“Edges,” October 30 through November 2

Thursday, October 30, through Sunday, November 2

Augustana College's Hinkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre, 3750 Seventh Avenue, Rock Island IL

With the Los Angeles Times hailing the "funny, earnest, and instantly likable" repertoire and Everything Theatre deeming the show "a great song cycle," the musical revue Edges opens Augustana College's 2025-26 theatre season with an October 30 through November 2 run. With performances held in the Brunner Theatre Center's Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre, this student-produced stage piece an early triumph for its composing team of EGOT recipients Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Written by Pasek and Paul during their sophomore year at the University of Michigan, Edges is a song cycle about four burgeoning adults asking classic coming-of-age questions. This charming, witty, and honest examination of adulthood explores what happens when we are teetering on the edges of our lives. The songs cover such universal issues as love, commitment, identity, and meaning, while the show's characters deal with confronting emotions, escaping expectations, and deciphering complicated relationships.

Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are among the most acclaimed songwriters of their generation, seamlessly shifting between pop music, musical theatre, film, stage, and television as composers, lyricists, and producers. They are best known for their Oscar, Grammy, and Tony-winning work on La La Land, The Greatest Showman, and Dear Evan Hansen, each of which spawned albums that landed in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200, including multiple weeks at number one for The Greatest Showman, which in 2018 was the world’s best-selling album. In 2024, Pasek and Paul joined a rarefied list of artists by achieving EGOT status with their first Emmy Award win for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the song “Which of the Pickwick Triplets Did It,” co-written with Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, for Hulu’s musical-themed third season of Only Murders in the Building. In total, Benj and Justin have each won two Tonys, two Grammys, two Emmys, and an Oscar across six distinct projects, including their most recent 2025 Children’s and Family Emmy Award for writing Sesame Street’s heartwarming anthem “That’s Why We Love Nature,” performed by Brandi Carlile.

Serving as director and choreographer for Edges is Augustana senior Kaden Micklos, who area stage work includes roles in the college's The Prom and Cabaret, as well as in Ordinary Days and Songs for a New World at Moline's Black Box Theatre. With DJ Roberts acting as assistant director, Olivia Jones as music director, and Phoenix Martin as stage manager, additional members of Micklos' creative team include: assistant stage manager Linnea Strack; assistant choreographer Danielle Allaway ; costume designer Arler Ohmiller; assistant costume designer Teague Mayer; hair and makeup designer V Bechtel; lighting designer Luca Colburn; assistant lighting designer Emily Caruana; props designer Rylon Hall; assistant props designer Linh Vo; audio engineer Cora Polderman; scenic charge Elijah Morton; light board operator Ruby Tolnai; deck crew Molly McArdle; marketing master Lydia Benesh; and graphic designer Sarah Welker.

Fourteen gifted Augustana students, meanwhile, compose the Edges ensemble, with the cast featuring (in order of appearance): Reid Miller; Brennan Hampton; Carter Denton; Sylvia Hughes; Fiona Brady; Maya Cronfel; Austin O'Connor; Dev Reed; V Bechtel; Maddy Overstreet; Jili Jones; Jensen Stoneking; Abby Malina; and Ella Conrad.

Edges runs in the Honkamp Myhre Black Box Theatre of Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center October 30 through November 2, with performances Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Admission is $5-10, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)794-7306 and visiting Augustana.edu/tickets.