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BYUH presents romantic comedy musical adaptation of 'Twelfth Night' and creates a wave of excitement among students

Cast members, wearing colorful clothes in yellow, green, red, orange, blue, white and back, stand on stage with their right hand stretched towards the sky as they sing. In the background is the set, which is a shop in the Philippines.
BYUH students perform in the musical.
Photo by Mark Daeson Tabbilos

Audrey Kent, a sophomore from California majoring in social work and intercultural peacebuilding, shared she would go see “Twelfth Night,” put on by BYU–Hawaii students under the direction of Kristl Densley, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Culture, Language & Performing Arts, again and again.

“In all honesty, my favorite part was the whole thing,” she said.

The show involved a live orchestra, colorful visuals and comedic characters. Kent said she was impressed by the live music and the skills of the orchestra. The story was also incredibly humorous, said Kent, as the script was well executed. She added the actors “did a fantastic job” with their theatrical skills, which kept the whole crowd laughing almost the entire night.

The show had seven performances over two weeks in the McKay Auditorium from March 3 to 12.

Watching the musical for the first time, Mailee Stephens said it brought back the lively, funny and energetic environment she experienced at BYU–Hawaii before the pandemic. “It was really fun to be back with the live music, in-person audience and be able to watch people live on stage,” shared Stephens, a sophomore from Logan, Utah majoring in intercultural peacebuilding.

Talia Ririe, a freshman from California majoring in English, said it was a joy to watch the performers in the dancing scenes, especially the duets. Ririe explained each dance was executed extremely well within each musical number. which helped to tell the story and generate emotions. She said she could “tell they practiced a lot for the show.”

“Twelfth Night'' is a new American musical originally created for Public Works, a radically inclusive program at the Public Theatre in New York City that believes “Culture belongs to everyone,” BYUH’s official webpage shares.