The musical this year was ‘All Together Now’ and was based on the collaboration of theatre programs all over the world and theaters re-opening since quarantine.

Videos collected from several JC alumni and prominent figures in the theatre industry were played throughout the show to show people what theatre means to everyone.
Director Larry Hensley said, “All Together Now! was a wonderful way to return audience members, performers, musicians, technical crew and most importantly our theater alumni to the JC stage.”
The musical also included numerous numbers from other famous shows including Newsies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Hairspray, and Godspell The company who created this, Music Theatre International, wrote that “One of our goals in creating this revue is to not only showcase some of the most beloved songs in the musical theatre catalogue, but to also allow local theaters to make this show their own.”
The whole purpose of the show was to see how local theaters would transform the script they were given and for it to resonate with the local audiences.
Over 2,500 theaters across the globe, in all 50 states and 40 other countries put on the performance.
Junior Gracious Ndungu, who has been part of the theatre program for three years, highlighted how this year’s musical differed from past productions.
Gracious said, “This year’s (fall) musical was different then past productions in many ways. Firstly, it didn’t have a plot; instead we had different musical numbers from a wide variety of Broadway shows. Additionally, we were able to involve theater alumni which was an interesting experience”
The musical was a huge hit with opening night and Saturday night being the busiest. All of the audience members could buy tickets either online or with cash at John Carroll right before the show started.
Audience members were also all required to wear masks, whether vaccinated or not. During the end of the rehearsal process, students were allowed practice mask free, as well as perform maskless because they were all tested.
In the show, performers wore black pants and different colored shirts like orange, yellow, and purple.
Different kinds of props were also used to create the scenes and characters they were performing. The band was also playing in the pit of the theatre, which allowed them to put their own take on the different songs.
Gracious also talked about the John Carroll community and its involvement in the musical this year.
She said, “My favorite thing about this fall musical were all the people I became close with and the new friends I made. I feel like a lot of people who would not audition for JC’s traditional musicals gave All Together Now! a try.”
Although All Together Now! was a global show, the John Carroll theatre program was able to perform it in a unique way that shared their experience and the experience of alumni in that theatre.