In the slump of the Spring Term reading period, nobody is excited. For me, it’s almost too close to the end of the term. Plus, if you have any friends that attend other schools, this particular reading period typically coincides with the end of the academic year for universities with semester schedules.
Additionally, nothing ever happens the days leading up to Reading Period. You’re either studying for upcoming exams or mourning the grades you received on exams you’ve already taken.
So, when I found myself wandering around the Conservatory and happened to stumble upon the flyer for Carter Antin’s senior experience titled “Cartaret” with the tagline at the bottom naming every musical the typical middle school socialite enjoyed, I knew I had to attend. Cartaret was held on Thursday, May 8 in the Cloak Theatre. Before the performance, Antin joined the stage and welcomed the audience, giving instructions to silence their phones and that no photography or video recordings would be allowed.
The performance opened with “The Story of Tonight” from “Hamilton,” with Antin and seniors Matthew Carlson, Curtis Anderson and Andrew Bowers singing. The piece was a wonderful throwback to the years of “Hamilton” first coming out, as the ensemble and the singers present managed to send chills up the audience’s spines.
The second song was “What Is This Feeling” from the musical “Wicked.” Performed by Antin and Carlson, the program includes a description stating that the casting choice behind the song is a nod to the fact that the two were former roommates. This performance truly brought out the personality of the ensemble, as they surrounded Carlson in pointed expressions and dynamic movements while hitting every note perfectly.
The third song was “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” from the musical “Company.” This performance joined Antin and Carlson with singers juniors Emily Hamm and Ava Wadia and senior Francesca Rogers. Something that really shone throughout Antin’s senior experience was how he managed to collect such a talented group of singers and let each one have their moment to shine. Cartaret had a large cast of people, and each time a new person was presented on stage they never failed to blow the audience away.
The fourth song was “Agony” from the musical “Into the Woods.” Antin and Carlson’s charismatic and witty friendship with each other dazzled in this, as the song involved them pouring their hearts out about their lovers, belting out notes about the “agony” of it all.
The fifth song was “Pretty Women” from the musical “Sweeney Todd,” a dramatic piece featuring Antin, Carlson and Anderson. This is also where Antin’s acting skills overpowered the audience, as for the final note in this song, he demanded Anderson to leave the room. The emotion in Antin’s scream sent chills throughout the crowd, as this was one of the first times in the show we saw Antin’s duality between comedic and serious.
It was at this moment when intermission was called, and Antin came onto the stage explaining the reason behind his senior experience, describing how “The project was inspired in part by [Class of ‘23 alumna] Layne Eklund’s senior experience ‘The Caba-Layne,’ a musical theatre cabaret which me and several other theatre students got to be a part of.”
Antin continued, “Another goal of the project was to hopefully inspire more musical theatre projects like this, and more collaboration between the theatre department and the Conservatory, by showing off what the students here are capable of when given the opportunity. This project was no small feat, and it wouldn’t have been possible if everyone involved didn’t genuinely care about what we were creating, and to me that proves how much potential and passion there is for more musical theatre here at Lawrence.”
The sixth piece was “Flowers” from the musical “Hadestown.” This song featured only junior Isabella Cerdan, sitting alone and singing a melancholic and thought-provoking symphony about the love and life she lost. Allowing anyone else to sing in this piece would truly have been a crime as Cerdan would have done nothing but outshine them.
Antin, however, did not allow the audience to mourn with Cerdan as the next piece was hilarious. From the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” junior Sean Price, Antin and Carlson performed a true favorite of mine: “Sincerely, Me.” The song is about the characters Connor and his friend fabricating letters from a classmate of theirs who has recently taken his life. While dark, the song evoked riots of laughter from the audience.
The next piece was from the musical “The Addams Family,” titled “One Normal Night.” This piece involved a number of talented singers, including Hamm, Carlson, Wadia, Antin, Anderson, seniors Grace Hitchens and Alex Alden and the ensemble. This piece was amazing as the final lines allowed everyone in the cast to come together in unity. Alden, however, was a standout as Uncle Fester, emerging from behind the stands of the audience as his lines began, changing some of his remarks to more up-to-date references.
After this the next few songs were “Say My Name” from the musical “Beetlejuice,” “Someday” from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” “Seventeen” from “Heathers: The Musical” and “Ireland” from “Legally Blonde: The Musical.”
Antin closed out his senior experience with an entire ensemble performance of “Another Day of Sun” from the movie “La La Land.”
Antin’s senior experience was beautiful as it called back to many forgotten and popular musicals. The passion behind this was seen not only with the singers, but also with the intentional choosing of each piece performed.