by Alexa Anderson | February 20, 2025
East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance is preparing to showcase the first-ever theatrical production of the musical Wild Heart by Chelsea Marcantel.
Trent Blanton, an associate professor in musical theatre and director of Wild Heart, said the aspect that makes this show challenging also makes it exciting. He said it’s thrilling they’re the first crew to design and bring this story to life. However, Blanton said this becomes challenging when deciding how to tell the story.
Blanton said, “The good thing about it is, because there’s no blueprint, it can sort of be whatever you want it to be.” He said it’s exciting they get to draw the first blueprint for other productions to use as inspiration in future renditions.
He said students will enjoy this modernized story about Joan of Arc because it has familiar music by Pink, Weezer, Andra Day and more. He also said it’s a unique opportunity to be the first to see this show on stage. “You haven’t seen the production because it’s never been [staged], so I think it’s exciting to get to introduce something like this to the community,” said Blanton.
He said the show times will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 2 p.m. on Sunday in McGinnis Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased through ECU’s School of Theatre and Dance website.
Blanton said he’s looking forward to the community seeing how immensely talented the ECU School of Theatre students are. The caliber of work here at ECU is much higher than people assume, he said. “The shows are professional level quality, and I can’t wait to see how the ECU community, and the community at large, reacts to it,” said Blanton.
Delta Smith, associate professor of costume design, said students should come to see this show because it’s a contemporary version of Joan of Arc’s story that shows more of the hardships she had to face. Smith also said it should be attractive to students since it has modern music most of them will recognize.
She said she appreciates how it shows a more in-depth story of the courage she exemplified throughout her life. “There’s also a bit of hope at the end to remember that your life matters and what you do in your life matters, and that’s one of the lessons I take from that,” Smith said.
Smith said she hopes people are intrigued to see what these students have done with their director and choreographer’s vision for this production. “I hope that they enjoy it, and are as excited as we are,” she said.
