bamford from “Sweeney Todd”, Benedict from “Much Ado About Nothing” and Malvolio from “Twelfth Night”. Despite how fast they had to prepare for a show in the first month of the semester, Torraca is excited to be able to act in a variety of different roles.

“Each scene,” he said, “is a new moment in a story; Professor Cox also allowed us to not be bound by the classical interpretation of each scene.”

Melanie Grace, a senior graduating in ‘27, said her favorite roles—out of many she’s performing—are Beatrice from “Much Ado About Nothing”, Hansel in “Hansel and Gretel”, the third witch in “Macbeth” and what she considers “the silliest role I’ve ever had the pleasure of doing”: the “little boy old man fairy spirit” from “The Magic Flute”.

“For me, fleshing out every character was probably the most difficult but always some of the most fun,” she said.

Grace has enjoyed acting alongside her fellow cast members in many long rehearsals, and watching how “everyone tries different things with their characters.” She disclosed that they have all been working hard to make their many characters seem like normal people that someone “might talk to today, [with] just a little bit of a different way of speaking.”

“Each character has such depth and motivation behind their actions that, in most cases, has been building over the course of the show.” Evelyn Simanowski (‘25) said that because they are only performing short scenes, “[their] job as performers has been to bring [out] as much of that developed character … Bringing the characters out of their original context and still making them real people with believable stories has been a challenge, but one that has only made me grow as an actress.”

Simanowski is performing Rosalinde from “Die Fledermaus”, Beatrice from “Much Ado About Nothing” and Sibella from “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”. She is excited to share all the different scenes the cast has been preparing with their audiences.

“One of my favorite things about live theatre,” Simanowski said, “is that it’s a collaborative art form that requires the collaboration of the audience with the performers, not just between performers.”

Simanowski added that “the scenes that we’re presenting are so deeply human that they really bring the art down to earth and are relatable to everyone. They remind us what it’s like to laugh, and cry, and really just feel deeply.”

Tickets to the show are $5, and are available online at “Tickets: An Evening of Opera and Shakespeare” or at the door. An ASL interpretation will be available at the Friday performance. Contact Amanda Cox (amanda.cox@houghton.edu) with any questions. ★

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Campus News

Alice by Heart

Alfred (Jon Hutmire) and Alice (Lydia Reich) - Courtesy of Anna Catherman
By Jiana Martin ('26)

On Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. the Lyric Theatre will hold its second of three performances of “Alice by Heart” in the Tysinger Auditorium of the Houghton Academy. The first performance was on March 21 and the final performance will be on Saturday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. 

“Alice by Heart” is a pop rock and folk musical which opened Off-Broadway in 2019. 

“It’s a very new production,” Professor Amanda Cox, the director of Houghton’s Lyric Theatre, explained. “It’s very unusual and a little experimental.”

Professor Cox enjoys the newness of the musical as it has not been re-done multiple times and has allowed her to add a Christian perspective to the ending, pointing to hope and redemption.

The musical follows Alice Spencer during the Blitz (a German bombing campaign against the the United Kingdom in WWII) in 1941. She is forced to shelter in an underground tube station with a group of young people, including her childhood friend Alfred who is fatally ill with tuberculosis. Alice and Alfred share a love for the book “Alice in Wonderland,” which Alice begins reciting as a way to cope and process the traumatic events happening around her. She imagines the people around her as the different characters from the story, representing the ways she deals with her grief. The Caterpillar represents her avoidance of grief, the Mad Hatter is her anger about Alfred dying and the Jabberwocky is her fear of losing Alfred. 

“We’re inside Alice’s head and experiencing her imagination as she’s working through the stages of grief,” Professor Cox described.  

Senior Lydia Rech plays the feisty, imaginative and hopeful Alice Spencer. 

“It has been such a privilege to bring this bold and determined girl to life and process, alongside her, so many different emotions,” Rech commented. 

Although her life has been quite different from Alice’s, Rech has been able to use her own experiences to help her convey the emotions she wishes to get across. 

“I often think about the fact that I am a senior – that I am ‘growing up’ and preparing to say goodbye to so many wonderful people here at Houghton. Remembering that I am not alone in this journey, like Alice comes to discover in the show, has been really special,” Rech reflected. 

Rech has enjoyed slipping into Alice’s head and the challenges it brings as well as getting to know the Wonderland characters. To help her prepare for her role, she read the original “Alice in Wonderland” book for the first time. It helped her understand the context of the lines her character quotes from the book and why the book means so much to Alice.

Several cast members for this musical were also in Our Town, the Lyric Theater’s Fall 2023 production, so Rech has also enjoyed the opportunity to perform with them again. 

“I’ve enjoyed getting to pick up right where we left off, in a sense, and get to practice sharing some of those deep emotions that we explored in the fall, only, now, in a musical setting,” Rech said. 

Senior Jonathan Hutmire, who plays Alfred, is one of the people Rech has the privilege to perform with again. In Alice’s imagination, Alfred is the White Rabbit who is always in a rush saying he does not have time and needs to go. 

For Hutmire, “the best part of seeing this show come to life is seeing each person really starting to add their own personal touches to each character.”

Because the musical is fairly new, Hutmire was not sure how he felt about it. However, he came to like it as Professor Cox brought her different vision to the story. 

“She has given new levels of depth, meaning, and beauty to this show and has created something absolutely extraordinary,” Hutmire said.

As seniors, Rech and Hutmire look back at their time in the Lyric Theater program with fond memories and admiration. 

“One of the greatest joys I have taken from the experience is just getting to bond with each different cast,” Rech said. “Here at Houghton, we have each other to lean on and figure it out together.” 

Rech has learned the importance of finding her identity in Christ, not in her abilities or performance, and reminding her fellow actors and actresses of the same thing.

“While it’s only my fourth production with Lyric Theater, it never ceases to amaze me how all these intricate details and beautiful moments can come together to create something even better yet,” Hutmire reflected. 

Looking back at her time directing “Alice by Heart,” Professor Cox admires the student’s dedication to their characters and performances. 

“They do such beautiful work and they’re so willing to throw themselves into creating these beautiful characters,” Professor Cox expressed. “[The show] is stretching the cast members to do things they haven’t done before. They are just fantastic and I’m really proud of it.”

Audiences can expect something that is unusual, fascinating, fun, thought provoking and beautiful. The story goes deep, so audiences should be prepared to cry, but also laugh. 

Rech concluded, “Because of Professor Cox, we perform stories that are more than just a fun show, but a show with incredible depth behind them. Which is what Alice by Heart will be!” ★

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Campus News

Lyric Theatre’s Our Town

Our Town Cast and Crew - Courtesy of Andrew Reith
By Jiana Martin ('26)

Tonight, Friday, on Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m., the Lyric Theatre will hold its second performance of Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” in the CFA Recital Hall. A third and final performance will take place on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

“I’ve enjoyed the whole process and it’s been an honor to do it,” Professor Cox reflected.

The play “Our Town” has already been done at Houghton a couple of times, however, this was Professor Cox’s first interaction with it in any capacity. 

“I’ve wanted to do Our Town my whole life,” Professor Cox enthusiastically expressed, “it’s a gorgeous play and it needs to be done.” 

The two-and-a-half-hour production follows the lives and families of the people in a small New Hampshire town called Grover’s Corners during the early 1900s. Specifically, the storyline focuses on George Gibbs (played by Senior Jonathan Hutmire), and Emily Webb (played by Junior Lydia Rech) as they grow up together.

“George is a boy whose thoughts are mostly occupied by baseball, agriculture, and Emily Webb,” Hutmire described. 

Within three acts, the audience watches the daily life, marriage, and death of these characters.

“This play highlights the beautiful moments that we’ve all experienced in everyday life, and it encourages us never to take these moments for granted,” explained Rech. 

Both Hutmire and Rech loved bringing this beautiful story to life. It has allowed them to get to know their fellow cast and crew members, and to create beautiful on-stage scenes with them.

“I simply love seeing and creating genuine moments on the stage,” Hutmire commented.

Professor Cox appreciated how vulnerable all of the students were willing to be with their emotions in order to bring themselves into their characters. She also admired the connection, genuine care and support they always have for one another. 

“I am also so, so grateful for the chance I’ve had to learn from Professor Cox’s experience. I really appreciate how she takes the time to continually tell us that we are not loved simply for what we do or how well we perform, but for who we are – children of God,” Rech thoughtfully said.

Hutmire, Rech and Professor Cox are excited to share the story of Grover’s Corners. Every personality and type of person in the town is represented, so they hope this thought-provoking play will connect the audience to the characters. 

“There are so many little themes, nuances, and messages that we can glean from this story,” Rech added.

Audiences can expect to be charmed by the characters, to laugh, to cry and to be reminded of the many things to be grateful for in their lives. ★

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Stories In Focus

Feature: Amanda Cox

By Jax Johnson

The Director of Houghton’s Lyric Theatre, Professor Amanda Cox, who recently directed Houghton’s production of “Into the woods” has recently participated in numerous other projects. Some of these projects include working on a film called “Through the eyes of Grace”, and acting in a production of “The Last 5 Years”. Cox discusses her recent step into the acting world with the exciting, the anxiety inducing, and the everyday, all as a part of the experience. 

On entering the world of professional acting, Cox says, “It’s something I have always dreamed of doing. I thought I would love to do this. I think I’m gifted in this way but it just wasn’t what I did and I’ve had a beautiful, wonderful, fulfilling life…but then it was like God looked at me and said, ‘But what if you could?’”

In early 2022, Cox found a casting call and began auditioning for a film titled, “Through the Eyes of Grace”.

Cox describes the film as “a faith-based thriller about a mother who’s teenage daughter disappears and throughout the movie we’re just trying to get her back.” 

Cox notes other recent on-screen appearances through true crime productions acting in the recreation scenes as well as a short film called “Dear Hallmark”.

While she has begun acting on-screen, Cox still keeps her love for the stage. She has recently been in several shows including “Camelot” and “The Last 5 Years”, as well as an upcoming role as Marmee in “Little Women”.

Cox continues by describing the process of getting headshots, going for auditions, and getting her first manager. 

She says, “you’re basically signing up for a permanent temp job, because there is no permanent job…sometimes there will be months or years in between and that’s normal.” 

With auditions, she says, “You just have to release them out into the universe.” Throughout the whole process she notes that she is incredibly grateful for her family, including her husband who has been, “a great foundation to rely on.”

Moving forward, Cox says, “I just want to keep having projects in front of me.” ★