Humans have a basic need for contact. They have a need for love, a need for connections with society. These needs and more are portrayed in Contact, a hit Broadway musical coming to Emens Auditorium Wednesday.
Described by Emens director Robert Myers as "a most unique production," Contact is made up of three separate stories: "Swinging," "Did You Move?" and "Contact."
"All three stories contribute to our basic understanding of a need for social interaction," Myers said.
Myers previewed the show several years ago at the Lincoln Center in New York City, and realized it wasn't your typical book musical; it is told primarily through dance. He brought it to Emens Auditorium because he felt it suited their mission statement.
"One key word in our mission is 'innovative,' Myers said. "This show fits the bill."
Contact has been running since 2000, when it won numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Five Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama League Award for Best Musical.
Contact was originally directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. With the show, Stroman added Best Choreography and Best Director to her trophy case of five Tony awards. Stroman has directed many Broadway productions, including "Oklahoma," "Crazy For You" and "The Music Man." She is in charge of choreographing the Madison Square Garden's annual "A Christmas Carol" and won the American Choreography Award for her work in the film "Center Stage."
Although Fergus Logan is now recreating Stroman's direction, "Contact" writer John Weidman's script is still followed. Weidman won his third Tony Award for Best Book and Best Musical for the show. Before 2000, he wrote the Broadway show "Big," "Anything Goes" and has received 12 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Children's Program with "Sesame Street." A graduate of Yale Law School, Weidman is currently the president for the Dramatists' Guild of America.
Myers is hoping students will take the time to see Contact at Emens Auditorium. Free to BSU students, Myers says, "It would really be a shame if students don't take the opportunity."
Regular admission tickets range from $32 to $45 and are on sale now. See the story unfold as dancers show a basic need for "Contact."
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