Michael Claxton
by Lyndsey Ruble Nuckols
editor-in-chief
Associate Professor of English Michael Claxton is a bit of a legend on Harding’s campus. He has written more than 100 Bison columns, classic “Cliff and Clax” bits and now, parts of a musical.
Before the production team for the Homecoming musical had even chosen “Pirates of Penzance,” Director Robin Miller asked Claxton if he would be willing to adapt the musical they chose. Claxton started meeting with the production team in May after the group decided to revamp “Pirates of Penzance.”
“It was daunting but also exciting to have this freedom to do whatever we want, but still trying to keep the basic integrity of Gilbert and Sullivan’s play,” Claxton said. “When I went to my first production meeting, I could tell I was in for a wild ride, because this is one fun group of professionals. It’s a wonder we got anything done for laughing and carrying on.”
After production meetings, which were full of creative ideas for new scenes and rewritten lines and lyrics, Claxton said he would go home and work on the script changes that night. He drew ideas from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Groucho Marx, modern musicals, the Muppets and pop culture. Oh, and of course, some Harding references, Claxton said.
Claxton said he left about 75 percent of the script intact and tried to keep Gilbert and Sullivan’s original purpose of a satirical melodrama in mind. The result is a lot of wordplay, physical comedy and a few surprises.
Claxton, who cannot read music and whose previous playwright career had began and ended with a musical written in fourth grade about ants, said his work has been both challenging and gratifying.
“I am writing for a group of actors who bring this to life,” Claxton said. “As I told some members of the cast, it’s hard to put into words how gratifying it is to see some of your own stuff brought to life by such wonderfully talented people who have taken it beyond many of the things I even imagined.”
James Morgan
by Bethany Aspey
opinions editor
James Morgan, a junior marketing major from Woodland, Calif., joined the Homecoming musical cast this semester as the role of the Pirate King, captain of the pirate crew. As the leader of the pirates, the Pirate King may come across as fierce and intimidating to the average pirate at first, but he really just loves to have a good time.
Morgan said his favorite part of playing the role has been working when the entire cast is on stage.
“It’s a lot of fun because there is just so much energy and there (are) so many people with different talents,” Morgan said. “The cool thing is discovering how talented our student body really is.”
Morgan said he believes Harding is somewhat unique in this aspect, as he feels any number of the ensemble cast could have played the lead.
He attributes his getting the part to luck of the draw.
Morgan said the most challenging parts to playing the character has been finding time to set aside for school, but he has discovering how to balance both classes and rehearsals.
Morgan said he loves his character because he is able to engage in a lot of physical humor, not to mention a couple of sword fights.
Morgan is excited about the costume and the set, as well as some of the defining characteristics of the role, ranging from skewering people to just being all over the place and over-the-top.
Morgan said he anticipates Harding is going to be enthusiastic about this musical specifically because it of how well it is rewritten to pertain to Harding life.
He also said he is grateful for both the opportunity and experience and how it has taken him from just an “ordinary college student” to something to be proud of and to have accomplished.
“I might be a little biased,” Morgan said. “But I’m just going to say that this probably going to be our best production yet.”
Cindee Stockstill
by Lyndsey Ruble Nuckols
Cindee Stockstill, the producer of theater at Harding, has overseen many theatrical productions.
Every musical, every one act, every play, every Spring Sing show displays her unique fingerprints.
This year, however, is the first time in Harding’s history and Stockstill’s career as a producer that the Homecoming musical will be a Harding-original, reimagined and revamped for this audience.
The result, according to Stockstill, is “Pirates!?! A Pillaging of Gilbert and Sullivan,” a fun musical comedy with a cast and crew of about 125 that “doesn’t take itself too seriously.”
“Pirates!?! A Pillaging of Gilbert and Sullivan” features “the best and brightest on campus,” Stockstill said.
“It has been a real collaborative process between the English department, the music department and the theatre department,” Stockstill said. “I love the interplay between all three departments. My background is in gifted and talented education so this plays into my sweet spot. I love giving people an idea and then just letting their creativity run amuck. … The production team created this venue for them, but then they’ve taken it up the next notch and added their own level of creativity to it, so I just think that’s fabulous.”
The process of rewriting and collaborating to produce a completely new musical, in addition to the department of theater’s role in inauguration, has been a large time commitment for all students and faculty involved in the musical. That time, according to Stockstill, has helped form a close-knit family.
“You become involved in their lives, their hearts, their frustrations, their dreams, their goals and they become like our children,” Stockstill said. “To see them succeed in a public venue like (this), I just love it. Sometimes I just sit, and tears roll down my face as I am watching them because I am so proud of them. That is why I do my job.”
Jordan Dollins
by Bethany Aspey
Jordan Dollins, a 2011 graduate currently working toward his master’s degree in Indiana, was hired as the “orchestrator” for this year’s Homecoming production. Dollins’ main role as orchestrator is to take the original score, and recreate in a way that demonstrates the intent of this particular version.
According to Dollins, the music for any given production is one of the most influential components of the play.
“It is my job to tell the audience when to be happy, when to be sad and when to be scared,” Dollins said. “The background music determines how you feel and is what guides the audience emotionally.”
As Dollins is not currently at Harding, he has been corresponding with Director Robin Miller and Producer of Theater Cindee Stockstill as well as with Musical Director Susan Shirel via phone calls and emails to ensure the music is exactly right. This has presented somewhat of an extra challenge for Dollins, but he said he is excited to hear the final production and knows it will be worth the effort.
Dollins was originally asked to be the orchestrator by Professor of Theatre Steven Frye after having worked with the soundtrack mega-mix used in last year’s Spring Sing production.
Most of the planning and preliminary work was done while Dollins was living in Searcy over the summer, and since then he has stayed in contact with the musical crews to make adjustments as needed. Dollins said the role has required him to be extremely flexible with both his time and ideas.
“I can write it, and send it and they’ll tell me that it’s mostly OK,” Dollins said. “It’s all about hearing something in your head, and then being able to change it because it needs to fit whatever is happening on stage.”
He said his favorite part of working with the music has been taking something old, the show originally being from the late 1800s, and getting the opportunity to put his own twist on it, getting creative and then being able to show others how he hears it in his head.
