Theater Talk with Sarah

Cincinnati Fringe Festival is a two week performing arts festival run out of the Know Theater in Cincinnati’s OTR. Fringe showcases works from artists of all sorts of performance mediums. Over the course of the two weeks, over 200 performances of over a dozen shows will occur. Check out the promo here. This festival has been taking place in Cincinnati for years. I, however, was slightly clueless to it until a month ago.

I knew Fringe was a thing, you can’t live in a theater house hold and move to Cincinnati and not know, but I had never had any experiences with it. I had never seen shows, or heard of when it was occuring. Flash to a few weeks ago when I needed a job and an oppertunity to work Fringe landed in my lap.

Fringe 2019 just rounded off their first week and is headed into their second. I have already worked around 10 shows as a box office attendant, seen 3 amazing productions and met some of the wonderful humans that exist in the Cincy art scene.

There is nothing quite like seeing the Cincy theater community pull together for 2 weeks of incredible theater. Even I, who has not been around the Cincy scene long, already feel like a part of the family just by working the festival. Because, “It’s Kinda Weird, Like You.”

If you have a free hour this next week, Check out Fringe. You wont be sorry.

Next to Normal by Tom Kitt focuses in on a seemingly average, white, suburban, american family. Husband, wife, son, daughter. However, the mother suffers from sever bipolar depression that causes hallucinations. The musical centers in on the family trying to navigate Dianna’s rough mental state. Each character has their own way of handling the illness and by the end you have seen the effects it has taken on the entire family.

This musical is not your average “lets talk about mental health” entertainment. There is not a significantly happy ending. This musical is raw, emotional and all together heart breaking. It does not try to sugar coat the disease with songs about how someone will always want to help you. it is real and it is raw and beyond that, it is set to a rock opera score so like, totally BA. Plus Aaron Tveit’s voice is perfect.

See the original Broadway cast perform at the 2009 Tony Awards here.

This is the musical that helped me discover that theater can be about real issues. It was the show that made me realize that the true art of theater is the ability to address real world problems. Yes, theater is entertaining, but when it can SAY SOMETHING as well, that is the moment I personally believe it surpasses entertainment and becomes art.

It is not a well kept secret that Sarah Denhart LOVES theater. Honestly, I truly always have. I remember sitting in my sisters 2nd grade production of Cinderella and just aching to run up there and join in. And that just lit the fire that became my true passion. Little did I know there was more to that passion. Freshman year of high school, I was in a production of Wizard of Oz and bored out of my mind. I volunteered to help the costume crew because I knew how to sew. I was lit with the smae firey passion. I had discovered a true talent.

From that day on, costumes were my first choice for theatrical involvement. Yes, I loved being on stage, and yes, I really enjoyed being recognized by theater goers. But, truly, nothing was more amazing to me than costumes.

I had always had an affinity for sewing. My grandma taught me as a little girl. Costuming gave me a way to marry two loves together to make for one complete love. Not to mention, I was really good at it, even as a freshman in high school stitching for my first show.

I continued to hone my work over the course of high school. I entered two costume constructions into the Ohio State Thespian Festival and achieved excellent marks and the opportunity to compete at the International Festival. Truly highlights of my costuming career.

Beyond that, I have stitched on 25 shows in 7 years and have recently assistant designed for Xavier Theater’s Next to Normal. see trailer here.

I was raised by a man who is unbelievably proud of the fact that he could raise 6 children on an artist’s salary. My father, much like myself has a deep love for the theater. He is the Technical Director of the School of Theater at Ohio University. A title I used to trow around as if it made me royalty without the understanding of what truly a technical director did. I just knew with dad’s name, I had gotten in to see alot of theater for free – a personal favorite perk of being a Denhart. My father’s job it to manage all of the technical aspects of theater, ensuring that they all come together in time to create a beautiful and seamless production. As the TD for OU, he is also the head of the TD program learn more about him as a faculty member here.

My father has done many shows over the years with OU and outside of it. In 2016, there was the launch of Tantrum Theater which is a professional theater through OU. My father was instrumental in the creation. Learn more about the start of tantrum here.

Tantrum is making BIG changes in their upcoming season. They are cutting ties with Dublin and implementing the season into the OU season. I am excited because that means for the first summer in my know history my father has a break!

Through tantrum, my dad was able to build the set for my favorite musical ever. It is called NEXT TO NORMAL and it centers on a family dealing with mental health. It has been my favorite show for 6 years, and after 5 of them my father finally had the opportunity to work on it. It was incredibly special for me to be able to share that experience with him.

My dad and I have worked on shows together in the past. It is always so special to share that experience with him. I have had the honor of both performing in and costuming for shows my dad has TDed and built. I love sharing theater with him because it is something I feel really binds our relationship.

Theatre is the art form of the present: it exists only in the present, and then it’s gone. ~Simon McBurney

There is nothing more precious than the moment right before the curtain opens. The audience holds their breath and the orchestra swells. Everyone is waiting for what happens next, because it will be new.

It doesn’t matter if you have seen Phantom of the Opera 30 times or if it is your first time there. The production you are seeing is the only of its type ever made because it is made for the moment. There is no repeats, no rewinds, no ability to re-watch and consistently have the exact same show. There is no editing or camera play. There is only the actors and their ability to tell a story to an eager audience.  This is the beauty of theater.

Every time you are seeing a performance, you are seeing a different show. It is not simply a game of reruns. It is the opportunity to witness a voice crack, a dropped prop, a tear shed on a particularly heartfelt ballad when the actress hadn’t been able to get there previously. It is the ability to exchange energy off every single person in the room. The Audience relies on the cast and the cast relies on the audience, both feeding off of one another in a truly collaborative piece of art.

You cannot fake the theater. Ever. That is the beauty of it. It cannot be tricked. It simply comes down to sheer talent, and an exchange of energy, like a conversation, between the cast and audience. Good theater is precious.

James Corden shares my sentiments in the 2019 Tony Awards Opener. Check it out here.