Experiences and Creations in Live Entertainment
The Black Pearl
Written by Cynthia Grace Robinson
Directed by Cezar Williams
Sound Designer/Composer - Alex Drelich
Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Theatre presents the world premiere of The Black Pearl, a love story spanning generations and set in Atlantic Beach, South Carolina. The play will be presented in CCU’s Edwards Black Box Theater from March 28 to April 6, 2025.
Written by guest artist Cynthia Robinson and directed by guest artist Cezar Williams, the work is part of a commission made possible by Nancy and Billy Cave through the University.
The Black Pearl centers on the fictional Wise family, who fights to preserve the integrity of Atlantic Beach, one of the last Black-owned beaches in America. One storyline takes place in 1954, during racial segregation, and another takes place in 2025, among the descendants of earlier residents. The play incorporates the history, culture, and spirituality of Atlantic Beach and includes music, movement, and magical realism.
Alice By Heart
Coastal Carolina University Theatre
Directed by Alison Levenberg
Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Theatre presents the musical Alice by Heart, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, live in CCU’s Wheelwright Auditorium Feb. 8-16. The production, which premiered off-Broadway in 2019 but was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, features music by pop icon Duncan Sheik, lyrics by Stephen Sater, and book by Sater and Jessie Nelson.
Alex Drelich - Sound Board Operator
Carrie: The Musical at Coastal Carolina University Spring 2025
Directed by Robin Edwards-Russell
Music by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and book by Lawrence D. Cohen
Alex Drelich - Sound Board Operator
Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Theatre presents Carrie: The Musical live in Wheelwright Auditorium Oct. 25 through Nov. 3. At Bates High School in the 1970s, teenage outcast Carrie White is bullied by the popular crowd, and at home, she’s dominated by her loving but cruelly controlling mother. When pushed to her limits, Carrie reveals her telekinetic powers. This musical adaptation features music by Michael Gore, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and book by Lawrence D. Cohen. CCU’s stage adaptation comes 50 years after Stephen King published the classic horror novel of the same name.
Macbeth
Written by William Shakespeare
Coastal Carolina University Theatre
The Shakespeare classic reimagined with a modern message.
Sound Designer/Lead Electrician
Alex Drelich
Composer
Ian Scheffer
Director
Thom Penn
Fall Semester
October 2024
Don’t Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus
Script by Mo Willems and Mr. Warburton | Lyrics by Mo Willems | Music by Deborah Wicks La Puma | Directed by Caitlin Lowans
Sound Designer: Alex Drelich
From the CSFAC website: “It’s not easy being the Pigeon—you never get to do ANYTHING! But when the Bus Driver has a crisis that threatens to make her passengers (gasp!) late, maybe that wily bird CAN do something. With a script written by Mo Willems, the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling, Caldecott Honor award-winning Pigeon picture books, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical! is sure to get everyone’s wings flapping.”
Water By The Spoonful
From the CSFAC website: “Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot, a Puerto Rican veteran of the Iraq war, has returned home and is struggling to find his place in the world. Somewhere in an online chat room, recovering addicts forge an unbreakable bond of support and love. The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Quiara Alegría Hudes (In the Heights) is a heartfelt meditation on lives on the brink of redemption, and challenges our notions of family, forgiveness, community, and courage.”
By Quiara Alegría Hudes | Directed by Elise Santora
Sound Board Operator: Alex Drelich
Elf The Musical
From the CSFAC Website: “Buddy, a young orphan, mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported to the North Pole. The would-be elf is raised, unaware that he is actually a human until his enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father and discover his true identity. Faced with the harsh realities that his father is on the naughty list and his half-brother doesn’t even believe in Santa, Buddy is determined to win over his new family and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.
This modern-day holiday classic is sure to make everyone embrace their inner elf. After all, the best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear.
Based on the cherished 2003 New Line Cinema hit, Elf features songs by Tony Award nominees Matthew Sklar (The Wedding Singer) and Chad Beguelin (Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway), with a book by Tony Award winners, Thomas Meehan (Annie, The Producers, Hairspray) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone).”
Sound Board Operator: Alex Drelich
Balloonacy
Sound Designer: Alex Drelich
From CSFAC website: “It starts so simply: A red balloon drifts through the window of a solitary old man’s home. But then some serious silliness begins — with things fast becoming so magical and so blissfully fun, you barely notice that along the way you’ve learned something about the extraordinarily transformative power of play! Without a single spoken word, this sweet, inventive, and uplifting show — packed with plenty of playful shtick, along with touching reminders of the ups and downs of building a friendship — is a tender and laugh-filled delight for little ones (and big ones, too)!”
Misery
By William Goldman | Based on the Stephen King Novel | Directed by SaMi Chester
Sound Board Operator: Alex Drelich
From the CSFAC Website: “Misery follows successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon, who is rescued from a car crash by his “number one fan,” Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads his latest book and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new Misery novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it, and it does.”
"Songs From the Border" Created by Brian Quijada, Satya Chavez, and Nygel D. Robinson│Fall of 2022│This collection of songs was selected to be performed from several of the performers' own theatrical creations; "Songs from the Border" is a vibrant show with a wide variety of beautiful musical performances. Every selection is unique, while also being connected by themes of immigration, acceptance into a society wrestling with the idea of integration, and cultural tensions experienced by those who arrive in our country from abroad.
"It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" based on the story, The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, adapted by Joe Landry│Directed by Marisa Hebert│Christmas Season 2022│ This is a hilarious and heartwarming rendition of the timeless Christmas classic starring Jimmy Stewart. This show utilizes clever live foley elements to build a wonderfully nostalgic atmosphere for this "Radio Play".
"In The Heights" Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda | Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes | Conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda Directed by Elise Santora | Choreographed by Julio Agustin "From the creator and star of Hamilton comes Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Tony Award-winning musical, a love-letter to the community in upper Manhattan where he still lives. In The Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood – a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open, and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams, and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind."
