The last musical
Connor Barr stands on the B Iden Payne Theatre stage, sweating, smiling toothily and holding the hands of his friends and castmates. The audience erupts in cheers — some jumping, others standing firm — all making the ground rumble with the force of their applause. Barr, smiling still, humbly nods his head in acknowledgment and steps back as the curtains begin to close. The cast of “The Drowsy Chaperone” falls out of sight, and the curtains meet with a swoosh in finality.
And just like that, the last musical featuring students in the Musical Theater training program at the University of Texas at Austin is over.
“I’m exhausted,” Barr said. “But I’m tirelessly happy. I feel happy that I got to do it with all of my friends.”
Barr’s attachment to theater came at a young age, inspired by plays that he saw at a local theater company when he lived on the U.S Virgin Islands. After joining choir, he decided to combine his passions for music and theater and auditioned for UT’s musical theater program. He did not change his mind after the decision was made to cut the program in the fall of 2014, Barr’s first semester at UT. The program will end after his class graduates.
Barr said he vividly remembers the moment he received news that the program had been cut. He was getting food with the rest of the musical theater majors after rehearsal for their fall musical when they got the emails. “We thought it was a joke,” Barr recalled. “It was so crazy, and we didn’t really comprehend it.”
Now, Barr is set to graduate in Spring 2018 along with the other seven remaining musical theatre majors.
Before the program was cancelled, it had suffered budget cuts. In an initial announcement email, Brant Pope, chair of the Department of Theater and Dance, said the cuts were due to the requirement for the department to self-fund merit salary increases for professors.
Budget cuts to arts programs are a nationwide trend. Earlier this year, President Trump’s budget proposal called for the elimination of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the first time a president proposed such cuts.
Despite the end of the program, musical theater professors remained dedicated to the remaining students.
“I urged them to not apologize for the vanishing program, but instead to take pride in their talent and grow in their skills, so that when the last of them are gone from the Forty Acres there will be a void that will be hard to fill,” said Lyn Koenning, head of the Musical Theatre department. “I told them I need them to go out in the world and make a lasting impression so that the time we spent together would not have been in vain. And that’s exactly what they are doing. I couldn’t be more proud, and my heart is full of joy for the gift of having been a part of their lives.”
UT’s musical theater program has seen success stories like that of J. Quinton Johnson, who attended UT’s program until being casted in a movie and, later, the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”
Johnson expressed his frustrations on his Twitter account earlier this month, saying his time with the program was crucial. “No reason the program should be put to bed,” Johnson said in a tweet.
Other students in UT’s Fine Arts programs are expressing dismay at the loss of the musical theater department.
“It’s strange to think the flagship institution of The University of Texas does not offer this anymore,” said Morris Jude, a junior acting major who took part in the last two musicals put on by the College of Fine Arts. “I think we’re now missing an extremely essential part of an actor’s education here at UT.”
Though disappointed, Jude said he remains hopeful for the return of the program.
“Musical theatre has proven time and time again to be many students’ outlet in this profession, which is why I hope the department revives them and the program in the near future,” Jude said.
Along with Jude, Barr said he hopes the future of the program is bright.
“Hopefully, the department will see the marketability of having a musical theatre program and how many people it attracts,” Barr said. “So many people love doing musicals.”
And now that the last musical is done, Barr’s plans include performing at a showcase in New York over spring break. He plans to save up until the end of next year and move to New York by January 2019 to continue his pursuit of musical theatre.
“I’ve always loved musical theatre,” Barr said. “It’s something I’ve loved since I was a little kid. There’s something about being able to tell a story through song and dance that you can’t do any other way.”
