By Blue Baby
Gibson Basement Ghost
After months of meticulous planning, organizing, and execution, senior Matt Brader’s Senior Capstone Experience, a lighting design thesis of “The Lightning Thief,” was canceled just two weeks before its premiere. In lieu of the performance, Brader will instead put on an SCE inspired by the disastrous Willy Wonka immersive experience in Glasglow.
“I’m a little bummed, I think,” Brader said. “But I’m very excited to approach the project with a new lens.”
Brader’s new project is a departure from his initial vision. Based on the viral Glasglow Willy Wonka experience, a family-friendly event-turned-disaster that was advertised (allegedly via artificial intelligence) as “catgacating,” “cartchy tuns,” and a “pasadise of sweet teats,” Brader must undertake a new challenge: disappointing his audience.
According to CBS, the Glasglow Willy Wonka experience was executed so poorly that multiple attendees called the police. Brader hopes to replicate a similar effect.
Despite the Roald Dahl character’s extensive history with music — “Pure Imagination” and more recently, the original score of “Wonka” — there is no official music associated with the Glasglow event, so the production was tasked with coming up with music for the show.
Brader’s solution? A jukebox musical. Every scene will be accompanied by a different Lady Gaga song. According to the senior, his vision was “to make the show so gay that people will want to leave. Not in a homophobic way, just in a way that there is so much Lady Gaga that the audience can no longer take it.”
The music director declined to comment.
Music is not the only aspect of the show that required a new direction with the change. Every design had to be tweaked to fit the AI-driven vision of the Glasglow Willy Wonka experience.
While Brader’s initial lighting design was meant to evoke feelings of a rock concert — bright, flashing reds and blues, projections, and dramatic spotlights — he said that the new direction for his designs will be “much simpler.”
“It is literally just fluorescent lighting in a warehouse. How much easier can you get?” Brader said.
In addition to paring back the lighting design, the cast has been rearranged to account for the people involved in the experience.
Freshman Jasmine Schaffer, who formerly played Grover in “The Lightning Thief,” was recast as Oompa Loompa Girl, the famously disgruntled actress who stood in an Oompa Loompa costume while surrounded by mysterious smoke and acorns all around.
“I’m so excited to take on this role,” Schaffer said. “There are so many hidden depths and complexities with this character. Why is she just standing there? Why is she surrounded by smoke? Are the acorns for her? For some unnamed squirrels”
Additionally, Schaeffer said that she is excited to curate the look of the character, which includes the famous green hair of the Oompa Loompa.
“I know that the design team was talking about wigs, but I really want to commit. I’ve been thinking about dyeing my hair green to really get a feel for the role,” Schaeffer said.
While members of the production team are tight-lipped about why the show was canceled, rumors are circulating around the cast and crew — peddled by junior Ryan Morrow, the show’s co-costume designer — that the sudden switch was not entirely in anyone’s control.
“If you ask me, I think that Blue Baby put a spell on us. He is mind controlling us in order to create the most chaotic production possible. There is no other option,” Morrow said.
Blue Baby is a supposedly haunted doll who resides in the basement of Gibson Center of the Arts. While many students who work in the building buy into the superstitions that are passed down student-to-student, Morrow’s state of mind was likely altered by the fact that she has not left the Gibson basement in 72 hours while assembling Willy Wonka’s top hat.
The production is still slated for April 4, 5, and 6 in Tawes Theatre. Cast and crew only have one week to pull the new show together.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Photo Caption: Senior Matt Brader’s inspiration comes from this photo of Lady Gaga during a concert in Glasglow, UK, with the bright “Wonka-esque” vibes around her.