‘Civil War’ picks up what history class left out

“The Civil War: A Musical” is filled to the brim with talented young actors and direction from the best Broadway has to offer. The final VCU Theater production for this school year opened Thursday night to a packed house. “The Civil War” is unstoppable, and sure to be remembered as the best stage creation this side of New York.

“The Civil War” combines a mixture of 36 songs and contemporary beats to provide the story of war from all angles. No sets are used on stage. Rather, backgrounds are projected onto a blank screen. Forests, skies and devastated cities all set the locale.

The burnt shell of Richmond supplies the setting in one scene as rolling graphics scroll across screen. Ron Keller, head of design, keeps props and costumes to a minimal. The music is the show’s highlight. Songs illustrate the show’s meaning, needing little else than soulful lyrics and touching melodies. This is truly a show about the music.

Musical Director Blanton Bradley uses the original score with talented voices to reach out to the audience, linking them with the characters. From the first scene until the last, the auditorium is filled with tunes that express every effect of war.

“The Civil War” uses powerful songs and acting combined with structured movements. David Leong, chair for VCU Department of Theater, and Patti D’Beck, a Broadway choreographer, bring conflicts on and off the battlefield to life. Leong originally choreographed fights and movement for the Broadway production of “The Civil War.” VCU’s version runs as smoothly as any seen in New York and with few flaws.

Well-created stage fights display the talent of the actors turned soldiers. The only unrealistic depiction of soldiers by the actors was their posture, which was not as straight as an actual soldier’s would be. D’beck uses her talent as a stage coach to make the characters believable. Leong’s and D’Beck’s direction turns the script’s context of the war into a compelling drama.

The musical runs almost two hours with a ten-minute intermission. In a short period of time the play utilizes songs to share its message without being drawn-out. This is not something that can be experienced in undergrad history classes that have an entire semester. “The Civil War” offers insight into lives that are often not studied as closely as they could be.

Marcus Kenyadi, senior performance major, gives animation to one such character. Kenyadi enlivens the encounters of the vivacious black speaker Fredrick Douglas. Douglas’ pain is felt in Kenyadi’s voice as he speaks to free slaves about trials and hesitation. In Kenyadi’s booming voice the audience glimpses an understanding of what it means to fight for a cause.

In the same nature, the slaves sing about freedom and prayer in accompaniment of uplifting gospel beats. Pain is etched by the voices of cast members and along with it the hope of something better ahead. In one scene, strength and hope bring one slave couple back to each other after being separated in a horrifically realistic auction scene.

The couple, played by Kim Fox, sophomore voice major, and Gerron Atkinson, first-year performance major, are torn from each other’s arms as the auction block splits, ripping them apart. In one of the best scenes, the two are reunited and give hope that there will be a better tomorrow for everyone.

There is never a lull in the drama on stage. Viewers slip easily from being passive spectators to wishing they could fight alongside the soldiers. The cast meshes well and plays off one other. Yet, the show does not have a single leading actor. Nurses, wives and mothers of the soldiers, captains from each army, the soldiers and the slaves fighting for their very freedom all star in their own accounts of what war has done to them. Each of the 32-ensemble cast has a prominent role in the story being told. Every actor – down to the last man to die in battle – shines.

The audience bears witness to the struggles each group must endure. The final cry of the widows, the pride Confederate troops feel in standing until the end, and the joy slaves discover in finally finding freedom keep viewers enthralled through the finale. The separate stories are held together through the end by the uniting theme of hope even in despair as the show asks, “How much more must we give for freedom?”