Message From Producers Message From Producers
Welcome to the 9th annual McMaster Arts & Science Musical, Artsci Story! We are so grateful that you are here, supporting us–there is no Artsci Musical without all of you For nearly a decade, the Artsci Musical has sought to create a safe space of creativity. Together, we find community, grow as people, and build something beautiful. With creativity and heart, we explore what it means to be an Artsci, a university student, or just a person figuring out their place We strongly believe in the transformative and healing power of the arts, and we value the community of support that comes with that. Here, you are always welcome to come as you are. This production is the culmination of countless hours of hard work by so many people, and each of them deserves all the thanks in the world.
To our cast, dance line, and band: We’re so very proud of you, and so incredibly excited to see you take the stage. We’ve seen the effort and enthusiasm you ’ ve put into this production, and we ’ re so thankful to you for all of the energy you ’ ve put into making this show come to life From the hours of rehearsals, to the madness of tech week, we ’ ve seen you all put in your best to make the musical its best. We’ve seen all of you put your creative spirit into this musical and community in your own ways, thank you for making this all possible
To our writing team: Starting with the very first draft we got to read, we were beyond excited to jump into the world you built. From the endless hours spent writing and editing, to all the time spent discussing and answering questions, to the trust you have placed in all of us in bringing your vision to life, you have given your all to this production, and we thank you for it. Your creativity, dedication, and talent shine through on every page of the script, and we ’ re so thankful you shared your hearts with us through this story!year’s
To our creative and music team: Thank you all so much for everything that you ’ ve done to put this together From the time you ’ ve spent leading each rehearsal, to the time behind the scenes preparing for the next one, this musical wouldn’t have happened without you. You made our acting, dance, and vocals shine. You spent hours in tireless work puzzling out the scores. You coordinated an amazing band, to accompany it all. Thank you all for your work coordinating your own parts of the musical, and for bringing out the best of our story, our cast, and our band.
To our backstage team; props & set, costumes & makeup, tech, stage manager, and crew: You never backed down from the challenge of bringing all of our visions to life. The sets are straight out of our imaginations, the costumes are absolutely gorgeous, and the tech brings the ambiance of this story. We would be lost without your coordination of everything–set changes, quick changes, spotlights, mic levels, and all the other cues. Your work behind and between the scenes allows the musical to shine, and your dedication does not go unnoticed.
To our behind the scenes workers; our productions, fundraising, and promotions coordinators: Though your work won’t be on the stage for everyone to see, it is just as essential to this production. Thank you for managing communication with cast and the endless emails. Thank you for organizing the fundraisers that financially supported us. And thank you for managing accounts and advertising to fill the seats of this theatre. Your contributions to this production, and this community, help create the opportunity for all of us to make art, so thank you.
The Artsci Musical has always held a special place in our hearts. As you journey through the world that we have brought to life, we invite you into that magic We hope you feel the joy of this production, and that you enjoy the show Thank you for being a part of the Artsci Musical family
With gratitude and love,
Maya Kim and Evan Tyler
Message From Scriptwriters Message From Scriptwriters
In the fictitious world of Artsci Story, students are forced to submit a ‘thesis project’ that they will pursue for the rest of their lives, committing to either the House of Arts or the House of Science To fail at this task or worse, to not choose is deemed a fate worse than death. But of course, when you ’ re in your early 20s, every decision feels like it could be your last.
You may notice that Artsci Story is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. While considering what shape our script would take, we found striking parallels between the Montague-Capulet feud and our internal experiences in the Arts and Science program Frequently finding ourselves at the intersection between academic disciplines that seem incompatible, we are no strangers to claims that one area of study is more practical, meaningful, or important than another Such claims can be demoralizing for those who simply wish to follow their hearts and learn for the sake of learning. However, like Romeo and Juliet, we believe it’s a possible and worthwhile endeavour to search beyond our differences and earnestly consider what everyone has to contribute to our world. This belief has since materialized into the foundation of Artsci Story!
Throughout our time in this program, our scriptwriting trio has developed a profound friendship bonded by many hours of livetweeting in lectures together, confronting our unarticulated presuppositions, painstakingly revising each other's essays, and ultimately descending into liberal arts hysteria As such, it has been a true privilege to be able to conclude our undergraduate journey by writing our final Artsci Musical together. Our writing sessions notwithstanding three near-death car crashes and endless text arguments were fueled by fourth-year existentialism, thesis-related
angst, as well as an overwhelming love for this program and the wonderful people we have gotten to know thanks to it We hope this love is evident throughout our script, which could not have come to life without the astounding dedication of our producers, executive team, cast, band, crew, and the entire Arts & Science community. We have witnessed this project evolve from our feverish summer writing experiment into a remarkably dazzling production, and we have only come to love it even more since So please — enjoy the show! :3
Natalie Chu, Lauren Misiaszek & Joshua Watson
Artscis ‘til we dies <3
EExecutives xecutives
Co-Producer ..........................................................Maya Kim
Co-Producer.........................................................Evan Tyler
Stage Manager.......................Maddie Stanley-Rainbow
Co-Scriptwriter Natalie Chu
Co-Scriptwriter.....................................Lauren Misiaszek
Co-Scriptwriter.............................................Josh Watson
Script Supervisor..................................Ben Curtis-Dyck
Director Aliana Niezova
Co-Choreographer...................................Soraya Lee Wo
Co-Choreographer............................................Airo Marsh
Vocal Team...................................................Alix Herrmann
Vocal Team Aliana Niezova
Music Director..................................................Jennifer Lin
Music Arranger.....................................................Victoria Li
Costuming Director Ava Wynhofen
Props & Set Master..............................................Olli Zelek
Promotions Coordinator.........................Nimrat Kalirai
Fundraising Coordinator...........................Ruth Epstein
Production Coordinator Emabelle Hsu
Tech Director.....................................................Dev Pandya
CCast ast
Romeo...............................................................Noah Dachner
Juliet............................................................................Lily Khair
Friar Leah McMillan
Benvolio.......................................................................Kai Yang
Mercutio..........................................................Reid Adamson
Tybalt Sofia Ferraro
Prince...................................................................Darius Reece
Rosaline........................................................Sarayu Nambiar
Paris..............................................................Sara D'Ambrosio
Phebe Mia Saha
Beatrice.....................................................................Anna Lise
Frances..................................................................Claire Haigh
Balthasar...............................................................Jack Gillies
Toni Alyssa Abush
Sasha.......................................................................Safia Slotta
Sampson....................................................................Hal Wang
Brutus..................................................................María Puerto
Cassius Eric DeGraafe
Lord Art....................................................Rameesha Ahmad
Lord Sci..................................................Arthy Pansanathan
Nurse Eve Adams
Dance Line...................................................................Naia Lee
Dance Line............................................................Kiran Oberai
Dance Line Emily Yang
Pit Band Pit Band
Clarinet................................................................Claire Ierullo
Drums..........................................................................Eric Yang
Drums Ishmeet Johal
Flute...........................................................................Gia Chahal
Flute...............................................................................Katt Lee
Guitar Benjamin Hemsworth
Electric Bass....................................................Kate Linardic
Euphonium........................................................Jessica Tang
Piano.................................................................Esha Pattni
Piano......................................................................Tera Kim
Tenor sax.................................................................Sam Potts
Tenor sax...............................................................Victoria Yip
Trumpet..............................................................Jona Gervais
Violin Graeme Lavrence
Violin...................................................................Sophia Moosa
CCostumes ostumes
Lilah Dagenais
Claire lerullo
Sabina Joneja
Tien Nguyen
Alexandra Chow
Molly Friedman
Lyza Gilbert
Michael Park
Selina Qiu
Sarah Shawaf
Laila Somani
TTech ech
Maya Hayworth
Paige Malcolm
Hilan Tawfiq
Geneva White
Havanna Zahra
Annika Nayyar
Renée Sobrino
Set and Props Set and Props
Molly Friedman
Annika Nayyar
Maya Hayworth
Maya Krieger
CCredits redits
Special Thanks To...
Natalie Chu – For creating the stunning show art, program cover, and poster design.
Naia Lee – For their invaluable assistance in choreographing this musical
Siya Lakra - For their invaluable assitance in directing and stage managing.
Sam DePaul – For their expert contributions to the musical arrangements for this production.
The MSU Underground – For their generous support in handling all of our printing needs.
ASM Alumni – For sharing their expertise and providing invaluable guidance throughout the production.
Ahastan Surees – Our dedicated SASS Master of Coin, for expertly managing our financial needs
Will Chai – For beautifully capturing our production through photography and videograph.
The Robbie (Lisa & Grace) – For offering us a performance space and providing essential logistical and technical support.
SSongs ongs
Knowledge to be Found tune of “Someone in the Crowd” from La La Land
“Discoveries that will lift us off the ground”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman | Score: Victoria Li
Science Is What We Know tune of “Stick to the Status Quo” from High School Musical
“If you want to be smart / Then don’t mess with the arts”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman | Score: Victoria Li
Thesis Song tune of “Wedding Song” from Hadestown
“Don’t you think there’s more to this?”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman | Score: Victoria Li
NFTs tune of “Sexy” from Mean Girls
“It's like owning a real piece of art / Only non-fungible and worth nothing!”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo, Naia Lee | Vocals: Alix Herrman | Score:
Victoria Li
SSongs ongs
Meaning of Life
tune of “Being Alive” from Company
“For knowledge is what makes me feel most alive”
Dance: Airo Marsh, Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman, Aliana Niezova, Maya Kim, Jen Lin | Score: Victoria Li, Jen Lin
It was Romeo
tune of “We Both Reached for the Gun” from Chicago “Arts and Sciences, no alliances / It is reprehensible, it’s indefensible”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman, Aliana Niezova , Evan Tyler | Score: Victoria Li
Mix our Disciplines
tune of “Time Warp” from Rocky Horror Picture Show
“Things may never be the same again”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman, Aliana Niezova , Evan Tyler, Maya Kim | Score: Victoria Li
Give Up, Babe!
tune of “Good Luck, Babe!” by Chappell Roan
“We can change the world, don’t forget this feeling”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrman, Aliana Niezova , Evan Tyler, Maya Kim | Score: Victoria Li
SSongs ongs
Mercutio’s Ode tune of “Wonderwall” by Oasis
“I thought we could make a brighter world”
Dance: Airo Marsh, Sorara Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrmann | Score: Victoria Li
(We Are) The Same tune of “The Worm” by HMLTD “We’ll no longer be restricted”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo | Vocals: Alix Herrmann, Aliana Niezova | Score: Victoria Li, Sam DePaul
Let us Learn tune of “Let it Grow” from The Lorax “Let the tide of progress turn”
Dance: Soraya Lee Wo, Naia Lee | Vocals: Alix Herrmann, Aliana Niezova | Score: Victoria Li
Our Sponsors Our Sponsors
A huge thank you to our generous sponsors whose contributions have helped to bring this year ’ s production to life!
AAutographs utographs
Artsci Story Artsci Story
