Photo by Gwen King on Unsplash
By Dakota Hornak, Staff Writer
The Department of Theatre brought “The Golden Hour” to life on April 23, directed by Jeanne Tiehen, assistant professor of theatre. As this is the first show of the semester to allow a limited live audience, the production featured a mix of live and pre-recorded performances. “The Golden Hour” reviews the ’20s and the artistic expression throughout the era, such as dancing, singing, stand-up comedy and performing, while finding creative ways to integrate the digital and live-acting world.
Every aspect of the show is meant to derive from the ’20s and teach about the period. This is especially apparent in the song selection and the performance of the characters.
“King Porter Stomp,” originally recorded in 1923, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” written in 1925, and many other classic songs of that time are used throughout the production to explain the differences between then and now, especially in art.
Additionally, the actors portrayed their characters wonderfully and brought the audience back into the time. The radio personality host character, Peter Wainwright, played by junior Jack Sullivan, was one of my personal favorites. His energy and charisma for the character carried through the screen and kept the audience engaged with the story.
Another captivating performance group was the Masked Dancers who helped with transitions between scenes and characters. Not only was their performance and expression what made them stand out and allow the transitions to move seamlessly, but their jobs were made much harder by two of them performing via Zoom as the others performed live. Seeing this type of adaptation for a scene, especially in a theatre environment, is a huge challenge, and the Masked Dancers portrayed it well.
“The Golden Hour” is one of the first productions I’ve watched about a historical era that I genuinely enjoyed, mainly because of the perfect balance between humor, music and education. This, combined with the effort and dedication the students and faculty put towards the production, made it one of my favorites from the Department of Theatre. I highly recommend enjoying a night of jokes, amazing singing and performing and even gaining some quality knowledge on the ’20s.
If you missed a chance at seeing “The Golden Hour” live, it is still available to watch on the SU Theatre YouTube channel.
