A magical journey up the beanstalk

Ah, the circus. Many happy family memories are made at these marvelous shows—the thrill of the high wire, the delightful silliness of the clowns, the awe-inspiring acrobats. Thanks to the immense talent and skill found right here on the Muhlenberg campus, such magical shows take place here all year ‘round, and the Muhlenberg Circus Workshop’s latest production, “Welkin,” has joined the ranks of superb MC performances.

Welkin reimagines the classic story of Jack and the Beanstalk. A young girl named Eva (Erica Moreale ’17) finds a storybook, and is transported to Welkin, the magical world inside the book. Her brother Jack (Elena Nahrmann ’19) goes on a quest to save her from what he believes are terrifying giants — but are in fact a kind King and Queen (Shantell Cruz ’19 and Tim Canali ’17) who have warmly accepted Eva into their family. With the help of a few “magic beans” (Sean Cheney ’20 and Dan Dobro ’18), Jack climbs a beanstalk to rescue his sister and bring her back to earth. A mystical narrator, played by Lella Michelson ’19, helps guide Jack and Eva on their respective journeys.

The show was presented in the Trexler Dance Studio Theatre, and featured many spectacular effects such as acrobatic silks, glowing juggling balls (which represented the magic beans) and most impressive of all, an 8.5-foot tall rattan puppet that shared the role of the King with Canali, and was operated by five puppeteers. Live violin music was provided by Tyler Kennedy ’17, and the flute, piccolo, and penny whistle were played by Anna Turner ’18; recorded music was also used, and beautiful vocalizations for the music were provided by Carly Dove ’18, Jason Leonhard ’18 and Michaela Barczak ’19.

Not a word was spoken throughout the performance, and the entire show managed to convey an intriguing, magical story that could turn the staunchest realist into the truest believer.

“A group of us started working last summer and through last semester on developing the story, talking about equipment we would need, going through the music, and figuring out how we wanted the process to go,” said Erin Tiffany ’17, the technical advisor for the show, “Every step of the way was a challenge and learning experience. We went from a fairy tale to an adaptation to a script all the way through to a show, which is insane and difficult and wonderful.”

The production stage manager, Avary Don ’17, agrees that the process was demanding, but completely worth it. “Having this many student artists involved in a production is something that’s almost never done here and it has been unbelievably rewarding working with and collaborating with them. It had been such a labor of love for such a long time and there were moments we thought it might not happen, so seeing it get through a weekend of performances and seeing audiences love it was really special for me.”

Something that surprised me was that the show almost never made it to fruition. “From the beginning we were met with a lot of resistance from certain people and it was difficult climbing that mountain,” Don said, “but in the end we were able to create something that the whole cast and production team are really proud of.” I would’ve been horrified if such an impressive and dazzling show was denied the chance to shine on the Muhlenberg stage, and my hat goes off to every cast and crew member who worked to make it possible.

The three “Magic Beans” were definitely a fun highlight to a fairly heart-rending story. Cheney talks about how he got involved in the production, and what went into bringing it to life. “Prior to the show, I hadn’t had any training. I couldn’t even do a somersault before. But after working with everyone in the cast and crew, I grew a lot as a performer from it.” Dobro and Cheney played two of the three magic beans who tried to help Jack rescue his sister, while the third bean stubbornly remained in bean-form; the cast members affectionately named him “Beanjamin.” “The Beans were clowns who tried to help Jack as best as they could, even though their best wasn’t always good enough. We were goofy characters there to add comic relief to Welkin,” Cheney said of his performance alongside Dobro.

The Beans tried to make Jack laugh with their antics and later tried to rescue him from a mysterious, invisible prison—but it was Beanjamin who ended up saving the day! “We decided he [Beanjamin] was the brains of the operation, and so we had to make that read to the audience,” Cheney said. “Beanjamin had to pull us around, talk to us, and have a personality, despite being a featureless juggling ball. When that all finally clicked, it was such an amazingly rewarding experience.” It was delightful watching the glowing ball drag around Jack and his fellow Beans as they demonstrated their upbeat physical comedy skills.

It is heartbreaking when Jack, after having rescued Eva, climbs back down the beanstalk and prepares to chop it down. Unbeknownst to him, the King and Queen have just discovered Eva is missing, and the King starts climbing down the beanstalk to find her. Jack succeeds in toppling the beanstalk, causing the King to fall to his death. This effect required a fair amount of work from the puppeteers, who operated the puppet as Canali performed a stunning routine on green acrobatic silks that represented the beanstalk. They had the poor King puppet tumble and slowly fall, eventually ending up in a crumpled heap on the ground. The Queen is devastated when she hears of her husband’s death, and all of Welkin mourns the loss of their King. Eva is furious with Jack for what he has done, but then discovers Beanjamin nearby. This gives her, and the audience, hope that she will be able to return to Welkin someday.

I won’t lie to you, readers. I shed a few tears after the King’s death. Don and Tiffany were surprised that so many people had such strong reactions to the death of a giant puppet made out of a material that Don describes as the result “if wood and rope ever had a baby.”

Both Don and Tiffany are seniors, and the closing of Welkin officially draws the curtain on their Muhlenberg theatrical careers.

“I am honored that this beautiful creation was my last Muhlenberg production,” Tiffany said, “Many people thought the circus at Muhlenberg would end after its founders graduated last year. To be a part of the production that was able to continue it and worked from nearly the ground up is a beautiful full circle feeling to my time here.”

“It’s bittersweet,” Don said of her final show, “I’m excited for the future and incredibly honored to have my Muhlenberg stage management career come to an end with such a talented and passionate group of people, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t miss the group of students that put this show together.

I extend the heartiest of congratulations to everyone involved with Welkin. This was a lyrical, evocative show that managed to capture the innocence of childhood alongside the stark truth of reality in a visually stunning, breathtaking presentation. These astounding cast and crew members were able to show off the incredible talent and skill we are fortunate enough to have here at Muhlenberg.