On Jan. 8, the University of Lynchburg’s musical theater ensemble, Curtain Call, performed at 54 Below, a popular New York City cabaret club.

The show, “The Curtain Up Songwriters Workshop: NYC Showcase,” was an extension of the theatre department’s Curtain Up Songwriters Workshop, which was held each spring at Lynchburg from 2018 to 2024.

The workshops were led by Artistic Director James Ballard, a New York City-based composer, lyricist, and writer. His mother, Dana Ballard, is Curtain Call’s director. For the 54 Below show, James Ballard served as music supervisor and Dana Ballard as director and pianist.

In the Curtain Up workshops, students worked with emerging New York City songwriters to create original songs. The songs were then performed in a concert at Lynchburg’s Robert C. Hailey Theatre in Dillard Fine Arts Center.

“It’s the unique partnership between young professionals and students that garnered us the invitation to perform at 54 Below,” Dana Ballard said a few weeks before the trip.

“To go to New York City and actually perform original music in a Broadway venue is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, both for the University and the students. It’s recognition on a national level, much like winning a national championship for a sports team.”

Over the years, the songwriters workshops involved award-winning composers and lyricists, among them Rona Siddiqui, music director of the Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical “A Strange Loop,” and Billy Recce, whose work has garnered a BroadwayWorld Award.

The songs created during the workshops were inspired by the students’ lives, making for some heartwarming — and heartbreaking — tunes over the years.

Last year, for example, Recce wrote a song for Curtain Call’s Syd Lawrence ’24, ’25 MPH. The quirky, sweet song, “Dinosaur Dig,” was on the setlist for the 54 Below show.

It consists of imaginary conversations between Lawrence and a fatherless brontosaurus she bonds with during the University’s annual dinosaur dig in Wyoming. In real life, Lawrence’s father died just a few weeks before she left her home in Bristow, Virginia, for the 2022 dig.

“Dinosaur Dig” includes such tear-jerking lyrics as “Maybe our dads were not too unalike. Did yours like movie musicals and mariachi, too? And when you followed your dreams, did he say, ‘Sweet pea, I’m so proud of you?’”

Recce accompanied Lawrence on piano at the 54 Below show, and said something afterward that made the singer particularly happy.

“He said if he ever performed the song again that he wanted me to perform it with him,” Lawrence said. “Everyone’s replaceable in this industry, so it was really awesome, fantastic … that he wanted me to do it again with him, if he does it. It made me feel really good.”

For Josiah Randles ’25, a theatre and criminology double major from Prince George, Virginia, the trip was about more than singing at a famous cabaret club.

When asked en route to the Big Apple what they were most looking forward to, Randles said they wanted to give their song a “bigger reach. My goal is to … make an impact on one person — to make them feel seen.”

Randles worked with songwriter R.J. Christian on their solo, “Monster,” for the Spring 2024 Curtain Up Songwriters Workshop concert. It was inspired by Randles’ struggles with mental illness, which they spoke about briefly before their performance at 54 Below.

Sometimes choked up with emotion, Randles sang Christian’s haunting, heart-wrenching lyrics, which included passages like, “Why can’t I hold something and not crush it in my hands? Why’s my life a joke that always lands?”

When Randles finished their song, the room erupted in applause and cheers. After the show, they were approached by several audience members. “There was a person in the audience that had bipolar disorder and PTSD,” Randles said. “I gave him a hug.

“He said, ‘The song really helped me out and I felt seen.’ A lot of people came up and said, ‘This song is amazing.’ The whole point was to make an impact. I’m very humbled and blessed.”

“Monster” not only gave Randles the opportunity to share their story on a big stage, the experience also impacted their career goals. While Randles still has their sights set on Broadway after they graduate in May, they’re also applying to graduate school programs in drama therapy.

Randles added that having an online video of their 54 Below performance will provide future opportunities to talk about mental health issues. In particular, they want to spread the message that “it’s OK for a Black man to show their emotions. I want to be able to break that stigma.”

For Sky Craft ’27, a criminology major from Gretna, Virginia, going to NYC with Curtain Call meant “fulfilling a lifelong dream, performing somewhere with merit … on a stage in front of all these people, especially in New York.”

Za’lexia Bogan ’26, a theatre major and the group’s tour manager, said she looked forward to experiencing the Big Apple on her own terms, without parental supervision.

The Houston resident said her plan included “going to record shops and small cafes, and seeing Off-Broadway shows. … I’m just going to explore. I don’t have an agenda of places to go, because I prefer to explore and get the authentic side of things — be spontaneous.”

Michael Tock’s emo-style solo, “Back It All Up,” written by Alexander Sage Oyen, was third on the 54 Below setlist. While the song wasn’t created specifically for Tock — it was written for an early songwriters workshop — the sophomore from Amherst, Virginia, could relate.

“[It’s] basically about how things aren’t as easy as they … used to be, how everything is going downhill, and it’s so much harder to succeed in a world of performers, where it seems like you aren’t as good as you used to be,” Tock, a theatre major, said.

“I understand where the song is coming from, but I’ve taken [it] in a different direction, because when I got to the University of Lynchburg it was a completely different playing field. In high school [theater], it was pretty obvious who would get the large roles, because it was based on seniority and how much stuff you were in beforehand.”

When Tock won the role of The Cat in the Hat in Lynchburg’s Spring 2024 production of “Seussical” his freshman year, he realized it wouldn’t be that way at Lynchburg, and that opportunities would come his way because of “capabilities and not seniority.”

“It fueled me to be a better performer and try to make it work,” he said.

When Tock graduates in 2026, he wants to be a theater teacher. It was theater, after all, that turned things around for him when he was in middle school. “I have autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and it was really difficult for me to find my clique,” he said.

“When I actually stumbled into the world of theater, it absolutely changed my life forever.”

Aside from the NYC trip being “the biggest performance of my life,” Tock said he most looked forward to “some of the more mellow moments,” including a visit to the LEGO Store.

Kai Gutierrez-Wood ’28 had just barely left the state of Virginia before heading to New York City aboard Amtrak’s Northeast Regional on Jan. 7. “I’ve only seen it in pictures,” the Bedford, Virginia, resident said on the way north.

“I want to take pictures and see the big lights and billboards.”

In addition to performing, Gutierrez-Wood was one of a few Curtain Call members who worked on costumes for the 54 Below show. “I altered Sky’s dress,” the double major in theatre and psychology said.

“It used to have a zipper in the back, but to fit I did corset loops in the back and sewed them on. It was my first time using a sewing machine. It’s been a learning experience. I’d never altered clothing or had to work in costuming before.

“I came from a school that would rent costumes, instead of making them, so that’s different.”

Gutierrez-Wood had a solo in the group’s final song at 54 Below, “Strangest Turns.” Written by Or Matias and Sarah Hammond, the song includes such lyrics as, “For every standing ovation, there’s a bum knee too,” “We chose joy, but also hardship,” and as the title suggests, “The strangest turns make up a life.”

International student Oluwatimilehin “Timmy” Mayowa also had a solo in “Strangest Turns.” The public health major from Osun State, Nigeria, had been to New York City once before, for the 2024 Model United Nations, where he was part of Lynchburg’s delegation that represented Sierra Leone.

“As much as I’m going for something serious [this time], it seems like something I’m going to enjoy, that will help me unwind, and will be fun,” Mayowa said en route to New York.

Arilyn Webster ’26 performed “Through the Looking Glass,” a solo written by Angela Sclafani. Like Tock’s song, it wasn’t written specifically for Webster, but she made it her own. “The story that it tells me is … of trying to exist as you are, without fear of anybody else’s opinions,” the theatre major from Bedford, Virginia, said.

“There’s a huge theme of ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ in it. Who would I be if I finally let myself go through the mirror to this wonderful world that seems so much better? What would I be? What could I be there? I think it’s just beautiful.”

While in New York City, the group also visited the Museum of Broadway and went to two Broadway musicals, “The Great Gatsby” and “Cabaret.”

“Cabaret,” starring American Idol alum Adam Lambert as The Emcee, was a highlight of the trip for Nico Thomas ’25, who says the musical is “literally my favorite show ever.”

Like Tock, Thomas also plans to be a theater teacher someday, but he said something about the whole NYC experience “makes me want to stick to performing more.” He hopes to move to New York City after graduating from Lynchburg in May.

Theatre major Bobby Vinson ’25, who began acting at age 7 in his hometown of Thomasville, Georgia, doesn’t want to wait until May. “I didn’t want to leave today,” Vinson said on the return trip.

“I was sitting there today and I looked at Nico and said, ‘I really don’t want to leave the city.’”

Vinson said the previous four days reminded him of how he felt as a theater kid in a local production of “Once Upon a Mattress,” when “sitting on the stage, singing silly songs was the greatest thing on the planet.

“I’m turning 23 this year and this reminds you of how much love is [in theater]. This trip is going to be a stepping stone to the rest of my life.”

A host of NYC-based professional musicians and singers joined Curtain Call on the 54 Below stage, including Caro Moore on drums, Alex Petti on guitar, Sherisse Rogers on electric bass, and vocalists Lauren Molina, Sean Doherty, Dana Aber, Alanna Saunders, and Janelle Lawrence.

In addition, “Curtain Up,” a brand-new group number was written just for the 54 Below show by professional composers Eli Bolin and Mike Pettry.

The upbeat song, which opened the show, includes such lyrics as “Sometimes you get the peaches, sometimes you get the pits, sometimes your world starts crashing down and you want to call it quits,” and a rousing chorus of “Curtain up! Curtain up, up, up! Curtain up!”

James Ballard said the involvement of so many professional artists “emphasized that this was a high-profile, professional gig,” and it showed that “so many professional, New York City musicians, who play for Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and recording sessions and whatnot, are also genuinely excited to play new music.

“They were all very enthusiastic about the project and asked lots of questions about the arrangements and the show and all that, so they were committed to making great music and supporting new musical theater artists.”

Looking back, Dana Ballard, said the trip “way exceeded expectations,” and made all of the previous year’s worry and planning worth it. “It was just a magical trip,” she said. “It worked out beautifully. This was a special, big effort.

“It was exciting because it was so different. There are other schools that take students to New York to sing at 54 Below, but they sing Broadway covers, trying to expose their students to Broadway producers and all, but I don’t know of any other school that’s ever come up and done a whole program of original music. That was interesting and fun.”

Pat Daily, a co-owner of 54 Below, attended the show. She described it as a “tremendously satisfying evening,” adding that “since 54’s inception, I’ve likely seen over a 100 shows and Curtain Call was right there in the higher percentile of quality shows.

“The caliber of talent, the songs, the professionalism of the production were all very impressive. Many of the shows — particularly student shows — are often scruffy around the edges, with performers on-book.

“This had the polish of a fully rehearsed and professional cabaret show, with formidable talent and terrific song selections.”

Randles, who has been with Curtain Call for four years — longer than anyone else in the group, except the Ballards — summed up the experience this way:

“I have seen this group progress. This is the most talented group in the last four years. Everyone in this class is a powerhouse singer and will make it and do something great. I’d put $1,000 on that, a million on that.”

You can watch all of the 54 Below performances on YouTube.

There we be several more opportunities this spring to see Curtain Call, or its members, perform:

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, Feb. 27 and 28, and March 1, the theatre department will present “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” The show stars several Curtain Call members and features other students — theatre majors and nonmajors — and several alumni. Tickets can be purchased here.

On Friday and Saturday, April 4 and 5, Curtain Call will perform what could be its annual cabaret-style show at the Robert C. Hailey Theatre at Dillard Fine Arts Center. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. each night. Admission is free.

On Wednesday, April 9, Curtain Call will perform at LIFE@Lynchburg, a weekly program aimed at local adults ages 50 and over. More information can be found here.