This month, an Agatha Christie classic has been brought to the stage by UW-Eau Claire’s music and theatre arts department. The thriller “Murder on the Orient Express” made its debut at the Pablo Center at the Confluence on Friday, Oct. 11.

Directed by Professor Jennifer Chapman, the Ken Ludwig adaptation features a large cast of characters, detailed set design and cohesive composition. 

“We like to choose titles for the Pablo that will be exciting for the community as well as our students. It’s a really nice, big ensemble cast, so lots of meaty roles for lots of people, which is a great choice for college students,” Chapman said.

The play is set to run at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 16-19, with a final showing at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 20.

“It is such a good story,” Chapman said. “It is a really classic novel that we thought audiences would be really excited about.”

Chapman is a professor of theatre arts in the department of music and theatre arts. Her doctorate is in theatre research, and she is an affiliate faculty member in the women’s, gender and sexuality studies program.

Chapman said the play’s 21-person cast is composed nearly entirely of UW-Eau Claire students, with the sole exception of Emma Hart-Brinson. Emma is the daughter of Peter Hart-Brinson and is featured in a recording during the performance.

Third-year theatre student Ant Van Brunt is serving as the stage manager for the production. On top of stage managing, Van Brunt said they split their time between stage managing hair and makeup management.

“This is my first time stage managing a main-stage show or anything of this capacity,” Van Brunt said. “It’s a giant show, but it’s so fun. I’ve learned so much in just a month.”

Chapman said overall, the play relied heavily on student efforts, but that several faculty members have been involved. 

“Everything that is directed and designed is done by faculty who are professional artists,” Chapman said. “We also have a student sound designer, student props designer and a number of students assisting in design elements.”

According to Chapman, there are “quite a lot” of students involved with the production. In addition to people onstage, backstage the show has a set crew, a wardrobe crew and a hair crew. Students in the department’s practicum classes also lend a hand during the semester.

First-year comprehension and theatre arts student Ray Cook is a cast member in the production, acting as a train porter.

“It’s very fun being here,” Cook said. “It’s kind of mesmerizing to watch the main actors do their thing in the rehearsal — how they can take all the directions and just run with them.”

Third-year theatre arts and creative writing student Lucy Jacobson is the props designer for the show. She said her role entailed finding all of the props for the production and orchestrating the set dressing for the show.

“Overall, the interactions within our creative team have been really great,” Jacobson said. “It’s been so cool to get to see these people who are professionals in this industry and to see what really goes into making a show at this grand scale happen.”

Jacobson said the production team has been preparing since mid-July. From the very first production meeting, she said there was a team of about 12-13 people. 

“One of the really cool things about this university is the amount of student involvement,” Jacobson said.

Auditions were held the first week of classes, and the cast started rehearsing right away. Typically, main-stage shows rehearse for four and a half weeks and have a week of tech before the actual performance.

Chapman said that experiencing situations that require problem-solving will help students prepare for life in the future.

“It’s the liberal arts experience of being on a team, of learning how to solve difficult problems and navigating the variety of solutions that are possible when you have multiple people involved,” Chapman said. “We train our students to be leaders and creative problem solvers.”

According to Chapman, about half the students who participate in the productions are planning to go into theatre professionally, while the other half join because they have a personal interest. The professor said she directs several productions per year.

“In Eau Claire, I direct one ‘main stage’ production every year either at the Pablo Center or on campus,” Chapman said. “Every other spring, I also direct a touring theatre production for grades K through 5 and we tour all over western Wisconsin.”

Chapman said she is optimistic about the state of the university’s music and theatre arts department. 

“Our numbers continue to grow every year,” Chapman said. “With Covid, our numbers dipped just like everybody’s, but we bounced back really fast.”

Chapman said when “Murder on the Orient Express” was chosen this year, both student and community interest were factored in.

“We’ve worked really hard to curate this and give audiences the kind of experiences they’d like from this story,” Chapman said.

Jacobson said she encourages students and community members to attend the show.

“Everybody just put their all into this production and I think you can really see it when you go and hopefully watch the show,” Jacobson said.

Wojahn can be reached at [email protected].