Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2014
Capstone Advisor
Prof. Rodney Hudson, Assoc. Prof.
Honors Reader
Rebecca Karpoff, Assist. Instructor
Capstone Major
Music
Capstone College
Visual and Performing Arts
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
yes
Honors Categories
Creative
Subject Categories
Music | Other Music | Theatre and Performance Studies
Abstract
When I began the process of producing my Capstone Project, Bat Boy: the Musical, I had no idea what I was about to do or how much work it was going to be. I ultimately learned that the key tools I needed were passion, confidence, and creativity.
I originally had a very difficult time deciding what show I wanted to do. I changed my mind several times between other shows, but once I landed on Bat Boy I never second-guessed my choice. I found a show I was passionate about, and subsequently poured myself into every second I spent producing it. My Capstone was a crash-course in producing. I handled every detail and enlisted the help I needed to make the show happen. I raised all the money, figured out how best to spend it, and generated an audience to sell out every performance. I ran into countless problems, but as I found ways to solve each of them my confidence grew.
Problems were inevitable, unexpected, and sometimes ridiculous to the point of comical. Just about everything the audience saw onstage was not an originally planned moment, prop, or set piece, but a solution to a problem. I found ways to use set backs to invent something more interesting than my original idea. I like to think it made our show charming.
By the time we began rehearsals, I was starting to trust myself as a producer. This was important because I had to focus on my role during rehearsals; we only had three weeks to put the show together. I have never spent my time as productively as I did during those three weeks. I was emotionally invested in the success of the show as a whole, but totally focused on each individual task. Sometimes giving yourself limited time to do something that means a lot to you forces you to do your best work.
Recommended Citation
Cassell, Sarah Carlson, "Bat Boy: The Musical" (2014). Honors Capstone Projects - All. 737.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/737
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
