U. singles ward tells its stories in musical

With the encouragement of their leaders, members of a local single's ward took advantage of the opportunity to use their talents to create a full-length musical featuring their favorite Broadway songs and characters.

Through the play Another Story to Tell, the LDS University of Utah 41st Ward was able to teach its audience that they are masters of their stories determined by their choices and actions, said Danny Lasko, writer of the play.

"No one writes (our story) for us, no one creates it," he said. "We have our free will and we can either become heroes, beasts, masked phantoms, witches or beauties. It is all up to us and hopefully (people) see that there are advantages to being good rather than being evil."

Writing a chapter in his own story is exactly what Lasko did when he wrote, directed and stared in the biggest production the 41st Ward has ever presented. The 23-member cast presented the play Sept. 15-16 to the ward, University of Utah 2nd Stake, families, and friends.

The idea for the big production began seven months ago when Bishop Steve Pohlman was conducting a ward council meeting. Members of the ward threw out the idea of having another ward production. The previous year the ward had put on a play, also written by Lasko, for the ward and stake.

The first play was a hit, Pohlman said, noting his desire to use the talent in the ward again to perform a second play, but this time the ward members wanted to "dream big," he told the audience opening night of "Another Story to Tell."

Lasko came up with the concept of using the Bountiful Regional Center to stage a play that would feature the ward member's favorite Broadway characters and songs.

"The 41st Ward has enormous and far more talent than they deserve, anyone deserves actually, and I needed to take advantage of it," Lasko said. "This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, just to see if I could do it. I had never staged a full-on show before. I knew I had the potential to do it, but I didn't know if I really could."

His play combines some of the most beloved music and characters of Broadway into a new and original story. Another Story to Tell takes Elphaba (Lyndsey Dawson) from the play "Wicked" and sends her on a journey where she meets characters from other plays.

Together Elphaba and Henry Jekyll (Lasko) from "Jekyll & Hyde" go from one Broadway musical to another searching for four items from other stories.

These characters are helped by other Broadway characters including Joseph (Mike Paine) from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," Belle (Sarah Beesley) from "Beauty and the Beast," and The Witch (Amy Addams) from "Into the Woods," while searching for the Phantom's items.

Like Broadway, Lasko's play is not without its love story with Elphaba and Henry Jekyll falling in love during the Elephant Medley from "Moulin Rouge."

"With witches, beauties, dreamers and more, "Another Story to Tell" takes its audience on a whimsical romantic journey through the great stories told through both word and music in a way that only Broadway could bring," Lasko said.

For more than seven weeks, the cast and crew practiced the two-act play, prepared the scenes, and made the costumes. Lasko noted the experience of practicing and performing "Another Story to Tell: was extraordinary and humbling. he said.