Minnesota State University Reporter

Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: Theater and Dance

In the wife's (Liz Dowd) version of her husband's death (Mathias Becker), they decide to die together as neither one can look at the other the same way after the events of the night.

Lust, faith and redemption are only three of the themes present in the complex show "See What I Wanna See." The show, with book, music and lyrics written by Michael John LaChiusa, opens in the Andreas Theatre 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"See What I Wanna See" is a contemporary musical and was named one of the Best Musicals of 2005 by New York Magazine. Based on the short stories of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, "See What I Wanna See" pays tribute to its Japanese roots with an Asian-infused jazz style. The three stories that make up the musical come from three different worlds: medieval Japan, New York City in the 1950s and post-9/11 Central Park.

While leaving a movie, a thief sees a couple.?The thief decides?he wants to make the wife his. In the end, the husband dies. How the husband dies is retold by each of the characters, including the wife, the thief, the janitor - who finds the husband's?body - and the husband as?told through a medium.

"The audience should leave and consider what it is to have truth," said director Nikki Swoboda. "And what it is to have individual perspective and realize how that shades any event. The theme throughout is what is your truth? What do you see? What do you need to see? What do you make yourself see? "

The show is directed by Swoboda who is this year's Nadine B. Andreas Teaching Assistant and considered part of the "post-modern" genre of Broadway. The challenging and complex score and story that is characteristic of this "post-modern" genre was written by LaChiusa. LaChiusa has been nominated for five Tony awards and is one of the most prolific writers of the day. He is an adjunct professor in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Thanks to the Lowell and David Andreas Endowment to the College of Arts and Humanities, the Department of Theatre and Dance will host LaChiusa opening night.?During his stay LaChiusa will attend opening night and teach a master class as an Andreas Guest Artist.

"We're getting a master class with an actual master," said Swoboda. "Someone who we will go to New York and hopefully audition for. This is a man who can give us an even more specific idea about what is happening in New York right now, what it is we're training for."

"See What I Wanna See" runs from Thursday to Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Andreas Theatre. Individual tickets are $9 regular, $8 for senior citizens, youth 16 and under and groups of 15 or more and $7 for current Minnesota State students.

"It is an amazing opportunity," said Swoboda. "We owe a lot of gratitude to Lowell and Nadine Andreas."


Kylie Schultz is a Reporter staff writer

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