Members of Off the Lake Productions practice at the Amphitheater by Mirror Lake before their spring 2024 show. Credit: Courtesy of Sydney Webb

Despite facing significant obstacles in securing rehearsal and performance spaces due to the closure of Lawrence Tower, the show will go on for Off The Lake Productions. 

The student-run, service-based theater organization is gearing up to bring its latest theatrical productions of “Trojan Women” and “Legally Blonde” to life at the Ohio Musical Theatre Institute — located at 2106 Integrity Drive S. — with showtimes throughout the spring semester.

This relocation comes after Ohio State’s Lawrence Tower — where Off The Lake has rehearsed and performed since 2019 — was shut down due a mold outbreak, per prior Lantern reporting. 

OTL co-president Taylor Stanton, a fourth-year in public management, leadership and policy, said despite various logistical hurdles following the shutdown of Lawrence Tower, the organization has continued its work this semester. Stanton said the perseverance and determination of the club and its members have ensured both shows will go on as planned. 

“Lawrence was our lifeline,” Stanton said. “It’s where all of our stuff is. It’s where our rehearsals were. It’s where we have performed and operated for the past six years. With this being said, the adaptability of everybody has been so impressive. We have been going through many unique challenges this semester, but the show will go on.”

Off the Lake’s “The SpongeBob Musical” spring 2024 cast performs their rendition of the popular animation at Lawrence Tower. Credit: Courtesy of Sydney Webb

Stanton said the greatest difficulty came with trying to find a new performance venue, as Lawrence Tower was free to the organization via Ohio State. Stanton said it was through the help of the community that the organization’s GoFundMe page was able to raise over $7,000 to rent out the Ohio Musical Theatre Institute, located at 2106 Integrity Drive S., for all show dates.

“We’ve gotten a lot of community outreach and I think it’s been a very powerful thing to see,” Sydney Webb, co-president of OTL and a fourth-year in theater and marketing said. “We’ve gotten support from students, alumni and parents alike, and watching the greater Columbus community rally around the arts and defend our right to perform them has been moving.”

Webb said this year, the organization has chosen to partner with the Returning Artists Guild — an organization made up of formerly or currently incarcerated artists seeking to find a community in theater and the arts. 

According to its website, the Returning Artists Guild was unofficially founded in 2015, when Aimee Wissman and Kamisha Thomas met in the Dayton Correctional Institution. It was in DCI that Wissman, Thomas and other incarcerated artists started an art therapy program to help women combat the negative mental and emotional effects of prison.

“They mostly focus on visual art and getting art galleries and exhibitions together, but they also do performance art,” Webb said. “They work to get art supplies and resources into the prisons and provide financial resources to help newly released individuals closer to their creative passions. What started as an outlet for these women inside of prison broke free from the cages, and is now supporting dozens on the outside.”

Members preform a dance sequence in Off the Lake’s rendition of “The SpongeBob Musical” in spring 2024 at Lawrence Tower. Credit: Courtesy of Sydney Webb

This weekend and the weekend of Feb. 21-23, the first curtains will open for OTL’s rendition of Euripides’ Greek tragedy “Trojan Women,” said play director Meghan Geraghty, a fifth-year in studio art. Through the lens of the women of Troy, she said the play offers an exploration of the human cost of war. 

“‘Trojan Women’ is a really interesting tragedy because it doesn’t focus on a hero and their fall,” Geraghty said. “Instead, what we get are these vignettes of the immediate aftermath of the Trojan War from the perspective of these women who were left in the dust and forced to face the consequences of the decisions of a few men and how that affects the many.” 

Geraghty said the play’s portrayal of suffering and violence remains relevant today, as it examines the ills of cyclical violence and its effects on marginalized communities. 

“This story is truly the tragedy of the other,” Geraghty said. “We’re performing ancient Greek theater in the 21st century because it shines a light on the ways in which cycles of violence continue through human history and disproportionately impact people.” 

On the weekends of March 27-30 and April 3-6, OTL will put on its version of “Legally Blonde,” marking the 10-year anniversary since the club first performed the play, said musical director Lauren Meadows, a third-year in music education and theater.    

“It’s a good balance of comedy and flashy entertainment, but it also has very beautiful moments that tell a story,” Meadows said. “There’s a responsibility to do it justice because the film is iconic, but there’s also the feeling that we’re performing for the alumni whose shoes we’re filling from 10 years ago.” 

 Meadows said community is at the heart of theater, and the hardship the club has experienced throughout the semester has made its success that much sweeter.  

“It is theater for everyone by everyone,” Meadows said. “We watch weeks of blood, sweat and tears culminate into the creation of a world that didn’t exist before. This semester has shown us that we really are taking a leap towards something much greater than ourselves, and it’s just pure magic to see.”

Stanton said due to the venue change, Ohio State will offer buses to transport campus residents between the Ohio Musical Theater Institute and the Ohio Union. 

Tickets can be purchased on the club’s Linktree for $1. For more information about OTL and its upcoming events, visit the club’s Instagram page.