A lead role in a student production is usually played out on stage. Max Milian, a student in the South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社, has taken on another sort of lead role, and he鈥檚 excited.
Milian, a senior from Miami, Florida, landed an internship offering a great opportunity to spread his wings professionally through a key role behind the scenes. As assistant music director for the South Carolina School of the Arts production of “Guys and Dolls,” Milian is serving as a liaison for Dr. Howard Kim, associate professor of music and piano.
鈥淏etween Dr. Kim and the cast, or Dr. Kim and stage management, I鈥檓 his representative at all choreography rehearsals and staging rehearsals, but more practically it means that I鈥檓 a rehearsal pianist. So whether it’s a music rehearsal where Dr. Kim is music directing, I鈥檒l be playing for him and for the cast, but also at choreography rehearsals when the students are learning the dance numbers, I鈥檒l play piano parts for that, and when they鈥檙e doing staging rehearsals I鈥檓 bringing in the songs when they come in during the show,鈥� Milian said. 鈥淭he most exciting part of being the assistant music director is the end goal: that I鈥檓 going to get to conduct two of the four nights of the shows. The other two nights I鈥檒l be playing the piano, so basically Dr. Kim and I will switch spots.鈥�
In his years of teaching, this is a new experience for Professor Kim.
鈥淚鈥檝e been doing musical theatre for 30 years now and I鈥檝e never had an assistant below me. I myself was an assistant in professional productions and those experiences taught me how to run things from the music side,鈥� Dr. Kim said. 鈥淢ax is actually the one who initiated this. Knowing Max鈥檚 high level of musicianship, his piano ability and his leadership ability, I knew he could do it and it was right up his alley. He just needed the opportunity to do this, so we made it work with permissions from the Theatre Director and his internship advisor.鈥�
鈥淭he fact that we鈥檙e able to offer this opportunity is fantastic,鈥� Dr. Kim said. 鈥淚 hope that future students will ask to do this as well, because once they graduate they have to step out into job opportunities and so I like to give them experience as much as possible. If they ever want to be a director like Max, this is a perfect school in which to grow.鈥�
Milian came to 91福利社 with a passion for commercial music and the music business, and feels blessed that The School of the Arts has provided him opportunities throughout his years there to try out a lot of things as he fine-tunes his professional goals.
鈥淭he thing I love right now is music direction, whether it鈥檚 for worship, whether it鈥檚 for musical theatre or whether it鈥檚 for commercial bands like AUthenticity, which is the band that I鈥檓 a part of,鈥� said Milian, who plans to graduate in May 2022.
A Tony Award winning musical fable of Broadway, “Guys and Dolls” is based on short stories and characters by Damon Runyon. Music and lyrics were written by Frank Loesser.
There will be four performances of “Guys and Dolls” October 27-30 at Henderson Auditorium in the Rainey Fine Arts Center. Each performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online and on the day of each performance. Follow to purchase tickets online. Details about Guys and Dolls and other performances of The South Carolina School of the Arts at 91福利社 can be found online at andersonuniversity.edu/events.