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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    ‘It’s Only Life’ music revue explores human experience

    Love, sadness, laughter and gratitude are all pieces of the puzzle that make up the human experience.
    Twelve vocal performers sought to piece together these elements that make up our lives in the musical revue “It’s Only Life,” which was performed on Sept. 19 and 20 in the Columbia Theatre.
    “It was fantastic,” said Jonathan Dupre, senior music education major, who performed the solos “This Moment” and “What You Need” and joined in “That Smile,” “I’m Not Waiting,” “Contact High” and “Taking the Wheel.” “I feel like people were really able to take each song and put a little bit of themselves into it. That’s the whole point of this production. Each song is about someone’s life that each of us can relate to, whether it’s getting caught by your parents doing something that you weren’t supposed to or a lover breaking up with you that you love so much more than they love you. Each person is able to take the words from each song and really put themselves in that position. That’s what this whole musical revue is about, and it felt incredible.”  
    Each song represented a different, relatable aspect of life, from feeling frustrated with a therapist to experiencing the pain of unrequited love to expressing gratitude for all of life’s blessings.
    Kristina Temple, senior vocal performance major who performed the solos “Playbill” and “This Moment,” also featured in “I’m Not Waiting” and “Taking the Wheel,” said that one of the hardest aspects of performing in a musical revue was acting and expressing emotion in addition to singing.
    “It’s very hard, but once you master the words, pitches, rhythm, all that, then you can incorporate the acting,” said Temple. “You have to take one step at a time. It became easier. It was a lot of practice and a lot of work. I find it easier to act out the song while speaking the words, actually. What the director did is he made us write out our lyrics and speak it like a dialogue without speaking it in the rhythm of the song, which is very difficult, but it helped a lot.”
    One theme that was emphasized in the revue was the impact of love and loss. Dupre explained why relationships play such an important role in our lives.
    “There’s so many different kinds of love that we experience,” said Dupre. “I feel like love is one of the biggest driving forces of life, and so that’s why there’s such a strong emphasis on love in this musical revue, because in life, love is such a huge deal. Whether it’s having a crush, and you’re just like ‘I don’t know if I want to talk to them or not. I don’t know what this signal means that they’re giving me,’ you know, that’s a huge part of your life. The person that you settle down with and get married to, that’s a huge part, and that all deals with love. That’s why love is such a huge part of this revue, because this revue is about life.”
    Blake Guidry, junior guitar performance major and member of the audience, felt that “It’s Only Life” was truly a performance that everyone could relate to.
    “It was amazing,” said Guidry. “A lot of people are going through some of the same things they sang about, so it kind of hits home to a lot of people who are trying to find who their love is supposed to be and what they’re supposed to do with their life.”
    Temple summed up the performance and its powerful perspective on the human experience in only a few words.
    “It’s real music,” said Temple. “It’s something everyone can relate to. I just feel like we really touched every person in the crowd with all of our songs. Each of them had a different message, but in the end it’s only life.”
     

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