'Trouble in his brain': A look at the latest CCU Theatre production

Coastal Carolina University’s Department of Theatre performed ‘A New Brain’ in the Edwards on April 11-13, and on the 17-20.

This musical was touching, emotional and funny.

A musician, Gordon Michael Schwinn, portrayed by Carson Matte, hates working for Mr. Bungee, played by TJ Little, and writing songs for a children’s show. Mr. Bungee has green hair, dresses as a frog and rides on a scooter while Schwinn is a composer and wants to be working on his real music.

He meets a coworker, Rhonda, played by Hannah Wilson, for lunch. At the restaurant, he begins to feel unwell, collapses and gets taken to the hospital where he finds out they will have to operate on his brain if he wants a chance at living.

Schwinn’s mother, portrayed by Brooke Bloomquist, rushes to see her son and assures him that “mother’s gonna make things fine” but Schwinn saw no future and feared dying before finishing a piece of music that he could be proud of and remembered by. However, Schwinn survives his operation despite the great odds he wouldn’t.

This story becomes even more emotional once you realize that it’s based off the writer William Finn’s real-life experience. He was diagnosed with arterial venous malformation and had to be operated on. After that, he wrote this musical.

Even with the seriousness of the subject, the performance was energetic, fun, and engaging. It’s lighthearted, funny, filled with sarcasm, and luckily, we get a happy ending.

This story reminds us that we should make every day count, be happy and hopeful, and not take anything for granted because you never know when you could lose it.

If you didn’t catch this musical, you really missed out. The cast did an amazing job and it was a wonderful story.