NKU School of the Arts’ students are preparing for jam packed student-run season, including a Tony-award winning play, musical and a student-written show. 

Amélie The Musical

The musical is based on the hit 2001 French film. It tells the story of Amélie Poulain who is an introverted, mischievous and creative person. Her strict parents believe she has something wrong with her heart and decide to homeschool her.

She is taken out of society, which leads Amélie to create her own world in her mind, explained Jamey Strawn, director of “Amélie.”

When Amélie discovers an old metal box, it becomes her mission to return it to its rightful owner. The quest satisfies her own lack of adolescence by bringing joy to other people, and she finds love along the way, said Strawn. 

Rehearsals started the last week of January. Students are working on the show six days a week. The musical is an ensemble piece where the ensemble serves as the narrator. There are only 12 actors in the show, and they play multiple roles. “There’s a lot of moments where Amélie creates an idea and the actors bring it to life,” said Strawn. 

“Amélie” opens on March 15 and runs through March 23 at The Carnegie in Covington, KY. The musical is suitable for adult audiences. Fans of “Amélie” can get excited to discover how the photobooth is used and to spot the iconic use of the color green, said Strawn. 

“I’m looking forward to watching the audiences follow Amélie’s journey. The whole play is written in her stream of consciousness, so we basically follow her train of thought through the whole play and meet all the characters that come in and out of her life,” said Strawn. 

The Ally Davis Comedy Jam

The comedy jam is a one-night-only event that The Henry Konstantinow Student Theatre Series hosts once a year. 

The event is named in memoriam of Ally Davis, an incredibly talented and beloved SOTA student who tragically passed away in 2020, said Ella Prather, junior musical theatre major and president of The Henry. “She was really passionate about women’s voices, especially in comedy, where that is something that is kind of underrepresented,” said Prather.

The event is focused on female voices in comedy, but sign-ups were open to anyone. Performers will have 5-10 minutes to do sketches, individual jokes, storytelling and more. “We not only use it as a way to recognize the fact that women don’t really have a strong representation within comedy, but also as a way to acknowledge Ally and what she did for the department,” said Prather. 

The Ally Davis Comedy Jam starts at 10:30 p.m. on March 29 in Campbell Hall room 148. Everyone is welcome to attend and admission is free. 

The Play That Goes Wrong

“The Play That Goes Wrong” is a play-within-a-play comedy written by notable actors and playwrights Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields. The play brings you along the journey of accident-prone thespians fighting to make it through the opening night of the Cornley University Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor.

The play opens on April 11 and runs through April 20 at The Carnegie in Covington, KY.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” is an absurdist-tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard. The play takes two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and tells the story of what was happening in their lives during the scenes that they are unaccounted for in Hamlet. 

“It follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern questioning what the meaning of life is, what their purpose is, and because it’s absurdist, it kind of makes no sense, but I think that’s part of the charm,” said Chandler Murray, director of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.”

The play intercuts contemporary language from Tom Stoppard and scenes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The actors are working to blend the modern language with the Shakespearan text to make it sound cohesive, said Murray. 

The play, produced by NKU’s student-run theater The Henry, runs April 16-19 in Campbell Hall. The show features some violence and scenes suitable for teens and older audiences. 

For more information about the upcoming productions, or to purchase tickets, visit the NKU SOTA website.