Unsung Stars (Final)

When you walk into the Kehr Union building on Sundays or Mondays around 8 o'clock, you can faintly hear laughing, singing, and loud footsteps like someone's moving around or causing a commotion. Well that would be the cost and crew of BUSTED. Busted is an ongoing musical comedy about college life, which was started by George Kinzel in 1998.  "I started BUSTED because of a theater troop, I helped out at IUP before I came to Bloomsburg University. I worked and wanted to create a way for students to get involved in Drama without being part of the drama department at Bloomsburg University." "I didn't want to create one show, I wanted to combine different stories over a course of multiple shows."

When auditing for BUSTED you’re given a number and you’re asked to fill out a personal sheet telling them about yourself. When you walk in, you’re put in the audience behind the judge table where current cast and crew sit, along with George Kinzel himself. During the whole audition you are your number, your name in that audition is your number. As auditions start GK (George Kinzel) introduces himself along with the current cast and crew. GK will then call up random numbers and will give those people certain senses to work with and show character to the judges. While the numbers take notes of how they feel the numbers are doing with their acting. After every number was given a chance to act, GK spills the numbers up by even and odd and assigns a choreographer to both groups. When the choreographers are assigned they take each group into a different room and teach them a dance. After each group learns their dance they perform it in front of the judges. The judges take notes on all of the performers. Of course that's not the end it, each of the numbers will have a sit down interviews with a small group of the cast and crew. During each interview the same questions are asked, but each time a new answer arises. For some, after the interview is done, their audition is over, but for others they still have one more part. That part is singing in front of GK, the number singing can sing any pop song of their choice and the Star Spangler Banner. After you sing in front of GK your audition is over, you no longer are a number. You should get an email a week later to see if you made it or not and if you did not make it don't be afraid to come out again for auditions next semester.

Overall there are three vital steps that go into producing and presenting the BUSTED shows. Writing a script for the show is the first step. The director, George kinzel, writes the script and comes up with the characters. This means that he writes every characters’ backstory, dreams, emotion, and voice. Then GK writes up story lines involving the characters mentioned before, as well as what songs Kehr Union Ball Room, the kids put their hearts and souls on that stage and it is not hard to see.

are sung in every show. Next the lovely Jenna Lynn and Jenny Cornell, the BUSTED musical choreographers, create dances for the shows that GK selected written in the script. After they create a dance number they teach the cast how to correctly perform the number, which results in about five dances to the cast each show. GK sometimes directs numbers, however not as much as Jenna and Jenny. While Jenna and Jenny are teaching numbers to part of the cast, GK is helping the actors with their scene work for the show. So this way they can perform as their character and get what they need to get done in their scenes. Lastly the cast and crew of BUSTED puts on the show in the

The cast is a joyful group, each one different in their own way whether it be their voices, hair color, or even their personalities. Each character has a different story to be told, as well as that characters adventure to get to their goal. You as an audience can see the characters ups and downs, weaknesses and strengths, and what makes them, them. "The story lines of BUSTED changes from semester to semester, with every senior leaving and every new comer that comes out for the cast, it's never ending." Says George Kinzel.

One part about BUSTED that cannot be forgotten would be the crew. The crew of BUSTED is always working on something for the show. They put a lot of effort into the show just like the actors do. They make all of the posters and flyer material. They also perform with the cast when needed, alter scene changes, hand out microphones and they help hand out props for the cast. If it were not for the stage crew there would not be that great of show to see. Without the stage crew, the overall performance of BUSTED would lack in a huge component.

Over the course of seventeen years the BUSTED cast and crew has had close to two hundred alumni. It seems as if this amazing show is never ending. When asked about future plans of BUSTED GK said, "Hopefully we will hit episode 100 the next three to four years and have alumni come back and perform with the current cast at the time." The BUSTED cast and crew did the same thing for episode 50, and it was a big success. In that show, the cast and crew preformed 20 minute melodies and mashups about one character throughout his or her whole career in BUSTED.

In conclusion BUSTED is an ongoing musical comedy that works because of everyone who puts effort in, loves the show and cares about BUSTED. The director GK puts a lot of work into making the shows and making a place for college kids to get involved in drama without being in the Drama department. So I hope a BUSTED show will be on your checklist here at Bloomsburg! It’s an experience that can never be forgotten.