Professional Theater News from Around Town:
Shakespeare, via The Theatre Ensemble, receives MCACA grant
ROCHESTER – The Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs awarded the Theatre Ensemble at Meadow Brook Theatre a $14,200 grant earmarked for the student outreach program of the theatre's production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," running March 21- April 15. The Theatre Ensemble was one of nearly 400 applicants competing for 2007 funding. A portion of the grant award is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.
"The award will allow us to add five extra student performances," said John Manfredi, managing director of The Theatre Ensemble. "That's the potential of reaching 3,000 students with this production."
The grant requires the Theatre Ensemble to match the award dollar for dollar with funds generated by public and private support, including the theatre's Dime-a-Day campaign.
"We even have a lot of our own employees participating in Dime-a Day," said Sara Dean, the company's PR supervisor. "$36.50 may not seem like a lot of money, but it counts as double when it is a matching dollar."
Award-winning playwright/director Gillian Eaton has adapted a 12-person version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" that is being created as a dual purpose outreach and main stage production. The adaptation is an extraordinary high energy variation on Shakespeare's classic tale of murder, madness and mayhem.
Meadow Brook Theatre is a non-profit cultural institution serving southeast Michigan for over 40 years.
For more information on productions at the theater or for information on The Theatre Ensemble, please visit http://www.mbtheatre.com.
Detroit's Fisher Theatre now participates inTicketmaster Ticketexchange
DETROIT – Detroit's Fisher Theatre is now a participant of Ticketmaster TicketExchange, an online service that offers a legitimate and secure forum for buying and selling tickets to entertainment and sports events.
"TicketExchange will give our patrons who have unavoidably found themselves unable to attend an event – for whatever reason – the opportunity to sell their tickets," said Alan Lichtenstein, Fisher Theatre executive director. "We've also had some very hot selling shows this past year, and this service will assist people in obtaining tickets to some of our sell-out performances."
Consumers are guaranteed a safe and secure resale ticket forum, legitimate tickets with exact seat locations, management of all ticket activity via a personal account, access to listings and delivery via TicketFast or UPS.
Buyers and sellers can access TicketExchange online at http://www.ticketmaster.com. Flash tutorials and detailed FAQs provide instructions to consumers on how to buy and sell tickets.
The Fisher Theatre TicketExchange program is restricted to full price tickets purchased at the Fisher Theatre box office and Ticketmaster outlets, by phone or via the Internet. It is not applicable to season tickets, pre-sale tickets or discount tickets.
For more information about TicketExchange, please visit http://www.ticketmaster.com/ticketexchangehome.
For information about upcoming Fisher Theatre attractions, please call 313-832-1000 or visit http://www.broadwayindetroit.com.
From Our Hallowed Halls of Learning:
OU thespians shine in regional competition
ROCHESTER HILLS – A talented group of Oakland University Theatre program students earned recognition at this year's Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival conference, held January 12 and 13 in the studio theatre of Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee.
The student-written and student-directed "Knick Knack" played three shows to enthusiastic audiences, and 10 theater majors presented scenes with partners in the Irene Ryan Scholarship competition. Senior Alicia Psciuk, with partner P. J. Vasquez, advanced through the semi-finals into the finals and received a scholarship to study at Second City in Chicago.
Also during the conference, costume designer Christa Koerner advanced to the finals in the Barbizon Awards for Theatrical Excellence for her work on "The Cripple of Inishmaan" presented at the Varner Studio Theatre last fall. Sophomores Bobby Glowacki and Andrew Wilhelm placed second in the Tech Olympics, winning a lighting instrument.
Ttari Hellmer, nominated for her direction of last fall's "Twisted Tales," took third place honors among the directors participating in the Ten Minute Play competition.
With 43 students participating, Oakland University sent the second largest group to the event, which included workshops, live performances and networking among students and faculty from the five-state region. The student organization Actors 'N' Techies raised money throughout the year to support their attendance.
Faculty participation was also at a high level during this event. Associate Professor and Theatre Program Director Kerro Knox 3 is co-vice chair of Region III, and as part of those duties ran the Irene Ryan competition.
Assistant Professor Fred Love, accompanist for the OU singers, also stepped in at the last minute to assist singers from schools all over the region. Love, as well as colleagues Karen Sheridan and Pablo Bosyy, presented workshops that were well attended and well received.
For information regarding Oakland University's Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, log on to http://www.oakland.edu/mtd.
MSU presents American university premiere of 'If Anything is Sacred"
EAST LANSING – The MSU Department of Theatre will present the American university premiere of "If Anything is Sacred," a searing testimonial drama by Fermin Cabal addressing life and death during the regime of the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, from Jan. 30 – Feb. 4. Frank C. Rutledge, professor of theatre, will direct this play by one of Spain's leading playwrights.
Cabal's evocative play traces the life of a young woman who vanished one night in Santiago, one of the thousands of "disappeared." With a cast of five women, the play gives witness to the dictator's regime through the vivid accounts of the people involved: a victim, an informer, a doctor, a gravedigger, and a lawyer for Pinochet.
The play gives voice to pertinent issues in women's rights, drawing attention to the common problem of violence against women in countries with vastly different cultural values.
Performances will be held in the Arena Theatre (lower level of the Auditorium Building, Farm Lane) on Tuesday, Jan. 30, at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 3, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 4, at 2 p.m.
The performance on Thursday, Feb. 1 will be a benefit for the MSU student chapter of Amnesty International. Donations will be taken at the door. A panel discussion of the issues raised by the play, including violence, torture, justice, women's rights, and human rights abuses in Central and South America, will take place following the performance.
Tickets ($10 general public; $6 MSU students/faculty/staff) will be available at the door one hour before performances.
'Lobby hero' at WSU's Studio Theatre
DETROIT – The Wayne State University Department of Theatre's Ph.D. Directors' Series continues its 06-07 season with "Lobby Hero" by Kenneth Lonergan at the Studio Theatre (located downstairs from the Hilberry Theatre on the corner of Cass and Hancock) at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 1. The production runs through Feb. 10.
Jeff spends his nights sitting at the front desk of a lobby in a high-rise apartment building. As the night security guard, he is harassed by his boss, William, for "not having it together." Jeff doesn't have the job he wants and he doesn't even have his own apartment, but he does have a crush on a local female police officer who often stops in on his shift. After William divulges a potentially shattering secret regarding his brother's pending arrest, Jeff is faced with a moral dilemma concerning the law, duty, reliability and hormones. This entertaining comedy puts the most unlikely of people in the position to become a hero.
The Studio Theatre is an intimate, 110-seat "black box" theater. "Black box" theaters, which were made popular during the 1960s and '70s, are generally smaller, simpler stages built to focus more on the human aspect of intimate storytelling and are considered by some to be a more "pure" form of theaete than you may see on a Broadway stage. Due to the limited seating, tickets will sell fast; however, every seat in the theatre puts you right in the face of the comedy and drama of the show, with no seat further away from the stage than four rows.
Directed by Ph.D. candidate Matt Foss, the cast includes: junior Jeremy Kucharek as Jeff, freshman Christopher L. Tucker as William, senior Kenny Konaszewski as Bill and senior Kristen Pickthall as Dawn.
Designers for "Lobby Hero" include senior Cory Johnson as scenic designer, sophomore Leah Karper as costume designer, freshman Bobby Tacoma as lighting designer and sophomore Heather DeFauw as sound designer.
Ticket prices range from $8 – $10. Discount tickets are available to all students, senior citizens age 62 and up and WSU faculty, staff and Alumni Association members.
For tickets and further information, please call 313-577-2972 or visit the Wayne State University box office at 4743 Cass on the corner of Cass and Hancock. Performance information may also be obtained by visiting the company's website at http://www.theatre.wayne.edu.
MSU announces next Fringe Event: Guillermo Gomez-Pena
EAST LANSING – Michigan State University is pleased to present the second annual MSU Fringe Event's "Art on the Edge and Beyond" taking place in Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre, Eli Broad Business College Auditorium and at the Creole Gallery, in Old Town Lansing, throughout 2007. This program of live visual performance art and lectures is a platform for the work of established and emerging artists committed to innovative approaches to the visual and performing arts. Each artist blends their unique cultural perspective into their work challenging viewers to examine their own perceptions about art and culture.
The MSU Fringe Event is a series of events on separate dates providing an incredible and insatiable center for inspiration and creative thought.
"Art On The Edge And Beyond" is a colloquium of visiting artists/scholars and is generously supported by the Minority Faculty and Creating Inclusive Excellence Funding Programs from the Office of the Provost Michigan State University, Wharton Center for the Performing Arts, MSU's College of Arts and Letters, MSU's Department of Art and Art History and the Marlio Endowment, with support from the National Performance Network for Guillermo Gomez-Pena.
Next in the series of performers, artists and scholars to be part of the 2nd Annual MSU Fringe Events is acclaimed Mexican performance artist and writer Guillermo Gomez-Pena who explores border culture and trans-cultural identity. He explores cross-cultural issues with the use of performance, multilingual poetry, journalism, video, radio and installation art. His performance work and critical writings have helped develop debates on cultural diversity, identity, and US-Mexico relations. He uses his art and writing to reveal the labyrinths of identity and the precipices of nationality.
On Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. he will speak about his work at the Creole Gallery. On Sunday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. he will present a new multi-media performance entitled "MapaCorpo: Therapis Violentis VJ Mix" at Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre.
"Mapa-Corpo: therapis Violentis VJ Mix" is a National Performance Network Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Highways Performance Space in partnership with Michigan State University/Department of Art and Art History and the National Performance Network. NPN and the NPN Creation Fund are sponsored by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, Nathan Cumming Foundation, Altria and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The National Performance Network is a group of cultural organizers and artists facilitating the practice and public experience of the performing arts in the United States. The NPN serves artists, arts organizers and a broad range of audiences and communities across the country through commission, residencies, cultural-centered community projects and other artistic activities. For more information about the NPN, log on to http://www.npnweb.org.
For tickets or other information, call The Wharton Center box office at 517-432-2000, or check out Wharton on the web at http://www.whartoncenter.com.
Theater for Young Audiences:
The Whiting and FYT present 'Seussical'
FLINT – The Whiting is proud to co-present "Seussical" with Flint Youth Theatre as part of the Razzle Dazzle Family Series on Friday, Feb. 2 at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.
"Oh, the thinks you can think" when Dr. Seuss's best-loved stories and characters collide in an unforgettable musical caper presented by TheatreworksUSA. With The Cat in the Hat as the host and emcee (and all-around mischief-maker) this romp through the Seuss classics is a must-see for fans of all ages.
Adapted from the Broadway version, this adaptation features 13 actors and enhanced production values made especially for young audiences. "Seussical" is TheatreworksUSA's biggest show ever!
Plus, complete your evening with a zany, fun for all ages all-you-can-eat "Seussical Supper." The 5:45pm supper time means you can choose to eat after the 4:30 p.m. performance or before the 7 p.m. performance of "Seussical." The "Seussical Supper" will take place at Sarvis Conference Center adjacent to The Whiting. The all-inclusive price includes the supper buffet, refreshments, gratuity and a ticket to the performance of your choice. For reservations, please call 810-237-7333 by the morning of the event. Sorry, tickets for this event are not available at the door and are not eligible for discounts.
Ticket prices are $18 for adults and $16 for children 12 and under.
Tickets are available by phone at 810-237-7333 or online at http://www.thewhiting.com.
Community Theatre Corner:
Lansing theater sheds light on Iraq War
LANSING – The Peppermint Creek Theatre Company trumpets in 2007 with its third show of its season, "Exquisite Contradictions", with "9 Parts of Desire" by Okemos native Heather Raffo.
In this daring and original play, we are introduced to a portrait of the extraordinary – and ordinary – lives of a whole cross-section of Iraqi women. This one-woman show lifts the veil on exactly what it means to be a woman in the age-old war zone that is Iraq.
Playwright Raffo, who is part American and Iraqi, interviewed hundreds of Iraqi woman for more than seven years, which became the basis for her play. "9 Parts of Desire" is a work so compassionate, so heartbreaking, so soul-shatteringly human, that it promises to change forever the way you'll think about the women (indeed, the people) of the Middleast.
Starring Chicago actress and MSU alumni Melissa Kuhlmann, "9 Parts of Desire" runs Feb. 1 – 4 & 8 – 10. All shows will be performed at 110 Charles Street in downtown East Lansing (next to Giorgio's Pizza and Secretary of State).
Show times are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and the first Sunday at 2 p.m.
Tickets are $15 ($8 for students).
For more information and to order tickets, call 517-719-3887 or visit http://www.peppermintcreek.org.
