Faculty member wins Emmy!

Emmy® Award Winner:
Affliate Theatre Faculty member, T. Mychael Rambo, narrated a series of one minute video spots honoring Minnesotans who have worked to protect and restore our natural landscape called "Minnesota Minute". Produced by TPT/KTCA - Twin Cities Public Televison and the University of Minnesota Bell Museum, the thirteen PSAs received an Emmy® from the National Television Academy's Upper Midwest Chapter in the Community/Public Service Campaign category.

Peace Crimes Documentary Nominated for Emmy Award

"Peace Crimes - The Minnesota 8," a program produced in partnership among Twin Cities Public Television, the U of M Department of Theatre Arts and Dance and The History Theatre of Saint Paul, has been nominated for a prestigious regional Emmy Award™.

"It's a testimony to the talents of TPT staffers as producer, as well as to the quality of the story being told, and the importance of the contributions of all the partners involved," said Sherry Wagner-Henry, Managing Director of University Theatre. University Theatre is the production arm of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, and one of the collaborators on the "Peace Crimes" play and documentary project. Many folks may recall the co-production University Theatre hosted this spring on campus with the History Theatre of St. Paul on a "real story" play about the Minnesota 8, which centered around former U students who were sent to prison for their protest of the Vietnam War. Seven of the eight men were on hand for the construction of the play and documentary of the process of the play. The play titled "Peace Crimes--The Minnesota 8 vs. the War" premiered on Feb. 21, 2008 at the Rarig Center on the West Bank campus, and the documentary aired on TPT the following evening. A grant from the U of M McKnight Arts and Humanities Fund sponsored the documentary project.

The Emmy Awards™ ceremony will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis where the final award winners will be announced October 25th.

The program continues to be broadcast and is being aired statewide in September on the digital Minnesota Channel, over the air or on cable:

Saturday, 9/27, 7pm
Sunday, 9/28, 1am
Sunday, 9/28, 7am
Sunday, 9/28, 1pm

Upcoming Season Auditions

AUDITIONS FOR THE UNIVERSITY THEATRE SUBSCRIBER SERIES
FALL & SPRING SEMESTERS
(sent out August 28, 2008 on TheatreList with updates September 4, 2008)

Please read the following carefully:

FALL SEMESTER PRODUCTIONS:

WOYZECK PROJECT AUDITIONS
WOYZECK will audition Wednesday and Thursday, September 3 and 4, from 7-10 in Norris Gym on the East Bank where the production will be performed. From 7:00-8:00 there will be group movement auditions with Carl Flink. At 8:00 there will be interview and exercises with Luverne Seifert and Michael Sommers. Sign-up sheets for each night are posted.

Using Buchner's play WOYZECK as a springboard for themes, images, and gesture and per formative events, participants will propose, construct, and perform in a world in which the audience becomes the voyeurs. The forms of peep show, diorama, tableau vivant, The Fun House, installation, shadow, the museum and site-specific all become possibilities. The work will culminate in movement/dance created by the cast and Carl Flink. The participants will create their own event from the initial idea, the construction of all elements, space, object, scenography, sound and light, through the performance. These events may range from 30 seconds to three hours in duration. Rehearsals will be structured according to participation.

Performance dates: October 10-18. 3100 credit is available. Rehearsals
Monday-Thursday 7-10.

TWO COWARDS IN REP: HAY FEVER AND PRESENT LAUGHTER AUDITIONS
Although HAY FEVER and PRESENT LAUGHTER are designated as Senior BFA shows in rep, there are additional casting opportunities. All roles to be cast are speaking roles. All current students as welcome and encouraged to audition on Saturday afternoon, September 6 from noon to 3:00 p.m. in the Thrust. Sign-up sheets for these auditions will be posted on the Production Notices Bulletin Boards in the basement of Rarig.

Performances: November 14-23.

Students should prepare a short comic monologue with heightened language. Please bring a resume with you. The roles available in PRESENT LAUGHTER are Fred, Miss Erickson, and Lady Saltburn. The sides for these roles in will be posted near the signup sheet. You should pick the role for which you would like to read. HAY FEVER will have two female roles available to be determined during the Saturday audition process. You may be asked to read one of those sides at the audition. Please plan to stay after your audition.

As a reminder, in professional auditions in the US it is advisable to use an RP or other basic British dialect when the script is in those dialects (Shaw, Coward, Wilde, A Christmas Carol, Pinter, etc.).

XPERIMENTAL THEATRE SEASON AUDITIONS
The Xperimental season will audition its fall productions Monday and Tuesday, September 8 and 9, with Callbacks Wednesday September 10 for fall productions only. DIVERSE VOICES will audition during these dates also. See separate postings.

Two opportunities to participate in 4380 creative collaboration projects are available this semester. Section (1) will be production of BACCHAE working with Assistant Professor Dominic Taylor. Auditions will be held September 9 in Studio A. Section (2) will be a production of GILGAMESH working with Assistant Professor Lisa Channer. A group audition will be held Thursday, September 11. Further information on both these projects will be posted separately.

SPRING SEMESTER PRODUCTIONS:

The University Theatre will be auditioning both NIGHT TRAIN TO BOLINA and A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY on Wednesday through Friday evenings, November 5-7. Individual production callbacks for A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY will be held Saturday, November November 8; individual production callbacks for NIGHT TRAIN will be held Saturday, November November 15. Casting for both productions will be posted November 17.

NIGHT TRAIN TO BOLINA by Nilo Cruz will be directed by Dominic Taylor, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance, in the Arena. Rehearsals will start January 20 though there may be some read-through rehearsals in late fall semester. Performance dates are Feb 27-March 7. Clara and Mateo, young, poor and powerless in an adult world, confront life with intelligence, passion and eloquence in a lyrical portrayal by Nilo Cruz in Night Train to Bolina -- a haunting tale of the dispossessed of the earth in which two poor Latin American children's spirits soar like kites as they run away to an invented place called Bolina. Roles for 5 actors (typically 3 women and 2 men, which could change depending on talent pool).

A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY by Tony Kushner will be directed by Lisa Channer, Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts and Dance, in the Thrust. Rehearsals will start February 23. Performance dates are April 17-25.

Set in two opposing viewpoints of early 1930s Berlin and Long Island in the 1980s, Kushner relates the concerns of Agnes Eggling, a middle-aged actress in pre-Nazi Berlin, to those of Zillah, a young woman frustrated with the governing Republican Party led by Ronald Regan and determined to move to Berlin. Based on Bertolt Brecht's The Private Life of the Master Race, Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner examines the rise of two political parties to power in two different eras. A Bright Room Called Day is produced as a part of the 2009 Kushner Celebration presented by the Guthrie Theater. Roles for between 5 and 6 women and between 5 and 6 men.

Sign-up sheets for the general auditions will be posted on the Production Notices Bulletin Boards in the basement of Rarig. For these auditions, please prepare two contrasting pieces: one dramatic and one comic, one of which should be non-realistic. Time limit of 3 minutes or less per audition will be strictly enforced. It is strongly suggested that you read the plays before auditioning.

NOTE the following spring conflicts:
- NIGHT Train conflicts with UDT, the X production of SHADOWS/WILL TALKING in spring semester and possibly THE ODYESSY.
- BRIGHT ROOM conflicts with the X production of THE ODYESSY in spring, and possibly SHADOWS/WILL TALKING.
- Neither production conflicts with the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.

U of M's Rarig Center hosts MN Fringe Festival

The Department of Theatre Arts & Dance's own Rarig Center is one of the host venues for the 2008 Minnesota Fringe Festival. All four of its theatre spaces (thrust, proscenium, arena, black box) will be used to host events throughout the festival, which takes place July 31st – August 10th. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.fringefestival.org.

The Count of Monte Cristo opens the 50th Anniversary Showboat Season

The Minnesota Centennial Showboat began its summer-long run of "The Count of Monte Cristo" on Friday, June 13th. Please visit showboat.umn.edu to learn more about the 50th anniversary celebration of our favorite floating theatre. Please also view our "Finding Minnesota" segment produced by Jeanette Trompeter of WCCO-TV.

2008 issue of Applause posted

The 2008 edition of the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance's annual publication Applause is now online. Visit our alumni page at theatre.umn.edu/alumni to download it in PDF format.

U of M/Guthrie BFA Actors Shine in Midsummer and New Plays

University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program students and alumni are shining on the Guthrie's stages this spring. Through April 27th, see the current Senior Company of the program perform its annual New Plays Series. Well into June, get your tickets early to see several BFA Acting alumni in the popular A Midsummer Night's Dream. Take a look at guthrietheater.org for more information about both of these events, and to see interviews with Midsummer cast members. A preview story and wonderful video about Midsummer also appears at StarTribune.com

For more information about the U of M/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, visit theatre.umn.edu.

U of M and Related Theatre Openings April 11

April is a big month for U of M Theatre events:

University Theatre & Dance presents "The Wiz" April 11-19 at Rarig Center. Directed by Dominic Taylor, this new spin on a classic brings the Emerald City to the U of M campus, and Dorothy is a college student, who needs to find her way through the college experience. More on "The Wiz" at theatre.umn.edu/thewiz.

Also, the Senior Company of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Traning Program opens its "New Plays" at the Guthrie Theater April 11-27. See three new, challenging works performed by the Twin Cities next wave of acting talent. For more information, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

Plus, U of M theatre alumni Charles Nolte and Shirley Venard, along with Bill Semans, star in "Exit Strategies" at the Mixed Blood Theatre. With the slogan "You're never too old. NEVER." this show provides a unique perspective on aging. It runs now through May 4th. For more information, visit www.exitstrategytheplay.com .

Be sure to check out all of the amazing events happening in the West Bank Arts Quarter, and sign up for email updates at www.artsquarter.umn.edu.

"The Wiz" rehearsal blog is unveiled

The University Theatre has unveiled its new "rehearsal blog," which allows anyone to get a behind the scenes glimpse of the rehearsal process leading up to our April 11-19 subscriber series production of "The Wiz." Link to the blog and learn more about this musical production — where Oz is turned into a university campus — at www.theatre.umn.edu/thewiz

Watch the "Peace Crimes Backstage" video documentary

Please take some time to watch "Peace Crimes Backstage," a recent production by Twin Cities Public Television about the Minnesota Eight and how they influenced the world-premiere production of "Peace Crimes." "Peace Crimes" was presented February 22 - March 9 at Rarig Center by the History Theatre and the University of Minnesota Theatre.

Media Mill Video

Peace Crimes Press

"Peace Crimes: The Minnesota Eight vs. The War," which previews Thursday and opens on Friday, Feb. 22nd is hot in the press. Read about this exciting collaboration between the University of Minnesota Theatre and History Theatre:

MinnPost.com: http://www.minnpost.com/stories/2008/02/21/942/peace_crimes_tells_minnesota_8s_war_story

Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/onstage/15842477.html

Minnesota Monthly
http://www.minnesotamonthly.com/media/Minnesota-Monthly/February-2008/Patriot-Acts/

City Pages
http://articles.citypages.com/2008-02-20/calendar/peace-crimes-the-minnesota-eight-vs-the-war/

Minnesota Daily
http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2008/02/21/72165692

"Peace Crimes Backstage" to air on TPT

Twin Cities Public Television has produced a half-hour backstage special that tells the story of the Minnesota 8, as seen through the eyes of the playwright, director and actors of "Peace Crimes," as well as through interviews with some of the original participants. The program premieres on Saturday, February 23 at 8:00 pm on TPT Channel 17. Check tpt.org for additional broadcast times.