On Stage: Performing Arts at our Oneonta Campuses by Rachel Frick Cardelle

A Musical That’s Gone Viral and the Messages It Carries

“Ride the Cyclone,” a darkly comedic, one-act musical written by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell and directed by Marc Shaw, comes to Hartwick’s Slade Theatre November 7–13. Written in 2008, the musical premiered in Canada at the Atomic Vaudeville Theatre Company in Victoria, British Columbia. Then, in 2022, it went viral on TikTok when song clips from the off-Broadway production began circulating. (If, like me, you don’t have a TikTok account, it’s a phone app that allows you to watch, create and post short-form videos. If you don’t have a TikTok account, it’s also pretty likely that, like me, you aren’t a Gen Z’er, since 60-80 percent of that generation in the U.S. use TikTok, which becomes important later in this article so hang tight!)

The show takes place in a dilapidated warehouse of an old amusement park, which, it turns out, is a place of limbo between life and death for six teens who have had a fatal accident on The Cyclone, a roller coaster at the park. At the start of the play the emcee of the whole show introduces itself: The Amazing Karnak, a mechanical fortune teller whose specialty is being able to predict the precise moment of a person’s death. The musical revolves around each of the six teens having an opportunity to explain to The Amazing Karnak why he or she should be the one person allowed to return to life.

When I sat down with some of the cast and crew, I began by asking Marc why he was drawn to this show. He was quick to attribute that to the Hartwick students themselves, as he said the first time he heard it (I’m guessing here that Marc does not have a TikTok account) was when he popped into a club meeting and students were listening to the soundtrack of the show. Sam Scott, one of the students in the show (who is also the scenic designer, graphic designer and technical assistant), remembered the night this happened, roughly two years ago.

“[You were asking] what shows do you guys want to do? What would interest college students? Obviously our first audience, other than the town of Oneonta, is the college campus. And we were like… this show has a huge cult following of people our age and other age ranges,” Sam remembered.

“Yeah, and that was the first time I felt like it’s a doable musical for our college and the students were excited about it. A lot of other colleges and theaters have done it. It’s got a sort of buzz of popularity,” Marc added.

He later went on to share with me that two of his colleagues, who are tremendously talented, have been instrumental in making this musical cabaret-type show: Kathryn Smith, the choreographer, and Dan Chien, the musical director.

As I asked the cast and crew questions about the show and their experience with it, I got much more insight into why the show has gone so viral as I listened to their answers. My first general question was, given the show’s focus on life and mortality, if there was a moment in rehearsals that changed the way any of them think about those topics.

“I feel like it just teaches a good lesson of being happy with where you are, no matter where you are. And it’s just nice that I’m able to feel this way before I die, unlike Constance [my character] was able to. I’m glad I get to know this lesson, because she was learning it and wasn’t able to live her life with that, and I’m able to. So, it’s kind of nice and poetic in that way,” Sania Reeves responded.

Rheana Cameron also found part of the show’s message uplifting.

“It’s connecting with the lyrics of the last song: It’s everything you love, it’s everything you dreamed, it’s everything you shared, and it’s everything that seems so, oh so terrifying,” Cameron explained. “And then it goes on to say, ‘It’s just a ride.’ And that last phrase has really connected with me. I found myself repeating that whenever I’m locked in a practice room having a breakdown, learning music, I tell myself that it’s just a ride. We’re gonna get through this, and life will go on. There hasn’t been a single time that we’ve run that scene on stage that I haven’t teared up singing it.”

This discussion morphed into thoughts about how the show is both dark in its subject but is also funny and uplifting. Hannah Gilliand, who plays the mechanical fortune teller, reflected on that.

“My character’s very first line, how the show opens, is saying that I’m going to die at the end of it in 90 minutes. And so reading that was kind of funny, because it was just so blunt and direct. I’m a machine, so I just say I’m done in 90 minutes. The show’s over and I’m dead,” Gilliand said. “But I think what’s really unique about the human characters of the show is that even though they are dead during the show and this is some weird limbo of the afterlife, they [the human characters] have more growth in the 90 minutes of the show than they’ve had the past 17 or 18 years. That’s such a unique thing to watch and see develop, because you see this change in these people who have never thought of ever changing in that way.”

As I like to do, I wrapped up by wondering what message or thoughts they would hope the audience carries with them from the show.

Cameron began, “[The show is] a good reminder that, yes, death is inevitable, yes, life is temporary, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still live it to the fullest. It’s a reminder to find the joy in everything. There’s a lot of stress and agony that comes with life, but without those things, the joy wouldn’t feel like anything. So it’s important to find a balance.”

“Going off that, it’s also just being able to focus on the friendships that you make along the way with people. Yeah, death is inevitable. But it’s these small little joys and memories in life that you made along the way that either makes a situation or breaks it. In focusing on these small little things that really keep you going and that you don’t have to always be afraid to live your life. Just take a look around and enjoy what life has to offer. Because, we never know when death will hit us, but until then to enjoy,” added Dan Lincoln.

“I think that this show really embodies the beauty in humanity and the beauty in selflessness. There is strength in numbers and there is strength in togetherness, and that does not make you weak to rely on your peers,” Jaylene Rodriguez put in. “It does not make you weak to confide in them, and it is important to know each other beyond the generalizations that we make of each other every day. It is important to know what motivates people, their dreams, their aspirations. It is important to connect on a deeper level.”

“It’s so important to take away from the show just how precious and special your time is here. You’re going to have regrets no matter what you do, but don’t let others decide what those regrets are going to be. Don’t let pressure and stress stop you from being your full self and doing the things that you want to do,” Oriana Letzelter shared.

Then she went on to quote one character, Ricky, quoting the Silver Surfer: “Every place should be a special place, and every person should be special and precious, and you should make everyone feel appreciated with your time here.”

Emma Kargoe, who plays Ocean, a perfectionist who always strives to be the best at whatever she does, wrapped up the interview by saying, “I think one takeaway that I took from being Ocean and from analyzing the show is that life’s too short to hold grudges with people. I think a lot of people hold grudges with Ocean, but I think Ocean also holds grudges with people like Constance, even though she’s her best friend. I think life’s too short to be angry with people and hate, and we have enough of that already.”

These messages and thoughts, not least the idea that life’s too short to be angry with people and hate, seem like messages and thoughts well worth having in our world today. I plan to go back to watch the full show and hear the music that has apparently become so viral among college students today. I hope these are the exact messages and thoughts that follow me out of the theater. Because I can’t help thinking, if these are the messages that go viral with the younger generation, there is a lot of hope in our future.

You can watch “Ride the Cyclone,”directed by Marc Shaw, at the Slade Theater in Yager Hall on Hartwick College’s campus November 7-8and 13–15at 8 p.m. or November 9at 2 p.m. To reserve tickets, call 607-431-4227 or e-mail theatre@hartwick.edu .

Next up: “Scapino,” written by Jim Dale and Frank Dunlop and directed by Kiara Pipino, at SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theater, November 13-16.

Rachel Frick Cardelle covers performing arts at SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College.