Superhero Opening Night
April 24, 2023
After months of hard work, preparation, and long rehearsals, the cast & crew of Superhero finally got to see their efforts pay off at the first official performances of Superhero on MIA’s very own Rhine Stage on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The cast performed a number of heartwarming songs and scenes all complete with creative projections and the interactive set that changed throughout the play.
Students in the play portrayed the story of 15-year-old Simon Branson, a young boy obsessed with comic books who is grappling with his father’s death and struggling to maintain a good relationship with his mother, Charlotte. Simon’s suspicion that his neighbor Jim might be a superhero jeopardizes his relationships and leads the audience to wonder what it means to be a superhero.
Aside from the portrayal of the story through the acting out of the characters and scenes, the set design and props in Superhero were also major contributors to the story and setting on their own. The rotating wall and apartment building, color changing lights, video projections, and props such as dishes, books, a mailbox, laundry washing materials, and tables & chairs, all help to tell the story of Superhero.
Not only was this the first time Superhero was performed on MIA’s Rhine Stage, but it was also the first time the play has ever been performed on stage since its Off-Broadway run in 2019. Director & Head of the Theatre Department at MIA, Mr. Dayett explains that while this aspect of the production was the most gratifying, it also came with some challenges.
“There was really no footage or very many photos of the original production, so I had to really plan out what I wanted this world to look like.” Mr. Dayett explains that with the limited resources available it was more involved to make the play fit for students and their characters. Music Director Dr. Cayce Benton was also instrumental in coaching and helping the students gear up for the show.
Nicole Sutton, a student in Superhero who played Dean Fulton, learned how to grow as a person as well as a character in the play. Sutton describes how her experience with the play which had never been done before allowed her to intercept it the way she wanted and also allowed other students in the play to “fall into their characters comfortably.”
Mr. Dayett wanted to take as many aspects of the original Superhero play into MIA’s production as possible, in order to use creative props and set design to tell the story. He traveled to Ft. Lauderdale frequently to see Slow Burn Theatre Company’s production and used a lot of the research for the production. “The script says Simon’s project is a video comic book. I knew I wanted that, so I learned how to use my iPad to sketch cartoon versions of photos I took to feature every actor.”
Alina Nguyen who plays Vee in Superhero learned a lot about teamwork and the importance of working together as with her team in the play.“By working together and helping one another, I think that’s really how we pulled the whole show together.”
