The play this fall semester was Stepping Out. It was set in 1987 in a church hall in the Bronx, NY. It’s about a beginning group of tap students who come from all aspects of life to try and

cope with their lives by dancing. It was a refreshing comical show, with a few ominous moments when the characters let each of their personal problems come out during a couple of their classes. The ending left a few questions unanswered, but did display the class’s improvement as a whole.

The Cast consisted of 11 people, nine women and two men. The two male Characters were Geoffrey (David Ransbottom) and Max (Eric Potter); one was gay and the other was extensively awkward especially in the presence of so many women. The women can be split into two groups: mean and sweet. Lynne (Keegan O’Connor), Dorothy (Marissa Colon), and Andy (Amanda Schumacher) are the nice and shy girls of the class, whereas Sylvia (Liz Wood), Rose (Thasha Brignol), and Vera (Leann Boisvert) are the not so nice ones.

The dance class was rather similar to a high school hallway. It had a wide variety of different people; there were those who were shy and kept to themselves or the other shy ones, and there were the extraverts who kept the class interesting every chance they got. Then you had the teachers who kept the class together and on track, while dealing with problems of their own. None of the students were exceptional at tap dancing, but as the show progressed each of them improved to be stars on the stage.

President Kaplan went to the opening night, as did a majority of the school (professors and students alike). There was a full house for Heather Reba’s first production as the University of New Haven’s new Theater Director and Producer. Quite recently, Robert Boyle left; he was the head of the theatre department for many years and gained a rather extensive legacy. Heather stepped up to fill the position right before the fall semester commenced. She had a lot to do in a small amount of time and managed to keep her classes interested in theatre while working on the production over the entire semester.

The play opened Thursday, November 17 and had its finale the following Sunday. If you missed it, there is always the Musical Little Shop of Horrors that the theater department will be doing in the Spring Semester.