Geneseo Musical Theatre Department Puts on Fall Show, The Hello Girls

Photo courtesy of Faith Zatlukal

What is better than seeing a performance from the Geneseo Musical Theatre Department? Seeing the same show, twice, with a different cast! This past weekend, the Musical Theatre Department put on their fall show, The Hello Girls, in Doty Recital Hall. The musical focuses on an underappreciated group of women who served as telephone operators during the first World War, highlighting the importance of women in the war while providing larger commentary on the issue of sexism in society, both historically and today. 

The cast is led by director Brynn Tyszka, the current artistic director of Blackfriars Theatre in Rochester, and musical director Don Kot, Coordinator of Musical Theatre here at SUNY Geneseo. The show is double-cast, meaning that two full casts—the Telephonic Team and the Switchboard Unit—perfomed distinct shows over the course of the weekend. 

The Hello Girls is also a page-to-stage show, taking the script directly to the stage in Doty without the usual technical aspects of performance. As Don Kot notes, “One of the highlights of page-to-stage is that we can't rely on the technical elements to help tell the story, but it's really the relationship between each character and the actors’ musical and spoken work that really conveys what we need to convey. And then, without any of the other help from the technical elements, there's so much growth.”

The music itself offers a wide variety of styles, being the centerpiece of the story’s pathos. “So Good So Far” moves on the slower side, portraying beauty and uncertainty, while “Hello Girls” puts on a more upbeat ragtime, jazzy feel, both using the musical talent of the cast to communicate the story as it traverses its emotional highs and lows. If you did not find yourself tearing up or laughing out loud at some point, you probably got lost and went to a different show. 

The musical focuses on the empowerment of women navigating struggles in systems that refuse to recognize them as equals. The performance itself highlights this message, as director Brynn Tyszka explains, “In the moments where you might usually see other actors disappear and have Grace have the stage to herself, I wanted the women to surround her and for the women to be going through that at the same time, which is sort of how we ended up with most of the characters staying on stage the whole time. And I wanted the women to be equal with the men, so you see all of the doughboys and all of the women really just stay on stage and support each other the whole time, and you can see them as equals.”

Any good show will leave you thinking, and The Hello Girls does not fall short on providing some food for thought. The show ends on a sad note, with the cast informing us of the lack of recognition from the government regarding their service. As Brynn Tyszka put it, “These women have been forgotten.” As fun and impressive as this show is, it reminds us of the importance of performance and the arts to address serious issues in society.

Musical theatre fans should keep their eyes peeled for next semester’s performances of Godspell and Chicago, especially if you missed this show—you won’t want to miss another one!