Cushing Moments

MUSICAL TRAVELS THROUGH TIME — AND LIFE

“Now. Here. This.” Becomes an Ensemble Production

When you are a theatre teacher, adaptation is the name of the game. On the heels of COVID disruption and the loss of many graduating performers, Performing Arts

Chair Julia Ohm had her eye on a small Winter Musical written for four characters. Then nearly two dozen Cushing students expressed interest in participating.

“We needed to do a musical with very strange connections, not typical love interests, not typical ingénues, not typical sub-characters,” Ohm says. “We didn’t have the structure for that, so we needed a large ensemble show where everyone was pretty much equal and could deliver a strong unity within the production.”

So, Ohm adapted “Now. Here. This,” originally a four-person show, into a 22-member cast ensemble. The unusual, quirky musical is filled with vignettes about what it means to be a tween and then a teenager and then a grown-up. Set in a natural history museum, the show follows friends through exhibits as they explore all aspects of life, traveling through different eras.

Some of the biggest fans of the show were older audience members who appreciated throwback references (remember Guess jeans?) to the 1970s and ’80s. “There were audience members who really loved it — thought it was the best musical we have ever done,” Ohm says. “I think those who liked it the most were in midlife or older because they could relate to that period of time when they were teenagers.”

Mark one in the win column for making an adaptation great!