By MARGARET HARJUS
Contributing Writer
On April 25, 2021, The College of Saint Rose had the opportunity to debut an all-new musical, inspired by the anxieties and life-changing questions people everywhere face. This small-cast, minimal-setting musical was written and composed for Musical Theater Workshop class, by Music Industry student, Paige Menneci.
The new musical, “Laws of Motion,” follows multiple diverse characters, each following different paths of different parts of life.
“There’s 7 characters that are all interconnected, and they’re each dealing with their own issues throughout the musical, and it’s all relating to the theme of feeling like you’re wasting your potential, and not having your life figured out yet, and how that’s stressful,” said Menneci. “So there’s some high school-age characters, there’s some post-college-age characters, and then there’s an older character, and they’re all sort of navigating their potential and their life plan and their relationships and everything like that.”
Having taught Musical Theater Workshop in the past, it was Saint Rose Professor Michael Lister’s goal for the class in the spring 2021 semester to make the class as interactive as possible, even while following COVID-19 guidelines.
“After last semester, which was 90% virtual, I was looking for ways to allow for a more meaningful and interactive opportunity for the class,” said Lister.
“At the end of the fall semester, Paige and I were talking about ideas and she mentioned the possibility of creating a new musical that she would write,” said Lister. I was very excited about the possibility, and we took a few weeks to see if it would logistically work out. I began working with Dr. Suna Gunther to co-lead our workshop this semester. For the first few months, Paige would provide music, and Dr. Gunther and I would work with the cast on the music, preparing it for the show (most of this was done virtually). In the last few weeks we have been working live with the performers to prepare for the show.”
While Lister and Menneci had agreed upon Menneci’s writing for the class, neither of them knew it would turn into the 12-song musical it has become. Menneci states this project originally began “as a song-cycle, which doesn’t have a dialogue and doesn’t have a plot, and is around a theme. But then as I created it, the connection between the characters and the plot sort of became more important, and so I added some dialogue between, but it is mostly songs.”
As the musical developed with more dialogue and a more connected plot, it was Menneci’s goal to add a concrete representation of its themes. The musical’s namesake comes from Isaac Newton’s 3 Laws of Motion on “how objects move, and the potential of objects to move,” as Menneci says. This imagery is referenced many times throughout the performance, and is a subtle theme throughout the show.
Debuting a brand-new musical at the college was a new experience for many people involved. For Menneci, the ability to develop the characters with the input of each one’s respective actor is what helped the final product come to life, and give the characters real experience.
This feeling is also true for Reeza Abadi, who portrays the character Marla, in “Laws of Motion.” Abadi has performed in many musicals throughout her life, but states this one is a very different experience.
“We are originating these roles for the first time and that to me is just so cool. With no previous standards to base it off of its all in your basket which is a super awesome experience,” said Abadi.
“I am most proud of how we have taken the difficulties of this year of pandemic and triumphed in this new show that celebrates the complexity of what it is to navigate through the world, a message that rings true at any age,” said Lister.
Having debuted the musical recently, Menneci is hoping to continue working on “Laws of Motion,” as well as other musicals, in both her Song-Writing Concentration and the future. “Laws of Motion” was performed in the Massry Center for the Arts, for a small audience and livestream event, and is still available for viewing on the Saint Rose Music YouTube page.
