Brittany Poeppe | Assistant Arts + Life Editor
“What’s in Iowa?”
“Corn, cattle, caucuses, me.”
The off-kilter, off-Broadway musical from Jenny Schwartz and Todd Almond features eight wacky characters, including a talking pony, and a multiculti squad of Nancy Drews. The play had several audience members laughing throughout the show, as many of the jokes were either “punny” or raunchy. The fast-paced line delivery of the play and somewhat interactive nature had audience members engaged and shaking their heads at the same time.
“Iowa” opens with 14-year-old Becca learning that her mother, Sandy is now engaged to her Facebook friend Roger. She also learns that she and her mother will be moving to Iowa to live with him. Becca must now say goodbye to the math teacher she has a crush on, her bulimic best friend, and a neighborhood pony as she follows her mother to Iowa and a new, uncharted portion of her life.
Matt Schulz, the director of the play, saw the play last spring and felt he needed to bring it to Buena Vista University. He took a risk by applying to bring the show to BVU’s New Vision theatre series, especially because it was a longer, larger play. Typically, New Vision plays run about thirty minutes. “Iowa” runs about ninety-five minutes and has an eight person cast.
“I knew that this show was big and that it was going to be a lot of work, but I felt that it should be shown at BVU. When I saw it last spring, it definitely made me think. I love bringing these types of shows back because I want people to take something away from it all,” Schulz said.
Schulz wore many hats for this particular show. Besides directing, he came up with the set design, created most of the costumes, and had to create a budget for the show. Although it was a lot of work, he says it was an amazing experience.
“Most days I was working from nine in the morning until nine or ten at night. There was a lot of preparation that went into the show, but the cast and crew are amazing. It’s been crazy, stressful, and amazing all at the same time,” Schulz said.
Chelsey Goetz was cast as Becca’s mother, Sandy. Sandy is a wacky, scatterbrained woman who often forgets her daughter’s name, calling her Becca, Booka, and even Burqa.
“It was a lot of work, especially because most of it was squeezed into one month. My character had a lot of dialog, so it was difficult to learn all of it in such a short amount of time,” Goetz said.
Goetz was excited because she has always wanted to be in a BVU play in Anderson Auditorium. Previously, she was always too busy to be in a play, but now as a senior, she can finally cross it off her bucket list. She thought it was a lot of fun to dress up and portray a character that is
normally considered inappropriate in society. Goetz also commented on how confusing the play was for her during the first read-through.
“The first time I read through the script, I was confused. I was thinking, ‘why do I have these huge lines,’ and it was really interesting to read the first time. It was helpful that the cast met and went over lines together. We’d meet with Matt and go over what the character’s lines meant, and it helped me discover my character better,” Goetz said.
Following the show on opening night, audience member and fellow actress Claire Boston approached Schulz. She had seen the show with him last spring, and told him how impressed she was.
“It was a really amazing show. Matt did a great job bringing the show to BVU. I’m so proud of him,” Boston said.
Photo by Justice Gage
