Jambar Contributor
By Victoria Remley
Youngstown State University’s Theatre and Dance Department’s performance of, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone,” on Sept. 29 in Bliss Hall’s Spotlight Theater was a whirlwind of comedy, romance and lies.
The show was quirky and fun to watch.
In the show, a girl named Jean is in a café when a man’s cell phone starts ringing and won’t stop. This annoys her, so she asks the man if he will answer it and discovers he is dead. From then on things get crazy.
Jean meets the dead man’s family, finds an unexpected love interest and discovers the dead man’s disturbing profession.
The characters were very dramatic.
The Other Woman/The Woman in Red is a sexy and sophisticated French woman played by Elena Loedding. The Woman in Red carries around a cigarette holder and walks with the confidence of a woman who knows she is beautiful.
Mrs. Gottleib, a heartbroken mother, was played by Molly Lukehart. She wears a fur coat and hat and is comically overdramatic.
Gottleib asked the audience to raise their hands if they answered their cell phones while they were on the toilet and later, violently knocked over a podium during a song she sang about people always having cell phones.
The show used lighting and props to their advantage. Different colors shone on the stage depending on the mood of scenes. For a happy scene, yellow lights were used and during a dramatic or sad scene, blue lights washed over the characters. A video of a city was projected behind the stage while Gordon, the dead man, is talking about the day he died.
Matthew Mazuroski, the chair and associate professor of acting and directing at YSU said the show took six weeks to prepare.
He said that watching the students discover who the characters are and really bringing out the character was great.
“There’s something about being able to watch young artists come into the rehearsal process and watch them explore together,” Mazuroski said.
Abigail Kremm, who played Jean, said her favorite part of the show was creating the jokes.
“Trying to construct the jokes I think was my favorite part,” Kremm said.
Jack Rusk, who played Dwight, said his favorite part was being able to watch everyone learn the script.
“When you sit down to read a script for the first time you’re not really sure what to expect, but with this one, every rehearsal, more and more kept getting brought out. All the quirks of the characters really shined through,” Rusk said.
Brooke Nobbs, an audience member, said the show was great.
“I thought it was great, they always put on fantastic shows here,” Nobbs said.
Jude Ambrose Mikulich, an audience member, said the show was adorable.
“It made me laugh. That’s what I came to do. I wasn’t expecting it to be as goofy as it was,” Mikulich said.
Alysha London, an audience member, said the show was entertaining.
“It was really confusing until the end, but the dancing between shows was very entertaining,” London said.
“Dead Man’s Cell Phone” will run until Oct. 8.
