rendition of American poet Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!” retitled “O Possum! My Possum!" in reference to a day in early February when Cedarville students gathered around a tree near the Centennial Library to observe a large opossum climbing through the tree’s branches. The doors to the chapel remain locked for the whole evening to prevent students from peering in. “We don’t even want to prop the doors for quick snack runs or bathroom breaks,” Burns reminds the cast midway through rehearsal. “We need to preserve the magic for the night of the show.” The evening after tech rehearsal, everyone returns to the chapel at 5 p.m. for dress rehearsal to run through the show twice, with no interruptions, as if they were performing in front of a live audience. This is the last opportunity for Elliv members to troubleshoot problems and refine their performance. After Carissa Johnson ’23, Emily Campbell ’24, and Noelle Norman ’23 finish the first run through of their Adele mashup, they decide to eliminate elbow-high white gloves from their costume, leaving them in black gowns and pearls. During the next act — a rendition of What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction — the vocalists have issues with the timekeeping “click” that plays in the background of everyone’s in-ear mix. “Was stage presence there?” Cherry asks, out of breath from having just sang and danced for the high-energy act. “My ears were off.” Then, midway through the encore, Kroyer runs on stage to coil a loose cable that a musician had almost tripped over. These issues can feel discouraging, but the dress rehearsal helps castmates identify and solve them before the live performance. After the first run through, Burns and Mindy May, Associate Vice President of Student Development and Dean of Students, call each act to the front of the chapel individually to give performance notes: Interact more with the soloists. Great job on the piano slides. Try not to play with your inears. Make your claps bigger. Freeze when the lights go black. With these performance notes in mind, the cast resets to begin their final run-through. Nerves are high. The energy, despite the late night, electrifies the room. Everyone leaves at curfew, knowing that the next time they reconvene, it’ll be showtime. THE HEART BEHIND THE SHOW Why dedicate over a year of preparation time, thousands of dollars, and an incalculable amount of creative energy to one Elliv performance? For Cherry, Elliv is much more than a show — it’s an opportunity to edify and encourage the student body. “Every time we’re planning an event in Campus Experience, we ask ourselves, ‘why are we doing this?’” Cherry explained. “For Elliv, the answer is simple. We want to give people an opportunity to celebrate the student body.” The last campuswide event before graduation, Elliv provides a final opportunity for students to make a memory together. And students continually flock toward the opportunity, with hundreds applying to participate and even more buying tickets to attend. “The student interest and participation put it in perspective for me,” Cherry shared. “It’s such a big deal that people want to do this. I think we all feel the community Elliv creates.” And indeed, after months of meetings, brainstorming sessions, and rehearsals, Elliv’s preparations culminate in that one moment. The lights dim, the curtains pull back, the music track clicks, and the mics raise. It’s show time. Heidie (Raine) Senseman ’23 is a recent Cedarville English graduate. Nerves are high. The energy, despite the late night, electrifies the room. Cedarville Magazine | 17
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