Pauper Players tossed a little variety into this year’s production of “Broadway Melodies” — but UNC’s student-run musical theater group kept the youthful exuberance that is its trademark.
Gerrard Hall hosted the annual musical revue, which showcases a variety of Broadway tunes within sets. Each song in a set loosely ties together a story created by the performers. The final “Broadway Melodies” showing is 8 p.m. today.
This year’s show featured four sets, running a lengthy 150 minutes.
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Things kicked off with “The New Recruits,” a mostly upbeat performance in which the actors portrayed members of an upstart corporation. It was an energetic start to the evening.
Director David Geigerman was spot-on in selecting a cast with varied vocal talents and strong acting. Senior Will Jones stole the show with his rendition of “If I were a Rich Man” from “Fiddler on the Roof,” perfectly imitating a drunken stupor, to the audience’s delight.
The set also featured one of the more surprising performances, with senior Lisa Offoha performing “One Song, Glory” from “Rent” accompanied by an acoustic guitar solo.
“The New Recruits” set a high standard for the rest of the evening, a level that was too high to be matched by its successor.
The absolutely bizarre “Bear vs. Zombie” featured parodies of Antonio Banderas, Haley Joel Osment and the devil. Also, it included the murder of a personified “suspension of disbelief.”
