McKenna's Rec Center and the First Night Success

Everyone was placing bets on whether or not SHU's new Recreational Center would ever see the light of day. Heck, I had fifty bucks down that the thing would be taken over by Nixon-era squatters. But, much to everyone's surprise the thing opened and I must say... it's gorgeous. I'm not going to say it was worth the wait, but I will say that they did a great job on it. My favorite part about it is its integration with Sullivan, our campus' haggard little castle. They built the lobby of the center around one of Sullivan's towers, creating quite a contrast. Well played, SHU. Well played.

And so the evening of its grand opening (Monday, March 14th) Seton Hill planned a bevy of acts to ring in the Rec Center's "First Night." I just happened to be a part of one of them.

There was a crazy amount of planning that went into that quick two hours that me and the Cellar Dwellers performed. Thankfully, we were the third (or one could argue "the main event") and final act to hit the stage during the First Night celebration. This allowed the Dwellers to get to campus around six in the evening and prepare a little more. During the day, I spent a majority of the day on the phone with Jamie Steele, head of Student Activities here on campus. I was frequently calling her with questions about the performance space (which wasn't set up until around 4PM because SHU had to wait for the building inspectors to leave). Whenever I finished speaking with her, I would immediately call James and fill him on the info: stage size, ceiling height, parking, etc.

When the Dwellers got on campus, we quickly set up our curtains, lights and sound. Everything was set up just in time for 7:00PM, when Monsignor Rubino (no relation) blessed the building and members of the Administration said a few words. Because our work was not yet finished, the Dwellers and I retreated to my dorm room to work on stuff for the show while the other two acts got busy.

We presented our second performance of "Prostate of the Union," our first sketch comedy show of the new year. I was so happy with the amount of people that came out to see us, especially for that late at night on a Monday. Thanks to all of the SHU-ers who came to the show! The audience was great, and we didn't have any problems getting volunteers for improv. Everyone kept telling me how much they enjoyed the show, and I know all of the Dwellers loved doing it at SHU. Hopefully this means we'll be back on campus in the future!

And so cheers to the new Rec. Center. It's a complex that I will most likely never use (unless they have some event of interest in the awesome vestibule) but one I will look at when I walk by it. Whether we like it or not, the campus is growing, and while it will probably be the only new non-resident complex completed during my years here, it's better than the proposed vomitorium.