As the spring semester begins at DMACC, the drama department is preparing for its next production, “Ride The Cyclone.”
Carl Lindberg, the professor of theatre and acting, has been teaching full-time at the Ankeny campus since 2018. He is excited about this play and hopes many students attend.
Lindberg states that “Ride The Cyclone” is a musical about a group of teens from Canada who die in a roller coaster accident and then are in purgatory with Karnak, a fortune-telling machine. They have a journey of songs that are really popular among high school and college kids. These songs lead them to try to figure out how to get back to life.
“When we’re choosing plays, we’re trying to choose things that we think students will think are cool, like to work on and to see […] It’s always the first thing that crosses our minds, will students like watching this? Will students like working on this? We want the material to not be dry or boring, but for people to be like, ‘You know, this is actually kind of cool.’”
Lindberg talked about a few storied alumni who have been through the program and achieved their Acting Certificate through the DMACC transfer program. Students can take acting classes through DMACC and be better prepared for a future in the acting industry. One student who graduated went on to have a small role in “The Family Plan” on Apple TV, which features Mark Wahlberg. Another alum just recently made her Broadway debut last fall in 2023 working backstage.
Auditions take place on January 27 for anyone wishing to participate in the show. Lindberg said, “We are moving towards a more professional model. If [students] are able, they will bring in a short monologue, 60 seconds or less, and a short cutting of a musical theater song that shows what they can do in the style of the show. If students have an interest in auditioning, but don’t know how to prepare a monologue or a song, we do have materials that they can pick up and do a reading from the play.”
If this sounds interesting to you, take yourself down to the Black Box Theatre located in Building 5. There will be seven performances taking place from April 4 through April 13. There is a system for reservations as there are many people interested in this upcoming show. Tickets to get into the play are free and all DMACC students are welcome and encouraged to come. You can reach out to Lindberg through email at celindberg@dmacc.edu or head to the DMACC website for more information about the play and auditions.
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