Horror Story Sparks McNeese Graduate’s Imagination
By Warren Arceneaux -- Lake Charles American Press, 12/2/05
Lake Charles native and McNeese State University theater graduate Amy Woodruff returns to her alma mater this weekend to present her adaptation of the short story “The Music of Erich Zann.” The production will be staged by Theatre Louisiane of New Orleans at 7:30 pm today and at 2 and 7:30 pm Saturday in Ralph Squires Hall in the Shearman Fine Arts Center on the McNeese campus.
Woodruff, artistic director of Theatre Louisiane, stars in and adapted the script for the multimedia production, based on Howard Phillips Lovecraft’s 1921 short story about a young man who descends into a world of obsession and madness after hearing the work of musician Erich Zann.
Woodruff knew immediately that she wanted to stage the story after her first reading. “I had just checked out a book of Lovecraft stories from the library about five years ago, and I immediately loved the story,” she said. “There is a lot left to the imagination when you read it, which makes it scarier, since so much remains unknown. I love that vagueness. It is a fascinating story. I liked the fact that it is real vague, that there is a lot left to the imagination. That sense of emptiness adds a lot of fear to the story. Lovecraft did not write many horror stories, mostly science fiction, but I discovered later that this was one of his favorite stories.”
Woodruff first staged the play in 2001. It received good reviews, but she was still not satisfied. “There was good reaction to the show the first time we staged it, but I felt there was something missing, so we added some multimedia aspects, some video elements to the show. That helps show what is going on in the narrator’s mind, which is where a lot of the story takes place.”
Woodruff said the production is not a traditional performance. “We use many elements of storytelling rather than traditional theater. Instead of interaction with actors, there is a lot interaction with the text. So much of what is being said is in the narrator’s mind. We added video projection to help convey the narrator’s thoughts, in addition to the actions taking place on stage.”
She said the supernatural elements of the story make it more appealing. “I think people are intrigued by the supernatural elements of the show. It is a traditional scary story that a lot of people are drawn to, it has a lot of entertainment value. I love stories dealing with the supernatural. There is something quite human about those stories that is very intriguing.”
Woodruff graduated from McNeese in 1998, moved to New Orleans the next year (sic) and began producing her own works. In addition to performing, she has adapted stories and worked on lighting, set designs and costumes.
“McNeese was fantastic; the college theater experience was incredibly valuable,” she said. “I received a great education there. One of the most important things I learned from the faculty was learning to be self-reliant, how to multitask. They stressed how important it was to learn all aspects of theater, not just performing or just lighting.
“Since I produce all my own work, that has been valuable. Also, the faculty at McNeese is very progressive. They do not do just the standard works, there were a lot of cutting-edge productions that were outside the mainstream. That is the kind of thing I like to produce. I do not want to stage the same thing everyone else is doing. I developed a taste for that at McNeese.”
This will be Woodruff’s first appearance on stage at McNeese in a decade. “I am a little nervous. I want to come back with something good,” she said. “I am so close to everybody there. It is also a lot of fun going home. I am jazzed up about coming home and being on stage there.”
Woodruff will serve as narrator in the production. Another McNeese graduate (sic), John Tiliakos, appears in the show as Monsieur Blandot. Blake Buchert stars as Erich Zann.