Tonight at 7:30 p.m., Studio 211 will be presenting “The Things I Could Never Tell Steven” in Theatre West with free admission. The musical was created by Jye Bryant and this will be the second performance in the United States.

The Northwestern State University of Louisiana School of Creative and Performing Arts will be celebrating the tenth international anniversary of the musical. This is a musical song cycle that will feature CAPA students Victoria Hickman, Dylan Fuselier, Leigh Leighton and Robert McCandlish.

“The Things I Could Never Tell Steven” shows the dynamic and struggles four characters have individually in relation to “Steven.” The four characters include “the wife,” “the ex,” “the mother” and “the father”.

Since it is a studio project, Robert Cardwell, CAPA assistant professor of voice and stage director of the show, handpicked four of his students to showcase their talents in the production. Cardwell mentioned that working with the students for the production has allowed him to better their music lessons in the classroom.

Cardwell also noted how each cast member’s personal attributes encapsulate their roles; Robert McCandlish’s warm and comforting nature fits the role of “the father” and Victoria Hickman can capture the rollercoaster of emotions that “the wife” goes through in her voice.

Leigh Leighton, a junior theater major, will be playing the role of “the mother.” They expressed how rewarding it has been to finally be able to carry out the production, as the show’s idea has been around since Spring 2021.

“The most difficult part was definitely getting into the headspace of a middle-aged woman who is very passive of her son,” Leighton said.

After embodying the essence of the character, Leighton stated that it made it easier to portray the role.

Throughout the musical song cycle, the characters never interact with each other. Earlier rehearsals consisted of solos, Dylan Fuselier, a senior theater major playing the role of “the ex,” explained.

The most recent rehearsals have allowed each of the cast members to bond more despite the lack of interaction on stage.

“Our favorite pastime is just making fake relationships and names, because we don’t have names in the show, and it’s such a fun time, we have a lot of fun in rehearsals,” Fuselier said.

Fuselier noted that the show only allows the audience to see the truth of how Steven acts and about his relationships to the other characters.

“What is cool about this show is Steven is never seen, he’s only talked about,” Fuselier said.

While the audience will experience the drama, they can also expect the perspective of these characters to capture them.

“I’m excited for people to see the comedy and heartwarming moments and see the joy between characters as well as the sorrow,” Leighton said.