Written and photographed by Katherine Rountree
Father Mapple, played by T.J. Miller, gave the ship’s crew quite a blessing.
On May 24 in the Arnold Hall Auditorium, PE SCORES! performed “Moby Dick! The Musical.” A comedic version of the classic novel by Herman Melville, the play is set as the production for the Saint Godley’s Academy for Young Ladies.
The school is in dire financial straits at the start of the play and hopes the production will save Saint Godley’s from closing. With only a few mismatched props and little time, they put on the production and the play quickly jumps to opening night.
The musical followed the plot line of Melville’s classic beautifully while jumping at every possible chance to get a laugh. At the start, Captain Ahab has already lost his leg to the infamous Moby Dick and is on a course for home to see his lovely wife. Meanwhile Ishmael, the narrator, is in search of a whaling vessel to set sail with.
As Ahab is reunited with his wife and he recounts his tale to her, she is driven mad and jumps into the sea. Heartbroken, Ahab is only able to be consoled by his cabin boy Pip, who has a very “friendly” relationship with him. In a dream, Ahab’s deceased wife convinces him to go back out to sea and hunt Moby Dick. During this, Ishmael continues his search for a ship and befriends a cannibal, Queequeg.
Queequeg the cannibal, played by Anne-Marie Trabolsi, running around the stage with other cast members.
The pair meet the second mate of the Pequod, Ahab’s ship, and decide to join the crew after receiving a blessing. Everything is in order, but before the ship can leave port, Ishmael is confronted by Elijah, who tells him that the boat is cursed and will sink.
As the voyage goes on Ahab becomes “obsessed with vengeance alone.” In order to save the crew, the first mate Starbuck tries to kill Ahab but cannot bring himself to do it. Soon the ship runs into a storm and Pip is thrown overboard and drowns. Enraged that his wife and Pip are both gone, Ahab spots the whale and tries to harpoon it.
It is a fatal mistake on his part. Moby Dick destroys the boat and only Ishmael lives to tell the tale. The story ends quickly with the students of Saint Godley’s Academy having saved the school with the performance.
The musical was put on in hopes of saving Saint Godley’s Academy for Young Ladies.
The production consisted of a small cast and crew, with a live band on the stage. Almost the entire cast remained on or around the stage during the performance. Minimal props and costumes were used and everything reflected the humor of the school’s shoestring budget, including sports equipment used as Ahab’s brace and Moby Dick himself made of nothing more than white umbrellas. Members of the cast held books with the scores inside, but they were obviously used as props rather than crutches.
Though the performance had the usual hiccups that come with opening night, the cast never skipped a beat. The performers were not afraid to poke fun at themselves, even during pivotal scenes, and kept the laughs coming.
