Minnesota Centennial Showboat Scholarships; UMTAD Faculty at Work; Alumni: Onstage & Off

Showboat Scholarships

Today the 2014 Minnesota Centennial Showboat Scholarships committee announced a record number of nine students will receive scholarship support in recognition of exceptional contributions to this summer's production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both on stage and backstage.
Theatre Arts & Dance Department Chair Marcus Dilliard stated, "Each of these recipients has demonstrated professionalism in rehearsal, in performance, backstage, and in the community. Faced with the flooding of the Mississippi and cancellation of 16 performances, they kept the Centennial Showboat before the public -- canvasing streets of St. Paul, creating and posting social media messages including a video, appearing at public events, singing in lobbies and restaurant patios, even a Minnesota Orchestra Hall reception. Clearly, they rose to the occasion demonstrating personal and professional leadership." Showboat scholarships are also awarded at the intersection of artistic merit and financial need, according to Dilliard, who concluded, "I want to extend thanks on behalf of our department to the thousands of generous Showboat audience members who gave contributions this summer. Your gifts directly funded scholarships for these talented young people-- we applaud you."
Actors Christian Boomgaarden, Bear Brummel, Katherine Fried, Kevin Gotch, and Victoria Smith were presented with the C. Lance Brockman Scholarships. Actors Kathleen Kleiger and Daniel Piering were granted the Vern Sutton Scholarships. Stage managers Jane Heer and Audrey Rice were honored with the Jean Montgomery Scholarships
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UMTAD Faculty at Work

Michael Sommer, Open Eye Figure Theatre co-founding and co- artistic director, hosts a full spectrum of performances, seminars, and workshops September 25-28, all part of the Handmade Worlds: A Festival of Puppet Theatre. In the Heart of the Beast Mask and Puppet Theatre (HOBT), Open Eye Figure Theatre (OEFT) and the Great Plains Region of The Puppeteers of America (POA) are partnering to offer a dynamic line-up of puppetry from around the country. This three-day festival will present the works of ten companies/artists, bringing over 55 performers to the festival.
HOBT and OEFT, both known for their expertise in puppetry, are partnering with the POA to put Minneapolis' thriving puppetry scene on the national map. The Festival has been scheduled so that Festival Pass Holders are able to see every performance (14) as well as take 2-4 workshops and enjoy all the events of the festival. Performances will happen at three venues - HOBT, OEFT and the Open Eye Studio (for some of the more intimate offerings). In addition to the 12 productions presented, there will be twelve workshops offered, a panel discussion featuring nationally recognized artists, and two puppetry cabarets. The Festival features prominent works by artists such as Julian Crouch and David Commander (New York), Manuel Cinema and Michael Montenegro (Chicago), Masque Theatre (Connecticut), Paul Mesner (Missouri), Toy Box and Cripps Puppets (North Carolina), Monica Leo (Iowa), Tony Fuemmeler (Oregon) as well as several Minneapolis artists. For more information and tickets/ passes visit http://www.openeyetheatre.org/stage/handmade-worlds-a-festival-of-puppet-theatre

Karla Grotting, associate director of the Flying Foot Forum performs in Alice in Wonderland with the Flying Foot Company Sept 25 - Oct 12 in the Lehr Theatre located in Lowry Building, downtown St. Paul. Grotting, a U of M dance alumna, has served as a dance faculty member since 1998.
Alice in Wonderland is a multi-faceted Twin Cities community event that will bring together community members, students, audiences, puppets, and 16 dancers, singers, actors, and musicians in a joyous participatory, promenade style, musical theater trip down the rabbit hole at the Lehr Theater in St Paul. Alice in Wonderland will be a combination dance party, bedtime story, and rock concert all in one fantastical retelling of Lewis Carroll's tale, reminding us all that life can be an adventure worth taking and that sometimes things you don't understand can make life more wondrous and mysterious.
Alice in Wonderland was adapted, composed, choreographed, and directed by Joe Chvala, also cast as the Mad Hatter.Tickets: General Admission Adults $26, Students $20, All Previews $20 Reservations: The Ordway Box Office, 651-224-4222, www.ordway.org

If theatre faculty member Lisa Channer seems a bit hurried these days it's no wonder. She is directing two productions, a celebration of the life of the legendary American folksinger Pete Seeger staged in Oneonta, New York, and co-directing with Sam Johns the department's first mainstage fall production, Working - a Musical. Based on the book by Studs Turkel, adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nin Faso, Working - A Musical with a cast of 24 students, is slated to open October 30.

Dance faculty Linda Talcott Lee is splitting her time with Mankato State University choreographing Beauty and the Beast and Bloomington Civic Theatre choreographing Next to Normal. Next she is looking forward to performing in the Ordway's "A Christmas Story" during November and December.

Alumni News: Onstage and Off

Alumni connections with the Flying Foot Forum's Alice in Wonderland company include: Colleen Bertsch, a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology, Natalie Nowytski ( '99 BA ) who composed some of the music for the Oil! and The Jungle (2011), and Scott Keever ('09 BA). Billy Mullaney ('11 BA Theatre) most recently appeared in the world premiere of Something About a Bear. Charles Robison, a longtime student in UMTAD dance program, also appears in the production.

The University of Minnesota / Guthrie Theatre B.F.A. program has been singled out as one of Joe Dowling's notable achievements, according to the theatre's Heidi Chronicles program /magazine. The article identifies Heidi Chronicles' cast members Sam Bardwell (BFA '08) and Eleonore Dendy (BFA '13) as graduates of this unique educational partnership. The show plays through October 26, 2014 on the Guthrie's Wurtele Thrust Stage.

Theatre Arts & Dance Department Announces 2014-15 Season

The University of Minnesota's Theatre Arts & Dance Department is pleased to announce its 2014-15 performance season. As University classes begin this September, so does producing at the Rarig Center and Barbara Baker Center for Dance. Auditions, rehearsals, design plans, shop activities and creative work leading to the following public productions of the fall, winter, and spring are underway.

Working, a Musical based on Studs Terkel's book adapted by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso opens the Rarig Center Mainstage season October 30 and plays through November 9 on the Stoll Thrust Stage. Under the direction of faculty member Lisa Channer (co-founder and co-artistic director of Theatre Novi Most) teamed with visiting artist Samantha Johns, Working explores the working lives of real people with a folk music-inspired score. With a talented cast of 22, the musical examines what, why, and for whom we work.

University Dance Theatre's Dance Revolutions takes center stage of the Whiting Proscenium Theatre December 4 -7. This dazzling collection of innovative new works by Cowles Visiting Artists Greg Dolbashian, Justin Jones, Maurya Kerr, and faculty member Scott Rink will be performed by students. Dance Revolutions is directed by Toni Pierce-Sands, co-artistic director of TU Dance and a member of the Dance Program faculty.

7 Dwarfs presents a unique twist on the classic Snow White story. This fairy tale for adults considers the familiar plot from an entirely different perspective. The quirky comedy playing February 26-March 8 in the Whiting Proscenium Theatre was created by Minnesota playwright/ NPR commentator/author Kevin Kling. His long time artistic collaborator, faculty member Michael Sommers (artistic director of Open Eye Figure Theatre) directs the production.

Blue Stockings, a new play by Jessica Swale, makes its American premiere in April directed by Joel Sass and performed by University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program's Senior Company. Set in 1896, the year Girton College became the first college in Britain to admit women, Tess Moffat and her fellow "first years" fight for the right to graduate and end up changing the future of education. Blue Stockings will be performed in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio.

Tickets for Mainstage performances are available by visiting theatre.umn.edu or by calling 612-624-2345. Admission prices include ticket fees: $6 for all students; $11 U of M faculty/staff; $16 general public
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From April 2-6, the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre Actor Training Sophomore Company performs its annual pair of Shakespeare plays. This spring's repertory features the comedies The Taming of the Shrew and The Comedy of Errors. Always cleverly staged with an emphasis on mastery of text, these pieces will be performed in the Stoll Thrust Theatre. All tickets for the Shakespeare rep are $6 and can be purchased online at theatre.umn.edu or by phone at 612-624-2345.

In addition to the Mainstage productions, Theatre Arts & Dance presents a wide variety of studio and informal showings that are free and open to the public with seating on a first come, first served basis.

The University of Minnesota/ Guthrie Theatre BFA Studio Series 2014-15 opens with Gorky's classic Summerfolk, October 2 -5 in Rarig's Kilburn Theatre. Later in October, the Sophomore Company will play three Tracy Letts works in repertory, Killer Joe, Bug, August: Osage County October 21- 28. In the spring, the Junior Company presents Medea February 26 - March 1 and later, two classic Moliere comedies, Lovers' Quarrels playing in repertory with Learned Ladies from April 16- 19. To conclude the Series, the Freshman Company makes its formal debut with Fresh Scenes playing April 30 - May 2.

In addition, Creative Collaborations present informal showings after a series of intense rehearsal weeks focused on ensemble theater creation. Production elements are usually light, creativity and artistic risk are always high. Admission is free to Creative Collaborations; seating is based on first come first served basis.

Mystery Bouffe, directed by guest Polish artist Ludmila Ryba with input from Michal Kobialka, performs October 20 and 21 in the Nolte Xperimental Theatre. Mayakovsky's play, grounded in the proletarian causes of the Russian revolution, directs performers to "change the content, making it contemporary, immediate, up-to-the-minute." Ryba, an original member of Tadeusz Kantor's theatre company, will utilize Kantor's theories and methods in creating the piece.

Theatre artist Dario Tangelson creates Saint Evita, an original devised piece inspired by passages from Saint Evita a novel by Tomás Eloy Martínez and from the short story That Woman by Rodolfo Walsh. The result of this collaboration will be performed on December 8 and 9 in the Xperimental Theatre. These works follow the journey surrounding Evita ́s dead embalmed body and the wax copies made of it. Part historical, mostly fiction, this story will present a whole new side of the Eva Peron story.

In the spring, Maren Ward teams with dramaturg Nathan Tylutki to lead a project titled D'workin! based on the work of Andrea Dworkin, a pioneer in the anti-pornography movement. As an ensemble, student performers will conduct their own debates and reactions to the views and tactics of Dworkin. The final product, performed on March 2 and 3, will include historical events, characters and students' contemporary reflections.

Hidden Cities led by Gulgun Kayim is inspired by Italio Calvino's book and performs April 27 and 28. Like Invisible Cities, this project will explore and draw from the experiences of the city and the imagination of each student to create short devised performances based on and scattered around various sites in Minneapolis.

Informal dance showings mark the end of the residencies of each of this year's Cowles Visiting Artists. These informal showings, performed by dance students, take place in the Barker Dance Center and are free and open to the public. Works by Gregory Dolbashian and Justin Jones will be performed on September 26 at 4:30 PM, work by Maurya Kerr will be performed on October 17 at 4:30 PM, and Scott Rink's new piece performs November 7 at 4:30 PM.

The Department of Theatre Arts & Dance serves 400 major students every year offering four undergraduate and two graduate programs through the University of Minnesota's College of Liberal Arts. Academic achievement is supported by over 100 distinguished faculty and staff members at the Rarig Center and Barbara Barker Center for Dance. For information on our curriculum and programs visit theatre.umn.edu or dance.umn.edu or call 612 625-6699 (Theatre Arts) or 612 624-5060 (Dance).

"Jekyll & Hyde" Mississippi Can't Stop the Showboat: Theatre Season Extended for Additional Week

Minneapolis/St. Paul (July 24, 2014)--After a summer when the Mississippi River was more Mr. Hyde than Dr. Jekyll, the University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat announced today that the current production of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will be extended for additional performances August 19, 20, 21 at 8:00 p.m., with a special closing night event on August 22.

June and July flooding along the Mississippi River led to the closing of Harriet Island and the cancellation of 16 performances on the Showboat between June 20 and July 3. "The irony is not lost on us," said managing director Peg Guilfoyle. "The Showboat is a boat, after all. But this flooding was so serious, even the Showboat had to shut down."

A special closing performance on Friday, August 22 ($100 per ticket, $75 tax-deductible) will allow fans to celebrate the end of a challenging, wet summer. The evening's highlights will include special material developed by the Showboat's talented student cast, along with a champagne toast to close the season.

The 16 performances of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde washed from the schedule resulted in heightened demand for tickets to the summer theatre operated by the University of Minnesota's Department of Theatre Arts & Dance. The resumption of University classes on September 2, along with previous commitments on the Showboat, mean that these additional four performances are the only ones that can be added. "This great production started with sold-out previews, an enthusiastic response from our opening night audience and strong word of mouth," said director Peter Moore. "Now that the waters have receded, we are excited that we can add these four dates for our audiences."

Showboat productions, known for their trademark thrilling melodrama plus vintage vaudeville song and dance, have become a Minnesota summer tradition.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performs 2:30 p.m. matinees every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; evenings at 8:00 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. Thursday nights feature post-show informal Q & A sessions with cast members. Family Fun special rates are available for Friday nights and Saturday matinees. Discounts for students with valid ID, seniors 62+ and group rates for 15 or more are available. Tickets for all performances except August 22 are $20-$25. Call 651.227.1100 or visit showboat.umn.edu.

FAST FACTS
What: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Musical Olios aboard Minnesota Centennial Showboat
When: now through August 22, 2014
Where: Harriet Island, downtown St. Paul, Minnesota
Tickets: $20-$25 showboat.umn.edu or call direct 651-227-1100; ask about rates for students, seniors, groups 15+ and Family Fun specials.
Tickets for the "Closing with a Splash" special finale on August 22 are $100.

Carl Flink's WRECK with Black Label Movement at Guthrie wins critical praise

Choreographer Carl Flink, outgoing chair of Theatre Arts & Dance Department, earns high praise from Star Tribune's dance reviewer Caroline Palmer (July 15,2014) commenting on WRECK now at the Guthrie through July 20. See following excerpt....

"Many artists have taken up the challenge of portraying what it might be like to face death without any hope of reversing the outcome.
It's a tough journey to take but Carl Flink, artistic director and choreographer for Black Label Movement, proves he and his dancers are up to the task in a polished revival of the elegiac "Wreck" (2008), now performing in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater.
"Wreck" depicts a harrowing scene inside the last airtight compartment of a sunken ore boat on the bottom of Lake Superior.
When the audience first enters the theater, the wall that separates the auditorium from the lobby has been raised. Daylight streams in and the space feels open.
But then the wall descends, sealing the dark in the theater, and there is an immediate sense of being shut in with the performers and their ordeal. Vintage films show intact ships traversing the great water.
The 13 dancers move anxiously but Flink's perspective is broader than fear and hopelessness. They fight for survival, as remote as it seems. They struggle with one another, and themselves, as anyone would in such a dire situation.
Flink's choreographic approach is rugged, athletic and gutsy but also beautiful and intimate as it depicts the final throes of lives cut short. Because the work is performed in the round, audience members see the movement from different angles...
The score for "Wreck" was composed by Mary Ellen Childs and is performed live by the top-notch ensemble...Childs received a Sage Award for this project in 2008 and the music is central to the work's success. Its texture inspires a rippling underwater mystery -- the composition pounds and crashes like a storm or delicately echoes as if recorded in the depths.
Together Flink and Childs lead us through an emotionally harrowing but artistically rewarding experience."

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Re-Opens on Centennial Showboat Harriet Island, St Paul

(July 7, St. Paul, MN) Today the Showboat Players return for their first full week of performances on the University of Minnesota's Centennial Showboat. "We are thrilled to announce we are open and welcoming folks aboard to see our summer thriller Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," said the production's director Peter Moore. "After sold out previews and a great response from our opening night audiences (on June 19) flood waters rose above 17 feet. You can't tangle with that mighty Mississippi,--she's a show-stopper - but now we are back with this talented cast that's poised for eight shows a week and rarin' to go." Tickets for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are available for performances by calling 651-227-1100 or visiting showboat.umn.edu online.

Seventeen performances of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde between June 20 and July 3 were postponed due to high water on the Mississippi. Flooding forced electrical power, gas, and sanitary, and waters services to be suspended on Harriet Island Regional Park, where the Showboat is permanently moored.

Showboat's managing director Peg Guilfoyle explained, "Our partner Padelford Riverboats Company has contacted over 1,565 ticket holders to offer alternate performance dates. The City of St. Paul has been very responsive helping us to get back onstage to raise the curtain on this summer's Showboat fun. All those interrupted services are now restored and our adjacent free parking lot is now open and dry. We are also indebted to our neighbors History Theatre and Park Square Theatre for getting the word out to the community that we are back."

To re-book previously purchased tickets, customers are asked to email info@riverrides.com for more information. Tickets for the performances June 20 - July 3 will be honored.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performs 2:30 pm matinees every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; evenings at 8:00pm Wednesday now through August 16, 2014. Thursday nights feature post-show Talk-backs, informal Q & A sessions with cast members. Ask about Family Fun Special rates for Friday nights and Saturday matinees. Discounts for students with valid ID, seniors 62+ and groups rates for 15 or more are available. Reserve tickets ($20-$25) by calling 651.227.1100 or by visiting www.showboat.umn.edu. for more information.

FAST FACTS
What: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Musical Olios aboard Minnesota Centennial Showboat
When: now through August 16, 2014
Where: Harriet Island, downtown St. Paul, Minnesota
Tickets: $20.00-$25.00 showboat.umn.edu or call direct 651-227-1100; ask about
rates for students, seniors, groups 15+ and Family Fun specials.
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Centennial Showboat's Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Postponed One Week Due to Flooding

St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Minnesota announced today that Minnesota Centennial Showboat performances of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have been postponed, June 20 to 28 due to high water on the Mississippi River. Tickets purchased to those performances will be honored for future dates and re-scheduling is preferred by email to info@riverrides.com. The box office phone number, 651 227 1100, can also be used, although call volume is expected to be very high.

"We are making every effort to accommodate our valued Showboat customers during this postponement," said Peg Guilfoyle, Managing Director. "We have reached out by phone or email to individuals, groups, and businesses - everyone who bought a ticket - to let them know about this flooding, and how to re-book reservations. We apologize for this inconvenience. Folks have been very understanding. The Showboat players have never had to postpone due to high water on Harriet Island."

Peter Moore, stage director of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, said "Of course our Showboat Players are waiting in the wings eager to put on this classic melodrama, but you just can't argue with the Mighty Mississippi."

Guilfoyle explained, "We hope the river falls as quickly as it has risen, and plan to resume performances on July 1. We will play through August 16 as previously planned." The Showboat is undamaged by high water, but the flooding threatens essential services on Harriet Island, and access to the Showboat will not be possible. "The safety of our patrons is our primary concern," she said, "but we'll be back!"

"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" with Musical Olios opens June 19 aboard Minnesota Centennial Showboat

St. Paul, Minn. - The University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the thrilling tale of a brilliant physician who struggles with dark forces while a series of crimes grip London with fear. The Showboat Players perform June 19 through August 16 on the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, on downtown St. Paul's Harriet Island. Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde presents a cast of memorable characters driven by a quest to find the monster terrorizing their city, only to discover an unbelievable truth.

Directors Peter Moore and Vern Sutton return to stage the production and musical routines; this same dynamic duo created Showboat's three most recent hits Sweet Revenge!(or No Mother to Guide Her), attracting nearly 13,000 visitors last summer alone, The Vampire! and The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

When asked what audiences can expect stage director Moore quipped, "Secrets, potions, chills, thrills, and a twisted tale of good versus evil- the usual Showboat fun. Where else can you cheer on the hero and hiss the bad guy?"

In addition to melodrama, the Showboat also prides itself as home to olios, vintage musical interludes featuring song and dance. Spiced with fun gimmicks, striking costumes and surprises, these tuneful crowd pleasers are straight from the golden days of vaudeville. The Minnesota Opera veteran, maestro Vern Sutton returns to direct "with a sharp eye these musical vignettes...some poignant, some naughty" (St. Paul Pioneer Press) underscoring the evening's fun.

The Centennial Showboat - a floating palace with a fully air-conditioned 200 seat theater is styled after a vaudeville house, complete with painted scenery, footlights and nineteenth-century stage magic. Docked on the banks of the mighty Mississippi at Harriet Island in downtown St. Paul, the Showboat offers welcoming public spaces, bars and a beautiful upper deck lounge with spectacular views of the city's skyline. Visitors stroll along embankments with wide green lawns shaded by towering cottonwoods as they step aboard.

Owned by the University of Minnesota since 1958, the Minnesota Centennial Showboat proudly presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for this 56th summer of fun and laughter. Thousands of guests found "a perfect summer evening" for a first date or family outing. Unsolicited comments by one audience member sums up the response of many. "A talented cast of singers and actors kept me laughing and entertained the whole night...I'm going again and taking others with me." Convenient FREE parking for cars and busses is available. Arrive by bike on the Lilydale Trail or by boat and dock for FREE on the island. The University of Minnesota Centennial Showboat is completely accessible.

The cast includes Christian Boomgaarden (Dr. Jekyll), Bear Brummel (Lanyon), Katherine Fried (Agnes Carew), Kevin Gotch (Newcomen), Nike Kadri (Mrs. Higgins), Katie Kleiger (Mrs. Poole), Zach Margolis (Utterson), Kelsey Peterjohn (Lady Diana), Daniel Piering (James/Constable Wilson), Tori Smith (Marie/Billie). Production set design by Rick Polenek, costumes by Mathew J. LeFebvre, lighting by Kelli Hauangzhen, props by Jennifer Johnson, sound by Montanta Johnson, and stage management by Jane Heer, assisted by Audrey Rice.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde performs 2:30 pm matinees every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; evenings at 8:00pm Wednesday through Saturday June 19- August 16, 2014. Thursday nights feature post-show Talk-backs, informal Q & A sessions with cast members. Ask about Family Fun Special rates for Friday nights and Saturday matinees. Discounts for students with valid ID, seniors 62+ and groups rates for 15 or more are available. Reserve tickets ($20-$25) by calling 651.227.1100 or by visiting www.showboat.umn.edu. for more information.

FAST FACTS
What: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Musical Olios aboard Minnesota Centennial Showboat
When: June 19- August 16, 2014
Where: Harriet Island, downtown St. Paul, Minnesota
Tickets: $20.00-$25.00 showboat.umn.edu or call direct 651-227-1100; ask about
rates for students, seniors, groups 15+ and Family Fun specials.