Each spring, the Agassiz Theater is graced with a musical entirely created and performed by Harvard first-years. The first-year musical, affectionately known as the “froshical,” offers newcomers an exciting and unique introduction to the Harvard theater community. This year’s production, The Kids Are All Right, ran from April 11 to 14 and was an outstanding achievement by all those involved. It was emblematic of the humor and joy that froshicals have brought for over 25 years, leaving me feeling a great combination of giddiness and nostalgia.
The Kids Are All Right follows Sam and Jamie (played by Independent staffers Ryan Irving ’27 and Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff ’27), two event planners at the fictitious River Rock Hotel & Cabins, as they create a summer camp for young(ish) musicians in a bid to save the Cabins from closing down. The camp attracts a motley crew of passionate artists looking to make it in the industry, as well as celebrity instructors who help run the camp. The story weaves through the various groups of musicians as they struggle to find their voices and develop their talents.
Eventually, Sam and Jamie have a falling out over their shared crush on Dani (Leyna Blume ’27), one of the camp attendees, as well as a philosophical disagreement on the purpose of music—art versus commerce. Some of the artists side with Sam, who prioritizes the love of music, and some side with Jamie, who prioritizes the need to make money. A battle of the bands ensues, but eventually, they discover that they are all better when working together.
Altogether, the show told a touching and hilarious story, with an impressively large host of nuanced, relatable characters. Accompanied by ’70s-style music, with the pit visible on stage, it made for a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours of theater. This was enhanced by wonderful design aspects. The assortment of distinct musicians and styles made for a bright, eclectic mix of costumes. Moving blocks and colorful stairs made a playground-esque set for the actors to move in, and exciting, dynamic lighting design topped it off.
The process of creating the musical started over six months ago, early in the fall semester. Each year, the previous year’s executive team chooses the new team among first-year applicants who have practically just arrived on campus. Writing and planning happen throughout the fall, and casting and rehearsals begin in the spring semester.
The book writer, Hannah Alexis ’27, was one of the students selected last fall. She recalled how the idea for the musical began in a whiteboard brainstorming session when the team found themselves listening to a ’70s playlist. “We were like, why don’t we write a ’70s musical? We started off with that idea,” Alexis said. “And we were like, okay, there could be a battle of the bands situation, but how do we get here?” The concept took off from there, and Alexis worked alongside lyricist Kendall Brady ’27 and composers Grant Shueh ’27 and Ava Della Pietra ’27 to develop the musical. She described the result as “giving ’70s Camp Rock in the best way.”
Alexis usually writes plays (without music), but took to the challenge of writing a book for a musical well. She became an expert in the specifics of each character and their influences, musical and otherwise, through watching documentaries and listening to a lot of ’70s music. Eventually, she made presentations on each character to show to the rest of the team. Alexis emphasized that musicals require a balance between specificity and universality, where “we need enough specifics to understand this character and their circumstance, but not so much where it alienates an audience.” This was her biggest challenge in creating the characters and the dialogue. Ultimately, she and the rest of the team struck that balance perfectly between more basic, relatable characters and obvious homages to the likes of the band KISS.
Once the show began rehearsals, Alexis was able to see her words brought to life. “In many of the scenes, [I thought] ‘this is exactly how it was happening in my head,’ and it’s kind of crazy to see that occur in front of me,” she said. Although still around (and making rewrites in the early spring), she took more of a back seat role during the spring semester. “I think once the writer does their job, it’s like, okay, now it’s someone else’s job to bring it to life,” she said.
It was Lana Schwartz ’27, the director, who was tasked with putting Alexis’ vision on stage. Schwartz is an experienced director, having directed productions Off-Broadway in New York, but the froshical still felt entirely different. “I had never directed new work, so it was a really unique experience being there from the start…and making sure that we [were] all working towards the same show and the same goal,” she said. It is typical for first-year musicals to have major adjustments even in the late stages, and Schwartz shared that it was “really fun working with a script that was still changing and still growing” during the rehearsal process.
Schwartz credited her talented team for a healthy and relatively low-stress production process. “I feel very lucky to have worked with such a capable, impressive, and talented group of artists both on the team and in the cast,” said Schwartz. “There was definitely a learning curve when we got into the theater with all of the set pieces and props and moving parts, but I never really got too stressed about it.”
Many of the team members had never done theater before this, or at least not in the same role. The froshical is a great opportunity for first-years to get into theater, especially to jump into big roles that might otherwise be dominated by upperclassmen. Schwartz shared, “I think it’s a really important experience for anyone interested in doing Harvard theater, because it really allows you to bond with your class and allows you to experience theater.”
Irving shared his excitement over joining the froshical and playing the whimsical Sam. He acknowledged the intimidation first-years might feel about auditioning for regular productions with upperclassmen, deterring some students from participating. He said that the froshical seemed like “pretty much the exact answer to a lot of the reasons why some freshmen might feel intimidated about getting out there and getting involved.”
The whole cast, staff, and pit being in the same class year leads to an immense sense of camaraderie as they work toward a massive collective achievement. “Our first read-through, when the whole company got together, I have never laughed so much in one night at a freshman event as I did in that one night,” Irving shared. “We were just like, ‘What the heck is happening?’ Everyone’s laughing, just enjoying themselves, enjoying being together.”
The humor made it from that first reading to the final performances, when laughter filled the space throughout. One particularly, perhaps unexpectedly, funny moment during the show was when Dani is revealed to be 23 years old during a conversation with Sam, who loudly emphasizes her age back to her, nicely clearing things up for anyone suspicious of what “young(ish)” really meant.
The fun of watching the show was enhanced by the fun that the actors, pit, and staff were having throughout the whole process, thus achieving what the froshical set out to do. “For a lot of people watching the show and in the cast, this is their introduction to theater at Harvard,” said Schwartz. “So my main goal was obviously to make a good show, but for it to be a fun experience and to create a community. And I think that we did that.”
I certainly think so too.
Andrew Spielmann ’25 (andrewspielmann@college.harvard.edu) still remembers all the songs from his own first-year musical, 7 Sacrilege Street.