By Greg Hardesty, contributing writer
Jon Bruschke knew he was onto something big when he overheard his 16-year-old daughter, Andromeda, singing at home.
But she wasn’t belting out a tune by one of her favorites, Taylor Swift.
Rather, the Fullerton Union High School student was singing a song from her father’s first musical, “Change the Game,” staged Jan. 5-6 at the Laguna Beach Cultural Arts Center and being shopped around for potential performances at other venues.
Bruschke is a professor and speech and debate coach at CSUF, so a musical isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when guessing a pet project of his.
But Bruschke, who’s been playing the keyboards and writing songs since he was 18 years old, is a member of the “three-chord rock band” True to the Universe, a longtime fixture on Orange County’s live music scene.
So, tunes are in his blood.
And Bruschke’s multicultural and high-achieving speech and debate team at CSUF was the inspiration of “Change the Game,” a story about grassroots empowerment, local politics, a patchwork community of young adults from different ethnic backgrounds, and with the message that maybe it’s not how to win, but rather how to change the game.
As for Andromeda singing her father’s original songs?
She’s one of the 14 members of the cast of “Change the Game,” many of whom are CSUF alumni or current students.
Andromeda, who has been dancing since age 3 and sings and acts, plays a student/reporter and is one of five members of a quasi-chorus who perform in the musical.
The plot
The plot centers on students at the fictional Cal State San Marita who convince their political philosophy professor to take on big-money developers and run for local office. It’s a story of underdogs who take on the system by coming together to make a difference in the world by changing their community.
“They succeed not by beating people at their own game but by changing what the game is about,” said…
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