COLLEGE TOWN, FL — FAMU students will debut an original production called 'Echoes of the Heart: A Musical Revue' this week. The first show is at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the Essential Theater.
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Florida A&M University students are set to take the stage this week with an original musical revue focused on love, relationships, and genuine emotion, and the production has grown far beyond its original vision.
"Echoes of the Heart: A Musical Revue" is written, directed, and performed by FAMU students.
Director Jae Edwards said the goal of the show is to walk audiences through the many dimensions of love.
"The goal is to really take you guys through the journey of love, or really more so relationships," Edwards said.
Edwards said the emotional range of the performance is central to what makes it meaningful.
"We try to get a wide range of emotions throughout the songs, just because we want at least one thing to stick with somebody when they leave: either remind them of an experience or just take them back to a time where they had this grand idea of love, things like that. We also just want them to feel like they're a part of the club and the space," Edwards said.
The production was not always planned on this scale. It was originally staged in a small studio with about 60 seats before moving to the Essential Theater, which seats nearly 600.
Writer Ryan Pettaway said the expanded venue changed the creative approach.
"It then shifted into maybe we include the audience a bit more into that experience. Maybe the audience is joining us on stage, or we're going out into the house and partying with them, whatever that might be. And it's just what if we just genuinely have a good time in such an intimidating space," Pettaway said.
Lead actor Joshua Lyons serves as the MC of the show, a character he described as essentially Cupid, who welcomes the audience to a venue called Club Smoke and Honey.
Lyons said the role fits him naturally.
"That's my personality. Just cause from the directors, one of the director's notes was: Joshua go be yourself, just be the Joshua you know and love, make us feel at home. And that's one of my favorite things to do: to entertain and make people feel love and happy," Lyons said.
"Echoes of the Heart: A Musical Revue" is focused on connecting audiences directly to the performance through genuine emotion. Tickets are on sale now. The first show is at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 25.
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