"You've got to be a star to be a star."
That's what showbiz seems to be telling main character Lainie, the aspiring Broadway actress of INTERN the musical, which is playing in East Duke 209 today, Friday and Saturday.
However, the musical itself goes against that very notion-everything from the script to the musical score has been an organic project of Duke students, and it is nothing less than spectacular.
The two talents behind the project are seniors Sarah Ellis and Julia Robertson. Ellis wrote the music while Robertson penned the book and lyrics. The two have been friends since the first week of freshman year, but it was not until their Duke in New York experience in 2006 that they collaborated and conceived of the idea to write a musical.
"We were both intending to do separate [Duke in NY] projects at first," Ellis said. "We discussed collaborating and decided to work on a complete musical instead of two separate ones that wouldn't have the potential to get anywhere."
INTERN has evolved from a few scenes to a full musical complete with 17 scores, which the two are submitting as their senior distinction project.
According to faculty advisor John Clum, INTERN is the first full-length student musical in a very long time.
"During much of its history, Hoof 'n' Horn produced original musicals every year like Princeton's Triangle Club or Harvard's Hasty Pudding Club," Clum wrote in an e-mail. "Alas, Hoof 'n' Horn gave that up in the sixties. However in recent years, the Musical Theater Workshop class has had presentations of original student work, and musicals that began in that class have been expanded and developed."
The musical revolves around the life of Lainie, a high school graduate who has her eyes set on Broadway. Her stern parents are not willing to fund her, so she decides to intern for a casting company in New York City. She soon realizes that this world of song and dance is hardly glamorous. After a series of calamities, she begins to lose hope in the business.
However, Lainie finds out her boss is putting on a musical about an office intern (sound familiar?). Thinking she is perfect for the job, she decides to stand firm and impress her boss.
INTERN employs some predictable facets of the over-the-top boss and the overwhelmed-and-discouraged assistant caricatures. However, because musical theater often requires exaggerated emotions, this feature is fitting.
"All your characters have to have really comical elements about them to make them be able to lift up into song without it being really strange," Ellis said. "There has to be an element of the absurd about all of the characters."
The premise of the play is simple, and Robertson hopes viewers will connect with the characters on their own terms.
"Because [INTERN is] a simple and family-friendly show, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have a lot to say because it's just about the human spirit, more than anything," Robertson said. "I want people to come out thinking that the show has heart. [That] would be the greatest compliment."
Passion has driven the two to create an original play that aims to be uplifting for both audience members and the theater community at large.
"What I love is when a new musical comes out that is completely fresh with a new story line, new music-not Mamma Mia, [something] based on popular songs that have existed for decades," Ellis said. "I love seeing something completely original. I want people to go out of their zone of familiarity and [know that] you can enjoy yourself."
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