With voices that give you goosebumps, the members of TCNJ Musical Theatre hit (and held) high notes and sang smoothly through challenging, complex lyrics from a catalog of Broadway tunes last weekend in the New Library auditorium.
The songs, from shows like "Avenue Q," "Miss Saigon," "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Wicked," covered a wide variety of topics including love triangles, freedom to pee, killer plants, prostitution and office romance. Each one was introduced with a description of the play it was featured in and the context of the song.
Many of the numbers included comical asides among the notes and choreography. "Alyssa, I'm not in your top eight anymore, what's up with that?" sophomore Andrew Timmes asked, leading into the song "My Boyfriend's Back," from the production "Jersey Boys."
Sung by the Broadway Night Ladies, Timmes played the "other guy" and James Introcaso stepped in as the once-absent boyfriend.
Besides clever lines and dance steps, several songs included audience participation.Junior Alida Liberman performed "When You've Got it, Flaunt It" from "The Producers." As Ulla, Liberman perched herself atop the piano (played by freshman Truc-Lan Vu) and sang in a Swedish accent.
Both she and junior Alyssa Phillips, who performed "When You're Good to Mama" from "Chicago," toured into the audience for their performances. Phillips, who played the warden of a jail, flirted with audience members.
"For me, the hardest (part) is that I can be fine before performing, but the split-second I go on, my heart is going a mile a minute," Phillips said. "But then, once I get into the song, I'm fine. You become a part of the song."
"The manly, brawny and totally hot guys of Broadway night," as they were introduced, performed "Canaan Days" from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" for the last song of the night.
The song, about a group of men suffering from hunger, involved the guys collapsing to the floor, leaning against each other and crying out in frustration.
"I'm all out of meal points," sophomore Vegas Lancaster cried out from the floor, waving his ID despondently.
Timmes said the best part of performing was "being out there, working and sweating under the lights and knowing that you're in it together with the audience."
