Cast of the Cancelled Spring Musical Share Moving Finale

The show’s director, Michelle Haché, was just as upset.

“It’s going to take a while to get over the pain of not getting to do the show,” Haché said.

Haché was committed to finding a way to make something of the show. Inspired by artists around the world who were producing content online, she sent a message to the cast with a plan. She asked the students to record a portion of the show's final song, "You'll Never Walk Alone," and send it to her.

Erik Vose is the Director of Operations and Technical Director of the Sue & Frank Mayborn Performing Arts Center. He was serving as Carousel’s Technical Director and Set Designer before the cancellation. Haché asked him to take the individual videos and make something special. It was a serious undertaking, requiring him to cut together clips that had been recorded at differing tempos, sometimes with a delay, but Vose was motivated.

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“My hope is that the finished product can help comfort some people during this strange time,” Vose said. “I know a lot of people out there are feeling isolated, and this particular song is actually very fitting.”

Haché shares his hope.

“It’s not just for our own local area,” she said. “It’s for the world.”

For Smith, who opens the recording, the choice of song was perfect.

“Carousel is a show about redemption,” Smith said. “Times of hardship come in life, and you get to decide how you handle them. The song encompasses that message, and I believe it’s perfect for the world we’re living in today.”

Watching the finished video was a special moment for Smith, who graduated over the weekend.

Haché says that she learned a great deal from the process of creating the video, and she hopes to tackle similar but more ambitious projects in the future.