Elizabeth Ivanova-Gibson and acting/ties into the opening of the musical Hair
This year’s musical “Hair” is a musical tribute to the flower children of the 1960s and their defiance against the government drafting them in a pointless war. It’s filled with internal and external battles for all of the characters.
Elizabeth Ivanova-Gibson shared that preparations have been going great so far, regardless of the sleepless nights and the tiring rehearsals that have been going sometimes until 3 AM. She is the director of this year’s musical and she focuses on all of the small details and how to work with people. “I’m putting all my mind and soul into this project and I think, at the end of the day, it’s going to be rewarding,” she said.
Organizing such a big event isn’t easy. There have been numerous challenges they had to overcome as a team. She shares that there have been moments where people’s emotional and mental stability would be shaken up a bit but it’s normal. Her priority is to create a cohesive and inclusive work environment.
Another challenge they had to overcome is the team cohesion when departments started merging. Victoria Dimitrova, assistant director of AUBG Musicals, shares that there were a lot of problems coming from miscommunication, but it was not something impossible to solve.
There are a lot of expectations from actors in the musical. Elizabeth shared that they are expected to be vulnerable and to have the ability to channel their characters through themselves. Moreover, the lead actors are leading the story and they have to recreate the environment, so they invoke the feeling in the viewer that it’s the 1960s.
Picking a good actor is not always an easy job. Elizabeth and Victoria shared that they were fortunate enough this year due to people with some acting and singing background applied for the musical.
This year some of the main acting roles require not only acting skill but choreography as well. Another intrinsic quality to have is selflessness. Actors who have egos on stage are frowned upon. They assured that even if the actors had the potential to learn they would still consider them and help them improve.
Elizabeth and Victoria shared their excitement about the musical this year and hope all the restless rehearsals will do justice to the viewers. They are interested in how it will turn out and what will the audience’s reaction be and hope that this year’s musical is going to entertain the viewers more than previous shows have had done so far.
