Southern Utah University’s student-led theatre group is back with their monthly variety show, SUU Live. Second Studio co-showcase hosts Jett Larson and Nash Kenning-Ballesteros will be holding the event on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $3.
This month’s theme, “Paranormal Picture Show,” is a tribute to old Hollywood monster movies.
“I personally like to think of old vampire movies like Dracula or even Frankenstein. Black and white kind of classics,” said Larson. “Or like ‘Thriller,’ the music video. I think of that.”
November’s SUU Live features a new change to the way the night is run: instead of auditions, hopeful acts sign up until the maximum number of slots are filled. This is to make the show more inclusive while also preventing it from becoming too large in scale.
“We realized after our first two shows that, by doing an audition, it alienates different types of performance,” said Larson. “Like drag or poetry, there’s a different type of audition process.”
Once all acts are signed up, Larson and Kenning-Ballesteros build the show around both the theme and the acts that they have.
“We host the show, and we’re kind of the mediators, but the real talent and the driving force of the show is the students and the people that are involved,” said Larson. “Even the tech, too, the fact that we can come together and then all of a sudden our lights are working, and they’re already set up with sound.”
Technical elements for SUU Live is run by Second Studio’s production manager Austyn Jane Christiansen and assistant production manager Spencer Smith.
For more information about SUU Live, follow Second Studio on Instagram.
Article by: Tessa Cheshire
accent@suunews.net
Photos courtesy of Second Studio
