Event Article

Following the serious epic, "The Royal Hunt of the Sun" comes the next installment of the Fall season, "The Front Page" which opens Nov. 6 and runs until Nov. 10 in the Bronwyn Dodson Theater.

Written by two newspaper men, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, the play tells the. story of Hildy Johnson, a reporter with decency, who wants to give up the hectic and cut-throat world of newspapers for an easy, profitable job in advertising. Not to mention marrying his girlfriend.

In order to do all this, Hildy must give up his true love: the camaraderie he shares with his buddies in the press room. Anxious to not let Hildy get away is his editor, Walter Burns. Burns will play on every emotion he can reach to get him to stay. Add to that, an escaped criminal that comes into the newsroom when Hildy is alone there. The perfect story not to leave behind.

Bob Jensen undertook the project of directing "Page" after it was decided "Sun" would be the opening show. He explained, "We needed a show, in the Fall Season, that was a large cast show with lots of acting opportunities. It met that 'requirement. Sort of balancing out the season. Following an epic play..it's a light-hearted medium. So I think we need in the emotional balance of the season."

The play was also selected when there was a demand for work for beginning actors. "The leads are lots of great character parts that allow new actors in the program to dig in and have their moment," Jensen said.

The cast consists of 24 actors. In any show, especially a non-musical show, this is considered a large cast. Mix that with every part having their "moment" and Jensen knows the situation that he's faced with. "It's a three-hour epic right now." Jensen said with an exhausted laugh, understanding the work that it takes to cut a show down.

The director doesn't do all jobs. The characters are based on real reporters of the '20s. Rather than focus on the individual, Jensen wanted his players to, "look at the 1920s. I thought that was the bigger challenge for the kids to understand. The language, the lifestyle, the big picture: political and economic events of the 1920s. I wanted them to tap into that more than the journalistic research."

Jensen knew if he let the actors develop on their own, it would work. "I wanted them to find their own issues and examples of comedy in the character," Jensen explained as he. reflected back to rehearsals. "There is one man who complains that everything's too noisy, that everything takes too long. He's a real sloth. So the actor's trying to make him into this sloth-like, harmonica playing, deep sighing, person."

Bob Jensen's other problem derived from an ethical one. There are a number of racial slurs and blasphemous remarks that are found throughout "Page." When the focus of this year's shows were to bring in different cultures, it was thought to be a step back to keep the language in. Jensen explained, "Hect and MacArthur, really besides the humor of the play, really wanted to show us racism and unfairness in journalism at the time...It may seem like I white washed it, but I'm really playing for the humor of the piece. I just want the audience to laugh, have a good time, and maybe think a little bit about the crisis of being at crossroads."