Producer’s Corner with Katharine Vandergriff

Fall 2007

Vanderbi l t Univers i ty ’s Premiere Broadway Revue Troupe

The Original Cast had an exciting kickoff to the semes-

ter. We had a total of 28 people audition for 10 spots,

making this one of the most competitive semesters ever.

We welcomed 1 female and 6 male newbies into our Cast

family. More importantly, we have a second Cast legacy

– Emily Degerberg, daughter of Jennifer Fritz (Class of

‘79) and niece of Virginia Crehore (Class of ’78). Last

spring semester, Victor McMillan, son of Mary Melissa

Rice (Class of ’79), became our first legacy.

We also said good-bye to several gradu-

ating seniors in May: Cole Smith, a Na-

val officer now stationed in Virginia;

Tyler Jakes, Mary Fishburne, and

Mackenzie Shivers, all fresh on the New

York City theatre scene; Maredith Close

and Beau Henson, who are attending

graduate school in Scotland; Caitlin Leo-

nard, who is in Los Angeles; and Derrick

Snyder, who is working in Austin. Each

of these seniors gave countless hours,

energy, and love to Cast, and we miss

them dearly.

The Original Cast is especially proud of our alumni, and

we have met several of you this semester – before Athe-

nian Sing, at Nashville Cares AIDS Walk, and during

Homecoming weekend. We always enjoy hearing stories

about the history of the group. You are our strongest

base, and we greatly appreciate the donations that you

make each semester.

After 31 years, the group is still strong with some of the

best talent that I have seen during my time here.

Thank you so much for your support, and please join us

for our Fall 2007 Show “After Hours” at the Belcourt. I

look forward to swapping stories with you at the Cham-

pagne Gala!

It's so hard for me to believe that one year from now I'll be

receiving my first Original Cast alumni newsletter. There

are a number of milestones you dream of hitting when you

become a "lifer" in The Original Cast: first rehearsal, first

performance, first solo, first board position, and for some,

first time directing. This is now my second time acting as

the director for The OC, and the show means a great deal

to me – each song has been analyzed to the final measure,

every transition planned to the second, and each costume

detailed down to the last button. But this is not the first

time an OC member has waxed nostalgic.

Cast alumni are everywhere, and they all

have their own stories to share about

what their time in Original Cast meant to

them.

I am completely in awe of the accom-

plished alumni I met during my four

years with Cast. I found Scott Evans

(c/o ‘95) on the Dore2Dore website, and he

helped me look for a job in New York. Nei-

ther of us mentioned Original Cast in our

online correspondence, but when he got

the alumni newsletter, I was surprised and touched to

receive an email from him telling me to break a leg. It is

amazing how Cast truly brings people together – there

really is a Cast family that defies time and space.

When I look back at my Vanderbilt years, my fondest

memories won't be of the all-nighters I pulled or the time I

snuck into Stevenson at 4 am just to see what it was like,

but of my escapades as an OC member: squeezing in a

final quick change, working to get a certain tap combina-

tion just right, and sharing countless smiles and laughs

with my best friends on the Vanderbilt campus. Fortu-

nately, we still have milestones to look forward to as Cast

graduates—you, to see a show as a Cast alumnus; and me,

to receive my very first alumni newsletter.

Director’s Corner with Tinsley Meloy

10.26.2007

Director Tinsley Meloy and producer Katharine Vandergriff share the Cast Love

When:

Thursday, Nov 29, 8:00pm

Friday, Nov 30, 8:00pm

Saturday, Dec 1, 8:00pm

Champagne Gala after Friday’s performance!

What:

Mamma Mia!

Spring Awakening

Assassins

Sweet Charity

Where:

Belcourt Theater

2102 Belcourt Avenue

Nashville, TN

www.belcourt.org

The Original Cast Presents: After Hours

The Original Cast poses with group founder and

spring break host Phil Walker in San Francisco

In an effort to combat rising postage

prices, the Original Cast alumni

newsletter is now offered in both

print and digital formats! Hosted

on our recently revamped webpage,

h t t p : / / www . v a n d e r b i l t . e d u /

originalcast (thanks to Cast senior

Will Hedgecock), the past year of

newsletters as well as all future

newsletters will be available in full

color, under the “Alumni” tab of the

website.

If you would like to sign up to re-

ceive only the digital copy, via

email, there is a link, also on the

alumni tab, where you can register

your email address (and be removed

from the regular mailing list).

Be sure to check the web site often,

as there are updates being made

frequently, including photo albums

of the past four shows, recorded by

junior Christen Sottolano’s father.

In other exciting news, as we were

cleaning out our storage last semes-

ter, we stumbled on a box of Origi-

nal Cast records, dated 1981. If

you were a part of this Cast and

would like a record, please contact

producer Katharine Vandergriff

(information at bottom). The album

will be digitally preserved; future

plans for the album have yet to be

determined.

Electronic Newsletter, and other updates.

Contact Information Alumni Liaison—Andrew Enkeboll (andrew.enkeboll@vanderbilt.edu; 334.444.8159)

Producer—Katharine Vandergriff (katharine.h.vandergriff@vanderbilt.edu; 817.907.6627)

Director—Tinsley Meloy (tinsley.p.meloy@vanderbilt.edu; 813.368.2841)

Those in attendance of Spring

2006’s 30th anniversary perform-

ance may have heard the organiza-

tion’s founder, Phil Walker (class of

1977) invite that semester’s Cast to

California for a tour of the West

Coast. Last spring break, that trip

happened, and it was a once-in-a-

lifetime experience.

Most of the cast of the Spring Break

trip was also performing in the full

Spring 2007 show; consequently,

these members dedicated at least 20

hours each week to Original Cast.

The traditional “By-Request” set

performed included recent favorites

from musicals like Wicked and Bat

Boy as well as a throwback to the

first Cast show ever, singing

“Corner of the Sky” from Pippin.

Our on-campus preview show, in

the style of the first Cast perform-

ance ever, was also held in the

Branscomb Rec room. Thanks Phil

for a great trip!

Spring Break 2007

Last year, the Vanderbilt Perform-

ing Arts Council, or VPAC for short,

was founded. The mission of VPAC

is to “create an environment for

the leaders of student performing

arts groups to share ideas, form

new collaborations, and have a

unified voice in expressing views

and concerns about the perform-

ing arts on Vanderbilt's campus.”

This fall marked the first of an ex-

VPAC: Spotlight! Fall Showcase citing new event—Spotlight!: A

Showcase of Vanderbilt Student

Performing Arts. This performance

in Ingram Hall gives all of the

groups a quick chance to perform

for incoming freshmen. We opened

the show with the classic “Seasons

of Love” from Jonathon Larson’s

Rent. The show was a huge success,

and resulted in an equally amazing

new Cast with amazing new mem-

bers. Dress rehearsal at the VPAC Spotlight Performance

PAGE 2 THE ORIGINAL CAST FALL 2007

Meet the Cast Fall 2007

PAGE 3 THE ORIGINAL CAST FALL 2007

Senior Tinsley Meloy from Tampa, FL,

returns for her 6th semester in Cast and

second semester as Director. She spent her

summer in NYC working on Broadway.

Major: HOD, Minor: Music and Psychology.

Sophomore Leslie Kelly from Tampa, Fl,

returns for her third semester in Cast and

first semester on board as Publicity Direc-

tor. Major: Communication Studies, Minor:

Theatre and Spanish.

Junior Eli Branson from Henderson, KY,

finally joins the Cast for his first semester.

Eli is very active in the Vanderbilt Univer-

sity Theater. Major: Theatre.

Junior Jen Winikoff from Woodcliff Lake,

NJ, returns after a break for her second

semester in Cast. Major: Elementary Edu-

cation, Minor: Special Ed. (Deaf Ed. Con-

centration).

Sophomore Brian Collura from Fitchburg,

MA, who joined us on the California tour as

our accompanist, joins us now as a new

Cast member this semester. Major: Psy-

chology, Minor: Communication Studies.

Senior Meghan Backes from Cedarburg,

WI, returns for her fifth semester in Cast

and serves as our Business Manager. Ma-

jor: Psychology (Neurology concentration),

Minor: English

Freshman Nick Jordan from Houston,

TX, joins the Cast for his first semester.

Nick was recruited to play college baseball,

but fortunately (for us) chose Vandy. Ma-

jor: American Studies, Minor: Film Studies.

Sophomore Spencer Crosswy from The

Woodlands, TX, joins the Cast for his first

semester. He was the lead male in a pro-

duction of South Pacific over the summer.

Major: Electrical Engineering, Minor: Vocal

Performance.

Tim Hayden is returning for his 10th se-

mester as musical director. He does all

musical arrangements for the group, as

well as being accompanist during rehearsal

and performances.

Senior Katharine Vandergriff from Ar-

lington, TX, returns for her fourth semester

in Cast and serves as our Producer. Major:

HOD and Economics, Minor: Theatre.

Junior Marty Pendleton from Fort Mill,

SC, returns for his fifth semester in Origi-

nal Cast. Major: Communication Studies

and Political Science.

Freshman Emily Degerberg (daughter of

Jennifer Fritz, c/o ‘79) from Cincinnati, OH,

joins for her first semester and carries on

the Cast legacy in her family. Major: HOD,

Minor: Theatre.

Junior Anna Starnes from Richmond, VA,

returns for her second semester in Cast

and serves as our Costumes Director. Ma-

jor: American Studies, Minor: Chinese Lan-

guage.

Freshman Matt Russell from Lake Bluff,

IL, joins the Cast for his first semester.

Matt and senior Ryan Sturgis went to High

School together. Major: Economics.

Junior Christen Sottolano from Simbs-

burg, CT, returns for her fifth semester in

Cast and fourth semester on board, this

time as Technical Director. Major: Sociol-

ogy.

Freshman Oliver Wolfe from Columbia,

SC, joins the Cast for his first semester.

Oliver also shoots as one of the head pho-

tographers for the Hustler. Major: History.

Senior Ryan Sturgis from Lake Bluff, IL,

returns for his sixth semester in Cast. Ma-

jor: Political Science, Minor: Corporate

Strategy.

Sophomore Andrew Enkeboll, while not

performing this semester, is the Patron’s

Director and Alumni Liaison in his second

semester on board. Major: Computer Engi-

neering, Minor: Computer Science, Corpo-

rate Strategy