Students practice for Campus Lights at the Old Fine Arts Building, where last week a power outage forced them to practice elsewhere.
Single digit temperatures, an electrical outage and change of venue did not stop Campus Lights students from practicing for their performance later this month.
Campus Lights, an annual, student-run musical production, came back on its first night of practice to find a dark building and the students were immediately forced to find alternate accommodations.
Power was shut down Jan. 6 on Murray State’s main campus due to orders from the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The Old Fine Arts Building was one of the buildings affected by the power outage, which is where Campus Lights students hold rehearsals.
Ryan Knight, chairman of Campus Lights, said there was slight panic at first, followed by quick action from the group.
“We were initially very concerned since we had only just begun practicing,” Knight said. “Luckily due to our great music department staff, we were quickly able to find rehearsal space.”
The group was able to hold practices at both First Presbyterian Church and First Methodist Church in Murray.
“It was amazing to see these churches open their doors for us,” Knight said. “It really shows you how much the community is willing to help out Murray State and its students.”
Knight said the production is still on schedule despite the challenges the production initially faced, which he is happy to see due to the rich tradition the production holds for the University.
“Campus Lights is the cornerstone of the Murray State traditions,” he said. “It has been around longer than any of our faculty have been (at Murray).”
The students have two and a half weeks to practice performances, build the set and get everything in order before they are set to perform.
Emily Birnstein, director of Campus Lights, said one of the things that makes the program special is that is run entirely by students.
“There is a very strong sense of pride for this tradition and you can feel it throughout the whole process,” she said.
Birnstein said despite the setbacks the production has faced, she knows the hard work of the group will pay off in the end.
“Luckily we have had people who are very willing to help us out,” she said. “We are lucky to have people in the community who are so generous to us throughout the whole process.”
Campus Lights runs from Jan. 23-26. Performances will be in Lovett Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 23-25 and at 2:30 p.m. on Jan 26.
“I am excited to see all of the hard work of the cast, crew, and staff come together,” Birnstein said. “We have been working hard and I can’t wait for everyone else to see what we have done.”
Story by Rebecca Walter, Staff writer