Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Site Map

CSPA is affiliated with the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in the City of New York.

Workshop spends the day on Broadway

To learn first hand how story telling, singing and dancing connect in musical theatre, 280 students and teachers from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s 26th annual Summer Workshop spent a day together on Broadway and attended a performance of “Hairspray.”

Antonio Rodriquez, CSPA’s the assistant director for administration, worked with Camp Broadway to arrange for the experience.

Under his leadership, CSPA delegates traveled by subway in 15 groups to 42nd Street and arrived at B. B. King’s restaurant.

They participated in a press conference with “Hairspray” cast members including Steven Cutts, who plays Gilbert and understudies for the role of Seaweed J. Stubbs; Michelle Dowdy, understudy for the leading role of Tracy Turnblad; Robbie Robey, the dance captain; Alexa Vega, who plays Penny Pingleton; Students’ questions ranged from an inquiry about the pressures of taking on a role someone else has played to how actors move from speech to songs in musical theatre.

“Emotions become so great that your character just has to sing,” Vega explained.

After lunch, the group walked to the Neil Simon Theatre, stopping along the way to take in the Times Square neighborhood. After the show, the group returned to Columbia’s campus for evening newspaper and yearbook classes.

That night, students wrote reviews of the performance and, based on their Broadway insights, considered the challenges of publication from a new perspective.