In his recent MinnPost article, writer Ed Huyck named the Ten Thousand Things Theater's production of Othello his favorite show of 2009. Luverne Seifert, BA Theatre Performance Program Head, played Iago.
For more information, check out the full article at MinnPost.com.
For more information about the Ten Thousand Things Theater Company.
Ruben Rosario's article T. Mychael Rambo knows life is but an unfinished symphony, features the journey of Affiliate Faculty Member T. Mychael Rambo, one of the best-known actors and performers in the Twin Cities theater circuit.
Check out the full article: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_14030518.
The Ordway's production of Beauty and the Beast features choreography by Affiliate Faculty Member Linda Talcott Lee. For more information, check out Rohan Preston's article, The 'Beauty' part.
In Lavender Magazine's Year in Review, Department Chair Carl Flink was named Best Choreographer for his work in The Jungle Theater's production of Mary's Wedding. Associate Professor Lou Bellamy was named Best Director for his productions of A Raisin in the Sun, The Whipping Man, and Radio Golf at Penumbra Theatre. Bellamy was also named one of the Theater Artists of the Decade.
The Guthrie Theater's annual production of A Christmas Carol features numerous U of M faculty and alumni. Included in the Artistic Staff are Assistant Professor Marcus Dilliard and Voice and Speech Coaches Elisa Carlson and Lucinda Holshue. The cast includes alumni Peter Michael Goetz as Ebenezer Scrooge, Laura Esping as Mrs. Cratchit, and John Skelley as Young Scrooge, Mr. Grub, Topper. It also features current U of M/Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program students Elizabeth Pryce Davies as Marigold Fezziwig, Sophia and Prentiss Standridge as Belle.
Associate Professor Lisa Channer will be giving a lecture/demonstration on Meyerhold and Biomechanics on Friday, December 11 at 3:30pm at the Institute for Advanced Study in Nolte Center. It is part of her research collaborative on Embodying Gilgamesh: Staging Ancientness, and will include a demonstration of Biomechanics by members of Theatre Novi Most (including several University faculty and associates)
Please see flier for more information:
12-1.11.09-Biomechanics.pdf
Scripted by Associate Professor Lou Bellamy and Affiliate Acting Faculty T. Mychael Rambo, directed by Associate Professor Dominic Taylor, sound and video design by Associate Professor Martin Gwinup, and featuring Affiliate Dance Faculty Marciano Silva Dos Santos, Penumbra's annual holiday production, Black Nativity, features numerous U of M Theatre Arts and Dance faculty members. Alumni have also played a role in the production's creation. MFA alum Kalere Payton is the Assistant Costume Designer and BA alum Steve Horstmann is the production's Properties Master.
For more information about the production:
'Black Nativity' jazzed up but stays true - Rohan Preston, Star Tribune
'Black Nativity': familiar and fine - Dominic Papatola, Pioneer Press
Finding Minnesota: Penumbra's 'Black Nativity' - Angela Davis
Penumbra's Black Nativity uplifts and perseveres - Quinton Skinner
Open Eye Figure Theatre presents its annual Holiday Pageant Wednesday, December 2, 2009 - Wednesday, December 23, 2009. According to Jay Gabler, the pageant began 24 years ago just a few blocks from Open Eye's storefront theater, in the living room of company founders U of M Theatre Arts and Dance Assistant Professor Michael Sommers and Susan Haas. In recent years, the show has happened only once annually, at the Pantages Theatre. However, this year, Open Eye is staging a three-week run in its own space.
For more information about the production check out the rest of Gabler's article, Open Eye Figure Theatre's Holiday Pageant gets cozier, darker in the Twin Cities Daily Planet, Dominic Papatola's article, Whimsical 'Holiday Pageant' gives you a cookie, too, or visit the Open Eye Figure Theatre website.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Diyah Larasati for having received a very prestigious International Collaborative Work Grant: Asia Award sponsored by the Asian Scholarship Foundation.
It's time for the...
WICKEDLY WILD AND WAY OUT WORKSHOP WEEK #5: JANUARY 11-15, 2010
WHAT IS IT?? This is a week of free workshops given by artists who have never taught at the University or have not taught a class in a particular area.
WHO LEADS THE WORKSHOPS?? You may have met them, you may have not. They may teach improv or monologues or dialects. We can't give away our hand just yet.
However, to whet the appetite, Peter Van Heerden, a South African Performance Artist, will be doing an intensive--one workshop everyday that week!
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THESE WORKSHOPS?? If you are a student in BA or BFA Theatre/Dance you may sign-up for the workshops. However, if you sign-up for the workshop, it is essential that you attend. Please don't take a space and then not show up. It is very unfair to students who can't attend because the workshop has been filled.
And some may remember from last year...THE IRON 10
This is a group of 10 students who would like to take all of the workshops (a total of 15, 3-hour workshops in a week) who would sign-up to do so and would have priority in all of the sections. However, you choose to be one of these students, you MUST show up for all of the workshops! If you're ready, if you've steeled yourself for this commitment...the Iron 10 Sign Up will be on the Callboard.
KEEP YOUR EYES TO THE CALLBOARD FOR UPCOMING COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
AND SIGN-UP SHEETS!
DON'T MISS THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!
MINNESOTA CENTENNIAL SHOWBOAT AUDITIONS 2010
Triumph of Love by Pierre Marivaux
Directed by Peter Rothstein
Auditions for the Minnesota Centennial Showboat will be held
Monday, December 7, 2009 (7p-11p) and
Tuesday, December 8, 2009 (7p-11p)
with callbacks
Sunday, January 17, 2010 (6p-10p).
Specific information and sign-up sheets for audition times will be posted on the Rarig Production Notices Bulletin boards (lower level of Rarig Center by tunnel entrance). Auditions and callbacks for the Showboat Company will be held in Studio A, (506 Rarig)
Triumph of Love is being directed by Peter Rothstein, Musical Direction by Denise Prosek.
Peter Rothstein is the Founding Artistic Director of Theater Latté Da and was named one of the Star Tribune's Minnesota Artists of the Year. Other directing credits include the Guthrie Theater, the Children's Theatre Company, the Playwrights' Center, the Illusion Theater, Ten Thousand Things and the Minnesota Opera. He has been awarded grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Theater Communications Group, the McKnight Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. www.Peter-Rothstein.com
Denise Prosek, Resident Music Director of Theater Latté Da, has music directed over fifty main stage productions and numerous private cabarets throughout the Twin Cities theater community. An accomplished pianist as well, Denise has performed at the Guthrie, Ordway, Children's Theatre Company, Chanhassen, Mixed Blood, and Theater Mu. She most recently served as Music Director for the IVEY Awards and for Hennepin Theatre Trust's Spotlight Awards. Denise was honored as Outstanding Musical Director by the Star Tribune in 2006 for Gypsy and in 2008 for Parade.
For auditions you should prepare two short pieces, one classical and one comedic. At least one piece should deal with heightened text (Wilde, Moliere, Coward, Pinero, Shaw, Shakespeare, etc.). Although two prepared pieces are requested you may only be asked to perform one of them; that is not a reflection of your audition, it is a matter of time. In addition, you should prepare to sing a song accompanied by piano. You will be asked to sing 32 bars, but be prepared to sing the song in its entirety if the whole song is requested. Please bring sheet music with you for the accompanist. Tape accompaniment or singing a cappella is not acceptable.
THE ENTIRE AUDITION MAY NOT EXCEED 4 MINUTES.
Rehearsals are slated to begin Monday April 26th. Rehearsals will employ standard U Theatre rehearsal times until Finals Week is over, when they will shift to a 40-hour rehearsal week. Rehearsals will continue into techs, dress rehearsals and preview performances, with the Showboat season opening on Friday, June 18 and performing Tuesday-Saturday until August 28, 2010.
NOTE: Because these are paid positions, there are further eligibility requirements that must be met in order to be cast in the Showboat Company. These are posted here and will also be available at auditions.
For questions, please contact Christine Swartwout, Production Stage Manager at swart073@umn.edu or Jennie Germain, Communications Coordinator at germa052@umn.edu
Its that time of year again, time to prepare for 24 Hour Theatre! Some of you may ask, well...what is 24 Hour Theatre? If so, we shall tell you:
24 Hour Theatre is a unique theatrical experience in which writers, directors, actors, and designers conceive and perform a piece in a full 24 hours. At 8pm on Friday January 22nd writers arrive. The write all through the night to prepare a 20 minute script. At 8am on Saturday January 23rd, directors arrive, are assigned a show, and meet with the writers about the concept. At 9am on January 23rd actors arrive. They are cast in the shows, and then rehearse all day, memorizing lines, gathering costumes, blocking, etc. Until finally at 8pm (a full 24 hours from the beginning) the shows are performed.
WRITERS AND DIRECTORS: If you wish to apply to be a writer or director, applications are now available on the Xperimental Theatre call board in the basement of Rarig. These applications are due in the X Box outside of the X office by noon on Friday December 4th.
ACTORS: If you wish to act, there is a sign up sheet on the call board as well.
VOLUNTEERS: If none of these things interest you, and you wish to be involved in some other aspect (props, costumes, etc) please email thex@umn.edu to volunteer.
Auditions
Execution of Justice
by Emily Mann
Directed by Dominic Taylor
*Wednesday, December 9, 2009 (7p-11p)*
*Thursday, December 10, 2009 (7p-11p)*
The auditions will be held in Studio A (506 Rarig)
Anyone auditioning should prepare two Contemporary Monologues, (one serious, one comedic). Each monologue should be no longer than two minutes.
Sign-up sheets are located on the Callboard in the lounge (across from the tunnel entrance)
Below are the rehearsal dates and performance:
Rehearsals are February 22-April 15, 2010
Mon.-Fri. 6:30-10:30p
Saturday 12:00-5:00p
No rehearsals during Spring Break (March 14-21, 2010)
· Wednesday, April 7th Crew Watch (6:30-10:30p)
· Thursday, April 8th Tech rehearsal (6:30-10:30p)
· Friday, April 9th Tech rehearsal (6:30-10:30p)
· Saturday, April 10th Tech/Dress Rehearsal*
*(10:00a-10:00p)
· Sunday, April 11th Tech/Dress Rehearsal**
**(10:00a-10:00p)
· Monday, April 12th - NO REHEARSAL
· Tuesday, April 13th Dress Rehearsal (6:00-11:00p)
· Wednesday, April 14th Dress Rehearsal (6:00-11:00p)
· Thursday, April 15th Preview*** (6:00-11:00p)
***Curtain at 7:30p
Performance dates:
Friday, April 16th 8:00p Opening
Saturday, April 17th 8:00p performance
Sunday, April 18th 2:00p Matinee/Photocall after performance
Wednesday, April 21st 7:30p performance
Thursday, April 22nd 7:30p performance
Friday, April 23rd 10:00AM Student Matinee
Friday, April 23rd 8:00p performance
Saturday, April 24th 8:00p Closing performance
If you have any questions, please contact Dominic Taylor at taylo803@umn.edu
We just posted the "Thought Through Motion: Dance Revolutions 09-10 Video" on the department website: http://www.theatre.umn.edu/utheatredance/dancerevolutions.php.
It is also available on our Facebook Fan Page and Youtube Channel.
Enjoy! And don't forget to check out Dance Revolutions running December 11-13, 2009.
Backstage Pass, the weekly newsletter produced by the Peers, is now available online. It can be found on the Current Students Resource Page.
After 15 years of dedicated service to the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, Sherry Wagner-Henry, Managing Director for University Theatre and Dance and the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, has announced that she will be moving in to a new position within the University as the new Director of Graduate Programs in the College of Continuing Education.
A letter from Sherry:
Dear Colleagues, Alumni and Friends:
It has been my extreme pleasure and honor to have been a part of the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at the University for almost 15 years now. I moved to Minneapolis straight out of graduate school in July of 1995 to take over the position of Managing Director for both U Theatre and Dance and the Showboat programs. And while serving as the Managing Director has been a true labor of love, my passion has always been in the educational development and training of the next generation of Arts leaders and managers. That's why I worked with so many of you on internship placements with local and regional companies, advised directed studies and Senior Seminar projects on arts management topics, and worked hard to keep Arts Management curriculum and work opportunities in the box office a part of the department.
Because of my commitment to the further development of Arts leadership and management opportunities, I have accepted the position as the new Director of Graduate Programs in the College of Continuing Education at the University of Minnesota. The position will allow me to help steward the interdisciplinary, inquiry-based Master of Liberal Studies program (which features an arts management emphasis), as well as to help launch the new Arts and Cultural Leadership program, which I helped to develop over the course of the last four years. In addition, I will be working with other units, colleges and the community to not only buoy and grow these programs, but create and launch new collaborative graduate programs, some currently under development and others not even sparked yet. It is a truly challenging and innovative opportunity and I am thrilled to become a part of this forward thinking at the University.
This transition is both exciting and emotional. Whenever you are part of something for this length of time, as I have been, it becomes more than just a job--it becomes an integral part of your life. I have made life-long friendships with faculty, staff and with alumni, whom I continue to remain in contact. I met and married my husband, the technical director in the department for almost 8 years, and we even held our wedding celebration on the Showboat! I have had the opportunity to work on and promote countless productions, projects, workshops, classes and students, many in collaboration with all of you! I owe an enormous debt to this University and this community for allowing me to serve in this capacity and for allowing me to learn so much while I was doing it. I have been truly blessed in this job, but realize that it is time to move on and take on the next big challenge that life has to offer: helping to educate and develop the next generation of Arts Leaders and Managers, who will lift up, steward, and celebrate the next generation of art-makers and producers.
My last official day in the Dept. of Theatre Arts and Dance will be Friday, October 23 and I will start my new position officially on Monday, November 2 over on the St. Paul Campus, which is where the College of Continuing Education is housed. I will operate on a consulting contract with the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance through January 31, in order to execute a smooth transition with current projects, before my replacement is hired and comes on board. My email will remain the same, but I will forward address and phone number information once it becomes available.
While this is certainly an amazing change for me, it is an exciting time for Theatre Arts and Dance as well, as this community contemplates its own set of new opportunities and directions. The Department is always changing, always growing, and being a part of that is something we all can have an impact upon. Take advantage of dept. meetings, town hall forums and volunteer opportunities--all of us are responsible for setting the course for the next 10 years of exciting developments within this department and at this University.
Fifteen years ago, I set out to find an arts management job in MPLS/ST PAUL, because in my estimation, when it came to the arts and education, there was no finer place in the world--my university colleagues, my community partners and my students have all proved that assumption to be overwhelmingly true. I would rather not think of this transition as good-bye, but perhaps as a new conversation that will open doors to unchartered opportunities between my new department and your future endeavors. So here's to a future full of possibilities!
Many kind regards,
Sherry Wagner-Henry
swh@umn.edu
On October 5th Maggie Moulton passed away. She was married to long-time, but now deceased Department of Theatre Arts Professor and iconic figure Robert Moulton. A quiet, but passionate supportor of our department, she established a generous scholarship fund in her husband's name shortly after his passing. She is also the mother of choreographer Charles Moulton who has been a Cowles Guest artist with the dance program in the past.
She will be missed.
A memorial service will be held at St Matthews Episcopal Church, 2136 Carter Ave, St Paul on Saturday Oct 17.
Mrs. Moulton's Official Obituary
Congratulations to Director of Dance Ananya Chatterjea for being named by the Women's Environmental Institute at Amador Hill as "Local Mother of Environmental Justice."
The Institute's mission is:
The Women's Environmental Institute at Amador Hill, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is an environmental research, renewal and retreat center designed to create and share knowledge about environmental issues and policies relevant to women, children and identified communities especially affected by environmental injustices; to promote agricultural justice, organic and sustainable agriculture and ecological awareness; and to support activism that influences public policy and promotes social change.
For more information, check out the Women's Environmental Institute website.
Luverne Seifert, Head of BA in Performance, won an Ivey for playing science-fiction author Philip K. Dick in "The Transmigration of Philip Dick" by Victoria Stewart and produced by Workhaus Theatre Collective. Affiliate faculty member, Sonja Parks, received an Ivey for her solo role as a high-school teacher in Nilaja Sun's "No Child," which was produced at Pillsbury House Theatre. For more information about the Iveys and the award winners, check out Graydon Royce's article in the Star Tribune.
The Dance Program received a 2010 National Endowment for the Arts American Masterpieces: Dance Grant of $15,000 to reconstruct and restage sections of Jawolle Willa Jo Zollar's "Walking With Pearl . . . Southern Diaries." This reconstruction will take place during the 2010-2011 academic year.
For more information, visit the National Endowment for the Arts website.
Mary's Wedding, a dream play set in the World War I era, opens Friday, September 18 at the Jungle Theater. Directed by affiliate faculty member Joel Sass, choreography by Department Chair, Carl Flink, and BFA Acting alum Sam Bardwell, the production features a variety of artistic talent with ties to the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.
The play runs from September 18-October 25. Visit the Jungle Theater's website for more information.
Check out the great articles about the produciton:
ARTSMOSIS, a collaborative arts festival on the west bank of campus will be held on October 9! The event will feature animation, dance, performance art, painting,
photography, music, drama, opera, and more...
Volunteers are needed for: publicity, design, tech (audio/video/theatre), dance, music, costuming, lighting, and logistics.
To sign up, email aqc@umn.edu.
For more information, visit the Arts Quarter Collective website at
www.tc.umn.edu/~aqc/~
Professors Lisa Channer, Michael Sommers, and Marcus Dilliard, have made arrangements to improve our rehearsal/ studio spaces. During the spring, several students and these professors built flats and procured some lights to put into studio A and either room 10 or 20. These additions will make students in directing classes have the ability to utilize lighting and level choices, grant design students simple tools to create stage pictures, and performance students new tools to play with to compliment their physical work.
We need a few volunteers- between 4 and 6- to come in on Friday, September 18 around 3 to help staple on the top covers of the flats and install them. Michael Sommers has even offered to buy pizza for those involved. If you would like to volunteer, e-mail Allison Witham at peers@umn.edu.
Professor Kobialka recently published a new book entitled, Further on, Nothing: Tadeusz Kantor's Theatre (University of Minnesota Press) . Below is a direct link to the Press's catalogue containing a more detailed information about the book--
http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/K/kobialka_further.html
For additional information, the Editor Review from Amazon.com:
Tadeusz Kantor (1915-1990) was one of the twentieth century's most innovative visual artists, stage directors, and theoreticians. His theatre productions and manifestos challenged the conventions of creating art in post-World War II culture and expanded the boundaries of Dada, surrealist, Constructivist, and happening theatre forms. Kantor's most widely known productions--The Dead Class (1975), Wielopole, Wielopole (1980), Let the Artists Die (1985), and Today Is My Birthday (1990)--have had a profound impact on playwrights and artists who continue today to engage with his radical theatre.
In Further on, Nothing, Michal Kobialka explores Kantor's theatre practice from the critical perspective of current debates about representation, memory, and history. He pursues the intriguing proposition that Kantor gave material form to a theatre practice that defined the very mode of postmodern operation and that many of its theoretical notions are still in circulation. According to Kobialka, Kantor's theatre still offers an answer to reality rather than a portrayal of a utopian alternative.
Further on, Nothing includes new translations of Kantor's work, presented in conversation with Kobialka's own theoretical analyses, to show us a Kantor who continues to offer--and deliver on--the promise of the avant-garde.
X Auditions
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf
AND
Ysengrimus
Wednesday, September 16 6-9pm
Thursday, September 17 6-9pm
"For Colored Girls" will provide readings from the script for audition.
"Ysengrimus" asks for 2 one-minute monologues, 1 comedic and 1 dramatic. In either classical or contemporary style.
Sign up for auditions is located on the callboard in the basement of Rarig.
Director of Dance and Associate Professor Ananya Chatterjea's dance troupe Ananya Dance Theatre will be performing the premiere of their latest work, "Ashesh Barsha, Unending Monsoon" at the Southern Theater September 10-13, 2009. For more information check out Camille LeFevre's article, "Ananya Dance Theater completes trilogy", an article in the Minnesota Daily, and the Southern Theater's website. Also watch a video on the 3-Minute Egg website.
Associate Professor Kuftinec recently published a new book entitled Theatre, Facilitation and Nation Formation in the Balkans and Middle East.
How might theatre intervene in violent inter-ethnic conflicts? When does participatory theatre mediate more just futures, and when might it preserve inequities? Theatre, Facilitation, and Nation Formation addresses these questions through detailed case studies of community-based projects in the Balkans and Middle East that the author has witnessed or helped to create. In Mostar, collaborative performance helps youth to re-member a divided city. In Berlin, participants from seven Balkan countries reorient understandings of citizenship through an interactive installation. In Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, image theatre animates the limits of reconciliation. These theatrical facilitations model ways that ethnic oppositions can move towards ethical relationships, while pointing out challenges in doing so. As a travelogue, this study weaves critical analysis with the voices of participants, directors, and workshop leaders, offering viewpoints and field notes on how theatrical facilitation can (and can't) effectively transform conflicts.
Time Track productions, led by dance faculty member Paula Mann, presents Mann's latest work I Love Tomorrow at the Dance Theater Workshop in Manhattan.
More information about the event:
Paula Mann Performs I LOVE TOMORROW 7/22 Thru 7/25
The Guthrie Theater's summer comedy, When We Are Married, features U of M Theatre Alumni: Linda Kelsey, Peter Michael Goetz and Sally Wingert. Read more about Kelsey in Kevin Winge's article, Linda Kelsey Returns to the Guthrie Stage.
Michael Sommers, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, has been awarded a 2009 Enduring Vision Award from the Bush Foundation. The $100,000 prize is intended to propel the artistic investigations of mature artists.
The Enduring Vision Award is the only award of this size and intent in the country. Up to three awards are given annually to artists in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota who have at least 25 years of experience as working artists. For the 2009 awards, nominations were received for artists working in the performing and literary arts.
A regional panel of five performing and literary artists and arts professionals from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota reviewed and selected 10 finalists for this year's Enduring Vision Awards. A national panel (including one panelist from the regional panel) then selected the three recipients, considering the breadth and depth of the finalists' work, their promise of continued future artistic excellence, the importance of their influence on their communities, and their interest in pursuing deeper investigations and/or new explorations to inform and enrich their work.
Professor Sommers has practiced the theater arts as a designer, director, composer, performer, playwright, and technician, both locally and nationally, for 30 years. In 2000 he and his partner Susan Haas co-founded Open Eye Figure Theatre, and in 2007 the company opened an intimate venue in South Minneapolis. Sommers's work has been seen in venues ranging from major cultural institutions to backyards and the street. Through these experiences, and drawing from traditional theatrical forms, classical text, populist entertainment, folk art and the comedy and "tragedy of our daily lives," Sommers says he "creates original work that speaks in a contemporary voice directly to the audience." His work has been presented at the Walker Art Center and in New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Canada, and Mexico.
Professor Sommers has also recently won a $25,000 McKnight Fellowship and a $50,000 United States Artists Grant. In an interview with the Star Tribune newspaper, Sommers said, "It's a crazy thing. This one feels different, quieter. I have a chance to shift gears, pause and think in a new way, not to sound too corny."
Newsweek reporter Jeremy McCarter mentioned the University Theatre's production of Tony Kushner's A Bright Room Called Day and Kushner's talk with the cast in his article, "Tony Kushner's Day", which discussed Kushner's time in Minnesota.
Dr. Charles Nolte, distinguished and beloved teacher, actor, and author, has made a gift of his archives to the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies at the University of Minnesota Libraries. To celebrate Dr. Nolte’s gift, which will allow students and scholars to continue to benefit from his remarkable gifts, the University of Minnesota Libraries, the Tretter Collection, and the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance are celebrating the donation of the Dr. Charles M. Nolte Collections in Theatre and Cinematic Arts with a reception at the Elmer L. Andersen Library. Portions of the archives will be on display at the Elmer L. Andersen Library.
Monday, May 18, 2009
4:30 to 6 pm
Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Program
Reception beginning at 4:30pm
Welcome and Speakers at 5:00 pm
Kris Kiesling, Director Archives & Special Collections
Carl Flink, Chair of Theatre Arts and Dance
C. Lance Brockman, Professor, Theatre Arts and Dance
Dr. Charles M. Nolte
Conclusion: Eric Colleary
Director Lisa Channer has announced the cast for the October 2009 production of Big Love.
Cast List for Big Love:
Thyona: Sasha Gibbs
Olympia: Jenna Frankenfield
Lydia: Julianna Drajko
Constantine: Nickolas Marcouiller
Oed: Ian Knodel
Nikos: Billy Mullaney
Eleanor: Addy Salami
Leo: Kalen Keir
Bella: Allison Witham
Guliano: Nathaniel Nesheim-Case
Piero: Kevin O’Neil
Additional Brides and Grooms will be announced later after discussions with the choreographer.
A note from Lisa to all who auditioned: there were so many talented and prepared auditioners that this was a very difficult decision. Anyone who wants feedback on their audition, just email me and I'm happy to share what I can with you.
A note from Lisa to those who are cast: I will be contacting you about prep work you can do over the summer. Please contact me also at some point to talk about the role and how you'd like to prepare for it.
Join fellow University of Minnesota Alumni Association members for a special evening aboard the Minnesota Centennial Showboat on Friday, June 19, or Tuesday, July 21.
The Friday, June 19 event offers a pre-show talk with director Kenneth Noel Mitchell, dinner on the upper deck of the Showboat, a ticket to Is There a Doctor in the House? and an invitation to the opening night reception following the show. On Tuesday, July 21, your Showboat experience will include a ticket to the performance and a member-exclusive, post-show dessert reception with actors of the Showboat Company. For event details, including pricing and times, visit www.alumni.umn.edu/University_Theatre.
Tickets are available now by calling Padelford Riverboats, the exclusive ticketing agent for the Showboat, at 651-227-1100 or toll free at 1-800-543-3908. Please identify yourself immediately as a member of the Alumni Association and have your alumni member number available.
In the City Pages' Best of Minneapolis 2009, the University of Minnesota Dance Program students performing José Limón's 1958 classic Missa Brevis was named the Best Dance Performance of a Classic. Check out the full article at citypages.com.
Affiliate Dance Faculty member, Marciano Silva Dos Santos, was named Best Dancer. Read the full article about his award also at citypages.com.
AUDITIONS
BIG LOVE
Written by Charles Mee
Directed by Lisa Channer
Description of the play: Fifty brides flee their fifty grooms and seek refuge in a villa on the coast of Italy in this modern re-making of one of the western world's oldest plays, The Danaids by Aeschylus. And, in this villa on the Italian coast, the fifty grooms catch up with the brides, and mayhem ensues: the grooms arriving by helicopter in their flight suits, women throwing themselves over and over again to the ground, pop songs and romantic dances, and, finally, unable to escape their forced marriages, 49 of the brides murder 49 of the grooms-and one bride falls in love. About the same odds as today.
The entire play is available to all at http://charlesmee.com/html/big_love.html
It is suggested that you read it before auditioning so you understand the style in which it is written and the world it inhabits.
Auditions are Monday May 4th from 6:30-11:00pm in Room 20 and callbacks are Tuesday May 5th from 7:00-9:30pm.
An audition sign-up sheet is posted on the callboard across from the tunnel entrance in the Pit.
For May 4th Auditions:
Sign up for a slot and come with two things:
A song excerpt that is no longer than one minute in length.
A monologue excerpt that is no longer than two minutes in length.
Note: Everyone must sing for the audition (even if it is Happy Birthday) although not every character sings in the show so you may be cast even if your singing is less than stellar :-)
For May 5th Callbacks:
You will be asked to prepare sides from the play and there will be a group dance/movement audition. Additional information about the callbacks will be given after the initial auditions.
Questions? Chann006@umn.edu or 626.6617
Reporter Linda Shapiro featured the University of Minnesota Dance Program's Critical Mass performance during the ACDFA Conference, as well as their role in the José Limón Dance Company's performance at Northrop Auditorium in the City Pages' A-List. Check out Critical Mass: Professional Dance Companies at the University of Minnesota and José Limón Dance Company for the complete listing.
BA Program Head and Instructor, Luverne Seifert, was named one of the City Pages Artists of the Year for 2008. Check out the City Pages article for more detailed information.
Three Theatre Arts and Dance faculty members have been granted the highly competitive Institute for Advanced Study Collaborative Awards for next year. Director of Dance and Associate Professor Ananya Chatterjea received an award for her project Intersecting Performance and Social Justice. Lisa Channer, Associate Professor in Directing, received one for her project Embodying Gilgamesh: New Physical Language for Staging Epic Texts. Department Chair and Associate Professor Carl Flink will be working with Microbiology Professor David Odde on their project Choreography of the Moving Cell: Self-Organization and Catastrope.
BFA Actor Training Program grads are getting rave reviews in the NYC-based Acting Company's production of Henry V, which tour started at the Guthrie Theater. It features Matt Amendt (BFA Class 2004) as the title character, with 11 other performers, including graduates Will Sturdivant (BFA Class of 2005) and Sam Taylor (BFA Class of 2006), playing more than 55 other roles.
Below are the list of reviews for more detailed information:
A Bang-Up Take on the Bard
By Frank Scheck, New York Post
Henry V
By David Finkle, TheaterMania.com
Henry V
by Sam Thielman, Variety
The King, All Grown Up and Ready to Wage Battle
By Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
Congratulations to PhD student Rachel Chaves for winning the Norman Johnston DeWitt Fellowship. Rachel is the sole recipient of this University-wide fellowship for research in the Humanities. This is the first time a graduate student in Theatre Arts and Dance has won the fellowship.
The following is an e-mail from Theatre Arts & Dance Department Chair Carl Flink:
Dear All:
It is my pleasure to let you know that TAD's very own interim Director of Graduate Studies and Associate Professor Sonja Kuftinec was just named one of only two new Scholars of the College by the College of Liberal Arts! While this is no surprise to all of us who know Sonja, it is wonderful to see the College acknowledge her excellence at a time when I am certain competition for these awards was particularly high given our current economic climate.
Congratulations, Professor Kuftinec! A truly well deserved honor.
Sincerely,
Carl
