by David Slifer

The Greensboro College theatre department put on their final performance of the school year with “Tonin’ 4: Giving.” The show follows the story of Father, Mother, Older Brother and Younger Brother as their family changes as the years go on. How the Tonin’ series works is that the music and dancing used in the show helps to guide the story along. The show was written and directed by Perry Morgan Hall, Ashley Hyers and Dr. Robert Brewer. Although this show requires the audience to create and see their own version of the story play out, there are elements of inspiration sprinkled in throughout the shows run. Hall said one of the biggest inspirations for this production was the story of the Prodigal Son from the Bible, and we most certainly see the inspiration from various symbolic imagery the show presents.

The cast of this show consisted of three groups. The first group being the Family that the story is about: Father was played by Ethan Kring, Mother played by Ariana Avila, Older Brother by Demari Jackson and Younger Brother played by Ashlannde Christian. Next were the Temptations played by Breanna Jones, Gabrielle Iwaszkiewicz and Sloanne Petersen. The final group were called the Tosses, and were the four main singers of the show: Azariah Surratt, Laiken Skinner, Jalen Troublefield and Will Hoard. 

One performance that stuck out to most was Kring’s performance of the song “Regrets.” The relationship between the song and the story go well together as the father looks back and wishes he could have done things differently to keep his family together. Throughout his singing, you can hear the emotions that his character is feeling about his family. Along with the song, Avila, Jackson and Christian perform a dance symbolizing the mother trying to keep her sons in one place. Unfortunately for the mother, both sons break away and separate despite the mother’s hard efforts. 

After the performance of “Regrets,” Avila performs a dance which she choreographed herself. One thing that was done very well in this show was the display of emotions that the parents had, and Avila perfected this well in the dance she performed and throughout the show overall when it came to Mother’s kids. 

This show could not have happened if it was not for Brewer and his band: Dr. Brewer and the Disappointments. The band consisted of Robert Brewer on piano and vocals, Andres Mails on guitar and vocals, Emily Saine on vocals, Isaac Pyatt on drums and Paul Leslie on bass. Not only was the music performed by them, but the music was written by Brewer himself. One comment that was heard a lot after the show from the audience was how great the music was. Music can take you places, help form stories and make people feel emotions; Brewer understood this assignment and knew exactly how to place his music in the show.  

The Collegian had a pleasure to interview Brewer about “Tonin’ 4: Giving.” When asked about his experience and reaction to being asked about his music being in the show, he said “I though Perry was joking at first, but then I realized he was not. I was shocked, surprised and honored that he would think highly enough to put a show together using my music.”

When talking about working with the students during the making of the show, Brewer said this about the experience. “I was honored and humbled that they were so willing to learn in a different way because there was no real music or score. They had to learn by listening and improvisation and adding their own voices. This was a cool process because they could add to it in ways that were created for them, so if they came up with a harmony or an echo or an idea, we incorporated it. I love the way everyone interacted with the music.”

The Collegian dove deeper and asked Brewer about how the show was formatted, and this is what he had to say: “Two things: One, Perry listened to a concert I had a couple of years ago and so he had this idea of that progression of those songs already in his head. So, he had some of the ideas of what that would look like and then as we put the story together, I would say ‘Oh this song would fit here in this moment,’ or ‘I have a song that would fit really well here that I never sing it,’ specifically referring to my ‘Take Me Back’ song.”

Brewer’s final remarks was this, “It is hard to put into words how it felt to have my songs out there and to have students just singing along and walking on campus and hearing them sing it over here and there.”

With the end of the school year coming to a close soon, this was the perfect show to close this theatre season with. We got to see connections with different programs on campus, and we got to put on a performance that was created by its very own professors. A legacy continues to grow, and many students get to see themselves not only be part of it but also help develop it overall. We are extremely excited to see what the theatre department has in store for us next year. 

Top row (left to right): Casey Pate, Mac Koos, Thomas Shotwell, Mahealani Jones, Sydnei Dunaway, Caitlin Queen, Robin Wilson, Jacklyn Glass, Sean Saari, Reed Cooper, David Slifer, Jill Marie Harris, Chandler Poindexter, Rylun Godfrey 

Middle row (left to right): Jalen Troublefield, Will Hoard, Gabrielle Iwaszkiewicz, Breanna Jones, Sloanne Petersen, Azariah Surratt, Laiken Skinner 

Bottom row (left to right): Demari Jackson, Ashlannde Christian, Ariana Avila, Ethan Kring