Behind the scenes of ‘Now.Here.This.’

By Danna Bertel and Luqman Gbenro •

The Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts is bringing a new play to campus this fall: “Now. Here. This.” A show that takes place in a natural history museum and follows the adventures of four nameless friends as they travel through time, hoping to answer life’s big questions with humor and humanity.

“I could call it a semi-autobiographical piece about four friends. They are hanging out at the Natural History Museum. Where each exhibit seems to inspire a little bit of recollection and memory and storytelling, they work through this kind of desire to want more for themselves and more for their life,” said Alex Alvarez, assistant professor and director of “Now.Here.This.”

Molly Sullivan, senior health and wellness major, plays one of the four nameless protagonists who embark on a Night at the Museum-esque adventure.

“It’s a very funny script. We’re always telling jokes. There’s a moment where we actually pretend we’re dinosaurs,” Sullivan said.

The production had a clear vision, and it was on Alvarez and his cast to put everything into place.

“We find people who can sing the parts, we find people who can move and we find people who can act. Because you’re picking from so many people, then well, who fits the part?” Alvarez said.

This approach points toward Alvarez’s emphasis on connection.

Alongside the other performers, Brandon Ysibido, junior engineering major and cast member of the show, took his role naturally as if he was playing a version of himself instead of a character.

“I think we’re a lot like our characters, which is kind of scary-good how close the director got to choosing who we became,” Ysibido said.

This sense of connection is alive in the rehearsal processes as well. Ysibido described the learning phase as “stumbling together.” The cast had to lean on each other due to the show’s tight schedule.

“This is a fast turnaround production, so we have less than two weeks before we jump into tech week. We learned all the music in less than a week, and now we’re working a little bit on choreography and blocking,” Sullivan said.

It was normal for cast members to spend extra time rehearsing.

“They are a really dedicated bunch. We’d finish rehearsals and they’re singing together. Every time they leave they seem to sing a song from the show, so that they can kind of refresh themselves and get better each time,” Alvarez said.

For Alvarez, the thread of connection needed to be woven into the narrative as well as the rehearsal. Alvarez stressed the importance of being tuned in to the world outside of work and school.

“You can get so caught up in the desire for more that you forget to live. Our lives are built in a way that we have to work. But what you find is that you [must] strike the balance between being present with the people that you enjoy and being present in the environment, good or bad,” Alvarez said.

As a performer himself, Alvarez is familiar with the grind that is honing your craft.

“The only thing that’s promised is right here, right now, and this. So how do we become more present in our lives?” Alvarez said.

“Now. Here. This.” will be performed at the Black Box Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 6-7 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 8. Admission is free.