By: Annie Hart

Hornet’s Nest is a student theatre group founded by three sophomore Musical theatre majors; Co-Presidents Erik Daughterman and Abby Wright, as well as Vice President Emily Steinhart.

The group staged its first musical, Godspell, this past weekend!

I’ll be honest, I’ve had a pretty rough past few weeks, and I wasn’t sure I could write a completely objective review without letting my negative state of emotions get in the way.

But oh man was I wrong.

Godspell put me under a spell. I left the theatre in such a positive, hopeful headspace. I was ready to build my own Beautiful City from the rubble these weeks have created.

All of the actors were phenomenal, and the cast seemed to have a great relationship which really translated onto the stage creating an incredible experience. However, there were a few people who stood out throughout the show.

Shelbea Owen, “Bless The Lord”, was a huge vocal standout. Owen has an incredibly powerful singing voice. During one of her huge belting runs, I looked at my friends and asked “Oh my gosh how is she able to do that?”.

Riley Johnston, “Light of the World”, was absolutely hilarious. Johnston yelled “Hi mom, I see you up there!” in the middle of his song Friday night, and stage dived on Saturday. His unpredictablity was the main facet of his humor and I adored it.

Patrick Murray, “All Good Gifts”, has the most unexpectedly amazing voice. During most of the show he cracked me up, he was even wearing a shirt that said “I heart bagels”, but when he began to sing I was taken aback. His ability to switch from a comedic character into a serious vocalist shows incredible range.

Claire Ballard, one of the on stage singers/swings, is an incredibly talented vocalist. People around me were commenting on how they could hear her runs and belting during the group moments. I would have loved to hear more from her!

The show felt like a party. My friends and I were dancing in our seats to almost every song, even the impromptu version of Jesus Loves Me.

While leaving, I made the joke that this production of Godspell was like the Jesus version of American Idiot. Partly because of the unique vibe created in Glaze, but mostly due to the creative costuming provided by SICK VINTAGE.

SICK VINTAGE is a store in downtown Winchester that sells fashionable pieces from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Hornet’s Nest sold the costuming pieces at Will-Call to be picked up after the closing of the show. This is such an amazing way to get the community involved in student theatre, it made me want to shop at SICK VINTAGE!

The day after we went to see the show my friend Kendall Melton, senior psychology major, texted me saying “I wanna see Godspell again”.

Hornet’s Nest is about to seriously step up the game of student theatre groups.