By Alvaro Ayala

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – NOV. 18, 2024 – Get ready to experience an emotional rollercoaster with the UTRGV Department of Theatre’s fall production of “Ride the Cyclone, The Musical.”

Running from Nov. 22-24 at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre on the UTRGV Edinburg Campus, the musical is set in Canada and follows six high-school students who go to an amusement park hoping to ride the cyclone, a rollercoaster, which they soon discover only takes them on a one-way loop toward the afterlife. 

Twist and turns await the audience as a mechanical fortune-telling machine gives each student a chance to live. However, the teenagers must decide as a group who will live while others perish. 

Performance times for "Ride the Cyclone" are:  

• Friday, November 22, 7:30 p.m.  

• Saturday, November 23, 7:30 p.m.  
• Sunday, November 24, 2 p.m. 

Under the direction of Kent Smither, guest-director and retired secondary teacher from Edcouch-Elsa, the audience will get to experience many moving parts, such as the cast changing costumes in real time, sci-fi and horror special effects and a special appearance by a giant rat.  

Smither, who directed his first production in the second grade at age seven, has collaborated with the department since its legacy institution days under Pan American University in the 1970s. 

"This is my tenth show, two of them from the 70s and eight of them from the 90s to the present," Smither said. "As a high school director, if you didn't build it yourself that was it. Here you have all these collaborators, making costumes and building sets. It's very exciting to collaborate with other people who are equally excited about the work."  

'RIDE THE CYCLONE' 

Smither said the story's premise is as ambitious as the program itself.

"It's creepy, kind of scary but also very beautiful," Smither added. 

Outside of using special effects within the show, the production will also feature a multimedia aspect with certain shots filmed on location at the Fall Festival Carnival in McAllen. 

"They (the cast members and production crew) went to shoot on-location at the carnival (Fall Festival Carnival) in full costume to capture projections of each character's lives before the tragedy," Smither noted. 

Mia Lopez, a junior pursuing a degree in Music, plays the character Jane Doe.

"My character is tricky to explain because she, herself, doesn't even know who she is," she said. "Nobody remembers who she is, not even the choir conductor and she is self-discovering herself throughout the show.”

Lopez, an aspiring Broadway performer and teacher, is excited to showcase her talents to the audience in her first ever appearance in a university production.

"Thankfully, all of us get to do our own solos, so it should be a lot of fun," she said.

Maximilian Cano, a senior Theatre major concentrating in design, is the current production stage manager. Since joining the theatre department, he moved from a sound and light technician to lead stage manager last season.  

"For me, having the opportunity to reach a member of the audience, and have them relate to one of the characters, drives my passion for this,” Cano said. “It's cathartic."

Despite the past three months of intense planning and production, Cano said he finds comfort in the chaos and is fulfilled by his contributions. He hopes the community comes out to enjoy the show and support the cast and crew. 

“If there is anything I can do to help fill these seats up, I'm very happy and grateful to do so,” Cano said. "I think the cast and crew are finally excited to see the show come to life." 

With the show set to open the week before Thanksgiving, a hectic time of the year, Smither credits his team of collaborators, the cast and crew for coming together to create the most ambitious production he has done to date. 

"Sometimes (the collaborators) have had way more interesting ideas than what I would've had by myself. It makes the play better, richer, because it's not just one artist's viewpoint, it's all these artists putting their own touches to it. It's very exciting and really fun,” Smither said. 

The performances are open to the general public and tickets can be purchased online or in-person at the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre. 

Upcoming UTRGV theatre productions for the 2024-2025 season includes:

• March 7-9 – Romeo and Juliet, directed by Brian Warren.
• April 25-27 – Carmella Full of Wishes, a children's musical, directed by Jennifer Saxton-Rodriguez.

For more information about the UTRGV Department of Theatre, visit www.utrgv.edu/theatre/productions/shows.

Cast members, from left to right, Mia Lopez, Leonardo Benavides, Tanner Mott, Ariana Cruz, Daniella Lopez, and Brendan Lopez. Photo by Ximena Juarez