Sophomore Olivia Bailey singing Little Brothers from Phineas and Ferb. ANGELINAPEREZ/THEQUADRANGLE
By Angelina Perez, Asst. Features Editor & Web Editor
To close out the semester, Manhattan College’s Players put on their annual fall cabaret this past weekend. This year director Robert Nolan pitched the idea for “Phineas and Ferb: I Know What We’re Going to Do Today” and produced a sold-out show for students to gather in the black box and sing memorable songs from the Disney hit such as “Fabulous” and “Gitchee Gitchee Goo.”
Junior computer engineer Robert Nolan told The Quadrangle about his experience directing his first cabaret and where the idea came from.
“I knew I wanted to direct this year’s cabaret, and this idea just came to me,” Nolan said. “At first, it was kind of a joke, but then I realized there are a lot of really good songs in [Phineas and Ferb], and so many people in my generation at this college grew up with the show. I was singing along to songs I didn’t even know I knew that were catchy.”
Nolan’s dedication to both his performers and audience members was reflected in the songs chosen from the show’s abundant soundtrack.
“What I did was I watched every song of this series and decided that since they’re short songs, I’ll do about 20 minutes for each act,” Nolan said. “Even though there are so many songs in the show that I would have loved to do, I decided to go with the ones that felt fit to show and best fit our cast.”
Sophomore Olivia Bailey, a communication major with theater and music minors, helped Nolan throughout the production process as his assistant alongside cast member Lockland Reeder.
“My friend [Nolan] came to me with the idea, and at first I was like, oh, that’s a tough ask because many of the songs are short, but we chose a setlist and pulled it together,” Bailey said. “It was amazing, and Phineas and Ferb is such a well-known show. I was really confident and very happy to do it.”
Bailey walked The Quadrangle through what it takes to put on a cabaret from start to finish, from casting to rehearsal.
“Casting was very hard,” Bailey said. “We had a lot of people come audition and unfortunately had to limit that a little bit, but once we wrapped up casting, we started with rehearsals. I was assigned choreography along with the other assistant director [Reeder] and neither of us are choreographers so that was a tough task but it all came together.”
When discussing the costume arrangements for this performance Bailey showed The Quadrangle her all-black fit that reflected her character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz’s outfits in the show.
“So we just chose summer clothes,” she said. “I dressed in all black because I played Vanessa for a lot of the numbers. It was pretty free rein. Mostly, I did costume accessories and outfits.”
Education major Landon Scofield played various characters throughout the cabaret, such as Doofenshmirtz and Phineas. He reflected on how this year’s cabaret compared to previous ones he had participated in at MC.
“This cabaret had fewer people, so it was nice to be able to share and spread the wealth of the solos among people who care about the same things you do,” Scofield said. “I liked that we started with a huge number and then trickled into numbers that get even crazier.”
This semester’s cabaret was freshman Malcolm Naughton’s first performance with the MC players.
“Everyone was so talented and brought great energy throughout the process,” Naughton said.
Kevin Colin is a sophomore English major who also chose to perform his first cabaret following his debut in the play Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors a few weeks ago.
“[The cabaret] was done in a more condensed period than other productions I’ve done,” Colin said. “The workload was less but with a lot more choreography and numbers. There’s a lot more than just memorizing the specific songs themselves, it’s a bit of a challenge but a fun one.”
When asked what song was his favorite to perform, Colin struggled to find just one piece that reflected his
“It’s very hard for me to pick a favorite,” Colin said. “Goody Two Shoes Brother was one that I enjoyed doing the most. I auditioned with that piece, which is amazing that I got to perform it for everyone. Squirrels in My Pants was also really fun and was the most difficult to get together, but I think it came together really nicely and was hilarious. It might have been one of the funniest numbers in the entire show.”
Colin reassured The Quadrangle this would not be the last time students would see him on stage.
“I would absolutely do it again,” Colin said. “This was wild, I think there’s no other way to put it.”
Follow the Players’ Instagram @playersmc to stay updated on their performances next semester such as their upcoming student slot and spring musical.
Editor’s Note: Staff Writer Alexandrea Velez contributed to interviews for this story.