This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Northwestern chapter.
If you’re in the mood to see a great on-campus production, look no further than The Wild Party, running February 13 through March 1. Grace Kennedy, one of the production’s cast members, gave Her Campus the inside scoop on the production, her Northwestern acting career, and her other extracurricular ambitions.
Name: Grace Kennedy
Hometown: Swarthmore, PA
Year: Junior
Major: Theater
Could you talk a little bit about The Wild Party?
I am currently in Northwestern’s production of The Wild Party! It opens next weekend and we’ve been in rehearsal since January 6th for 5 days a week. It’s been a lot of time but the cast is all friends and Tommy, our director, has done a great job making the room feel fun rather than stressful. The show itself takes place in New York City in the 20s over the course of one night–more specifically, one party. It’s actually originally based off a poem written in the 1920s so the musical has a very poetic nature to it. There is a wide range of characters that come to this party, a dancer with no tongue, a hooker, two performing brothers, amounting to a cast of 22. I don’t want to give away any of the plot, but basically you watch this party unfold with all the destruction and drama that comes with it.
What is your role in the production?
I’m playing a woman named Queenie, she is a dancer in Vaudeville and the show is about her relationship with the man she lives with, Burrs, and the party they throw together. The costumes we get to wear are absolutely beautiful (Anna Wooden, if you’re reading this you’re a genius). The dress I wear is covered in long white fringe and will probably be the prettiest thing I will ever wear in my entire life. It’s only downhill after this. My character also wears a short blonde wig…although, the jury is still out on whether or not I will look good as a blonde.
What have been some of your other favorite productions that you’ve participated in since you’ve been at Northwestern?
I played Hope in Urinetown which was such a fun show to be in at Northwestern. It was directed by Garrett “Daddy” Baer and so many of my close friends were a part of the process. My character also got to be in love with Graham Duff, so basically all my dreams came true. Last spring I was in a play called Dream Play by Caryl Churchill which was a show unlike any other I’ve done before so that was an amazing experience in a different way.
What else are you involved in on campus?
I am the General Manager of Purple Haze A Cappella which takes up a lot of my time but they’re my best friends on campus so I don’t mind the extra work. We actually have our annual winter show coming up in the last weekend of February- “Too Much A Cappella Makes the Baby Go Deaf” based off the Chicago show “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.” Come see it! I am also in a sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, which I love even though I’m never around because of all my theater stuff (sorry guys). Other than that I’m pretty much just focused on rehearsals and classes which takes up plenty of my time.
What are your future aspirations (both at Northwestern and beyond) involving performance?
For the future I hope to keep performing as long as people will hire me! I don’t really have any other plans other than just seeing where this takes me for now.