Collaboration is key in new campus show inspired by "Saturday Night Live"
Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow / Watch "Thursday Night Live"
Stage lights dimmed and the spotlight shined brightly as Grand Canyon University freshmen Emma Cowden, with her soft voice, and Isaac Scherer, playing melodious piano notes, filled the air at the recent “Thursday Night Live."
The pair’s week-old original song opened the College of Arts and Media’s new event, which featured an array of theatre, music, film, design and dance creative efforts.
“Feeling the stage lights on my face and the cross necklace around my neck, all I could think was, thank you, Jesus,” Cowden said. “Thank you, Jesus, for this moment because this is a big connector between all the different parts of our college.”
A reimagination of the popular TV show “Saturday Night Live,” "Thursday Night Live" brought each of the six creative departments together for an hour of comedic and lively entertainment.
Original solo and band performances, music videos, films, piano ensembles and dance numbers showcased student talent on campus.
“One of the things that drew me to GCU was a lot more than just being a professor,” audio engineering professor and show director Andy Zulla said. “It was when I realized, unlike a lot of other universities, our College of Arts and Media has all these diverse groups under one roof.
“A lot of places have individual colleges, but here, all the creative things are together. I asked Dr. Craig (Detweiler, the dean) when I first came here, what do you guys do together? He said, that’s the thing, they really want to collaborate, and that became my goal.”
Zulla’s passion turned into determination and persistence at the start of the semester when he put on his show director hat and started gathering necessary equipment, crew and performers to develop his collaborative concept.
Thanks to support from the Bridges Larson Foundation and the Boskie Family Foundation, what was once a lecture hall turned into a production studio that gave students a glimpse of a professional industry setting.
Freshly painted black walls, blue, purple and red lights, a stage built by theatre students, and surrounding lighting trusses donated by the esports program created an intimate setting for the live performances. A green screen for various skits and promotional videos occupied one side of the room, while the other side displayed audio mixing and lighting boards and a broadcast control room built by Zulla that was once a storage closet.
“I was super pumped when I found out Andy was going to do this,” commercial music freshman Jackson Cox said. “It is such an awesome opportunity, not only for the performers, but the students working on the audio-visual side of it. They get great hands-on experience.”
Sophomore Shae Dale added, “Andy asked us to be in the show before the stage was event built, so it was just an idea brewing at the time. We got back from spring break and the stage was there. That’s when it hit me this is really happening.”
Cox’s newly formed band, Canyon Avenue, wowed the audience with its four indie-rock original songs. After meeting in their dorm, Canyon Hall, at the start of the academic year, Cox and freshmen Jordan Woods and Sawyer Balcombe formed their band over their mutual love for music and named themselves based off the place that brought them together.
Loud claps and cheers encouraged the performers and made Dale even more excited to step on stage after Canyon Avenue. Her bright pink hair wasn’t the only thing that captivated the audience once Dale began strumming and harmonizing the chords to her new single, “Stupid Song.”
“I think this is so special because there is so much talent around us,” film production senior Madison Peters said. “Sometimes we forget about all this talent because we don’t always have the stage to showcase it. This event really shows everything people have been working so hard for.”
Peters connected all the segments together as the show’s host, emphasizing the interdisciplinary unity of the departments Zulla envisioned. The show set a harmonious tone for the future, rooted in creative collaboration.
Transitional segments showed off student-produced films originally showcased in the fall GCU Film Showcase, contemporary music and dance videos, followed by a live dance number and an esports comedic promotional skit.
“Like most of Andy’s ideas, I loved this,” Detweiler said. “I thought, why not? There is so much talent here on campus that to have a new venue to showcase their talents and abilities, I am all for it.”
The evening was livestreamed on new streaming platform CAM PLAY, incorporating design program efforts and allowing anyone who isn't on campus to see the show in person to experience it through the internet.
The event ended in thankful chants of “Andy, Andy, Andy!” as students surrounded Zulla in a celebratory huddle on stage.
GCU staff writer Izabela Fogarasi can be reached at Izabela.Fogarasi@gcu.edu
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Watch "Thursday Night Live" here.
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