College of Fine Arts - Carnegie Mellon University: The gory, feminist musical "The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends" took center stage off-Broadway this summer for a one-month run at The Players Theater. The CMU-heavy production was originally performed on campus as part of School of Drama’s 2016 PLAYGROUND festival of independent student work.
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I really enjoyed reading “CMU Musical Comedy Slays Off-Broadway”! As a first year student, I think we all have big dreams and aspirations for the future, but it can be difficult to grasp how to make them a reality. They also seem so big and very far away at times. I thought that this article was very inspiring, because it showed some of the possibilities that lie ahead. Learning about what CMU alumni are up to is always super cool. I found that the coolest part about this story was that this musical “The Trouble with Dead Boyfriends” is that it started as a playground piece. This really shows how valuable that week can be and I think encourages people to participate, experiment, and try new things. I think that playground is really cool because of how low stakes it is, which really makes it more possible for students to go outside of the box. It also is a great way to workshop a piece. This article also highlights the importance of collaboration and how much you can learn from people outside your discipline.
This synopsis is hysterical and I am now dying to get my hands on whatever media I can find of this off broadway show. As a new student to this school I am slowly starting to realize that it is not just the artistic/academic training we receive here but also, the connections and network we build while we are surrounded by so many young and talented upcoming artists. Its really reassuring to see CMU alumni not only successful but happy with the work they are pursuing and exploring. While a show about having to perform an exorcism on your boyfriends with you best friends right before prom might not be for everyone, no one can possibly say that the concept is boring. I love to hear about the crazy weird work that someone dreamed up while in their dorm room. I wish this cast and crew the best of luck getting into a larger venue and I hope it is somewhere near Pittsburgh so I have a chance of seeing what seems like a wonderfully wild show.
It is really inspiring to see people that went through the program and school that I am doing incredible things out in the world. I think it is so cool hearing about all of the projects that start at Playground as student developed work and end up becoming either full fledged productions, or groups starting theatre companies. To know that the people I work with here and the work that I do here could lead to an opportunity to put up work off-broadway in New York is amazing. The show itself sounds like a very fun concept and is something that I would have loved to be able to see. This makes me want to work even harder to create work that I am passionate about with people that share that same passion, to make something amazing that could carry us farther than we could imagine. This makes me incredibly excited to continue my education at CMU and have the opportunity to put on these shows.
It was really interesting to read about other CMU students and the work that they have done, and how they’ve developed the work and the studies they got when they were at CMU. When I read that this piece was originally performed as a piece in Playground, I was really surprised, as I didn’t think that a piece from playground would’ve made it this far(no hate, just purely surprised). I think that after knowing this, I am more willing to develop a piece for playground, as it gives me confidence to play around with theatre, but also if it ends up good, can go very far. It’s really reassuring knowing that people who came into CMU with a passion for theatre still leave with that passion, and continue to develop that passion, and do great things with their skillset. I would’ve loved to have watched this if I had known about it, but sadly, they’re not showing anymore, but if in the future I heard about a CMU alum that has a show going on, I would definitely go watch and support, as well as admire the hard work that they put to have gone so far!
This is so exciting! I’m so glad they’ve had a successful run off-Broadway. It really speaks to the opportunities that Playground allow, and makes me so excited for my first ever Playground experience this year. Reading this reminded me of the quote that Dick Block said, that Playground has seen “some of the best work and some of the worst work” this piece clearly being one of the former. I would love to see this production, it sounds so fun, and I’d love to see it having read this, and knowing a bit about it’s origin at CMU. I think it’s so cool that they were able to make what seems to be a super goofy and fun production, that also has a lot of deep meaning about women and young girls in society. I wonder how difficult it was to combine those different themes. It was also really interesting reading about Alex Petti’s experience as a BXA student, and how that influenced his view of working in theater in the future-it makes me even more excited to collaborate with more CMU students on productions.
I really enjoy the production photos from this article, specifically the first one, in which one of the main characters has a fierce expression and is pointing down towards the ground. The dichotomy between the green fill and the purple background is very satisfying to look at, and that complimentary color combination appears to be a motif throughout the show, with the lady in the purple dress sitting in the green chair in front of the purple backdrop. For me this echoes the theme of the show, finding strength in your platonic relationships and not playing into the societal standard of needing in a romantic relationship. The green in my mind represents the dead boyfriends, because it appears to be treated as temporary, fleeting, moments in time, almost disregarded, whereas the purple backdrop exists for much of the show. The traditionally gendered roles of these colors adds the additional meaning of finding bonds and rejecting the power structure in which one finds themself.
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