On Sunday, March 31, 11 lucky students from the Acting III class went on a day trip to NYC to watch some professional shows.

The group saw the Broadway show Oklahoma! and Asssscat, an improv comedy show put on by the renowned Upright Citizens Brigade.

The show Oklahoma! is directed by Northwestern University alum Daniel Fish, and stars actors and actresses Will Brill, Anthony Cason, Damon Daunno, James Davis, Gabrielle Hamilton, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Will Mann, Mallory Portnoy, Ali Stroker, Mitch Tebo, Mary Testa, and Patrick Vaill.

Actor Will Brill stars in the American drama series Gotham, and web series The OA. Rebecca Naomi Jones stars in the award-winning movie, The Big Sick. May Testa stared in the 2010 movie Eat Pray Love.

Director of the Williston Theater, Ms. Ditkovski, told The Willistonian that the purpose of the trip is to take some tips from contemporary theatre and hopefully incorporate them into her lessons with campus actors.

“It is important to see theater, so we can learn more about how to become stronger performers and also how contemporary theater is being made and presented,” she said.

Every other year since 2013, Acting III is offered as a class with Ms. Ditkovski; the trip runs every Spring the class is in session.

Despite being a long trip, the students really enjoyed it. Liam Coughlin ’21 said that in particular he liked the show Asssscat.

“I had never seen improv theatre before live and I really enjoyed it,” Liam said. “I thought it was hilarious.” Like Liam, Anna Richardson ’21 had never seen professional improv, and agreed with Liam’s point.

Other than watching shows, the students also took in the views of the city. Liam said, “On the west side of Manhattan, we walked on the High Line, the old elevated subway tracks, from the first theater uptown to the second show. It was really fun just to walk and see the beautiful city.”

Ms. Ditkovski believes that there is always a lesson to be learned from watching a professional play, whether the play or performance is a hit or not.

“Every time I see a play I learn more about how to be better—even if the show is not particularly strong or I don’t love it,” she said. “Our students learned a lot about the craft of creating a character and how pieces of a production fit together. The shows we saw gave us a lot of food for thought.”