The Players performed the memorial concert in lieu of their spring musical.
@PLAYERSMU / INSTAGRAM
Victoria Schiller, Senior Writer
In lieu of their annual spring musical, Players honored the life of beloved member Aaron Schoepf, ‘26 over the weekend during a memorial concert. Schoepf was highly involved in the performing arts throughout his time at MU.
Originally, the spring musical, The Addams Family, in which Schoepf was slated to play Pugsley Addams and worked as production manager, was planned to take place this weekend. The decision to transition the show’s slots into a memorial concert was made to honor his involvement and love for Players.
“We decided that in light of recent events that doing Addams Family would be the wrong decision as Aaron was a very important part of that production,” Robert Nolan, a senior computer engineering major and the technical director and set designer for Players, wrote in an email. “It was such a heavy blow, that if I’m being honest I barely remember being with the board when we made the decision as it was the day of, but it was the right choice. It’s very hard to talk about the celebration of someone’s life while you’re grieving, but I think this is going to be very important.”
The Quadrangle had the opportunity to sit down with several of Schoepf’s close friends involved with the memorial concert and its planning.
Olivia Bailey, a junior communication major, serves as producer in Players and worked closely with Schoepf. She further explained the decision behind the memorial concert.
“Aaron was Players,” Bailey said. “He had so much involvement in Players. He was always doing something, he was always in The Box. Aaron was always there to just pick up the pieces. He was always the supportive person. Not having something to memorialize the time he spent would have been doing him wrong. It was a no brainer. We spent a couple hours putting it together, thinking of ideas, different things, and going over them and getting different people’s opinions.”
Bailey also shared which songs will be performed and the reason behind the specific pieces chosen.
“We’re doing songs from Dogfight, in which Aaron played the role of Eddie Birdlace, so we’re doing something he was in,” Bailey said. “We’re doing songs from The Lightning Thief, which is a show that he pitched multiple times, so a show he wanted to do. We’re doing a song from a musical called Falsettos, which he was planning on doing an independent study for, or at least thinking about it, so another show he would have spent time on. Then we’re doing songs from Little Shop of Horrors, which was a dream role for him. We tied it together with Seasons of Love from Rent. We spent a couple of hours finding the songs that were most meaningful and we went from there.”
Kevin Cullen, a junior English major with a minor in theater, works as the historian of the Players board. Cullen shared a bit about Schoepf’s past performances and passion for theater.
“He was such a talented individual,” Cullen said. “Not as flashy, but that by no means meant he was not a talented performer. He was. He’s made such an impact on me and so many people and I think it’s also a testament that he’s not as flashy as others and he still manages to stand out. He made such an impact. When you shared with him something you were passionate about, I felt like he responded as if he was as passionate. It’s very hard to come across people like that who are just so willing to jump right into all the stuff you love and care about. And it’s something I won’t forget, [and] will never forget. He was and will still be a great friend of mine.”
Cullen also commented on the pair’s close friendship.
“Aaron was so important to me,” Cullen said. “He was a very grounding source for me. He was someone who was always very welcoming and whenever I thought things were a little crazy; he was the person who I went to in order to make sure I wasn’t the crazy one. I think we were on a very similar wavelength. To do this concert for Aaron, it felt like something I’m so glad I’m a part of because I want to do as much as I can for him. I think in a lot of ways he was the best of us.”