Get Ready for a Road Trip with Wilkes University Theatre

Get Ready for a Road Trip with Wilkes University Theatre

Get ready to hit the road with Wilkes University Theatre's production of See Rock City & Other Destinations, stopping by the stage at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts from Nov. 19-22.

"It's probably a lesser-known musical, but it's a really well-crafted musical that I think audiences will be surprised that they haven't heard about before," says Jon Liebetrau, associate professor of theatre and director of the production.

See Rock City & Other Destinations features music by Brad Alexander with lyrics and book by Adam Mathias. Like a collection of short stories set to music, the show takes the audience along on a cross-country road trip with a cast of characters searching for connection. As the miles pass on their journeys, the characters yearn to bridge both physical and emotional distance.

Audiences see snapshots from the road - the interstates of the Carolinas, the UFO site in Roswell, New Mexico, the Alamo in Texas, the haunted house at Coney Island, Niagara Falls and Glacier Bay, Alaska - set to a variety of tunes from soft, sentimental ballads to high energy rock numbers. In See Rock City, the tales woven with the pop rock folk score are about the journey more than the destination.

"Each story deals with individuals who are longing for connection. They're hoping that travel might give them the solution to their woes," says Liebetrau. "The thread that goes through this entire musical is this idea of hope that people can come together and get past their fears and figure out how to solve their problems."

As See Rock City's characters work to overcome their challenges and find opportunities, the production's cast and crew do too.

The large cast gives each of the students on stage a moment to step into the spotlight. While the tunes are catchy, they're also story driven and musically challenging, allowing students the chance to work on both their acting and singing skills. "The characters are well developed," says Liebetrau. "It takes a lot of character analysis and scoring of the script, so a lot of what we teach in the classroom gets applied in the production."

For the design and technical students, this production of See Rock City features a lot of platforms and stairs needed to transport the audience to the highs of Niagara Falls and the depths of a subway platform. "The set has to create all these different locations and be simple enough to give the feeling of somewhere else without being too specific," says Liebetrau.

Even the director has found himself on some untraveled roads as his preparation met the actors' work in progress. "When I'm directing, when I go into a piece, it's always an unknown, as much as I read it and prepare for it," says Liebetrau. "The performers really are a filter for the text. Their interpretation and my interpretation meet to create something that's never been done before because it's about the collaboration of the artists."

Now these artists just need audience members to come along for the ride to enjoy the sights and sounds of See Rock City. "The students have real joy for doing what they're doing, and it shows in the product," says Liebetrau. "It's very catchy. It's uplifting. It's a real celebration of the good things about humanity and trying to work together, trying to solve problems and trying to get past our hangups and our fears."

See Rock City & Other Destinations

Featuring Caleb Flannery, Elena DiSciullo, Elias Brix, Carolynn Jewell, Kaiden Harris, Alby Lopuhovsky, Abby Olander, Keely Zabresky, Gabby Greffen, Antonio Torres, Luke Novak, Kamryn Breault, Ari Gardner, Ricky Carey and Lydia Federici.

Thursday, Nov. 19 | 8 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 20 | 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 | 2 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 21 | 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 22 | 2 p.m.

Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts, 239 South River Street, Wilkes-Barre

Tickets are available online at wilkes.edu/theatre. Cost is $20 for general admission, $15 for non-Wilkes students/senior citizens and free for Wilkes students, faculty and staff. The box office will open one hour before curtain for purchases in person.