June 2015 Applause

U OF MN CENTENNIAL SHOWBOAT CANCELING 2015 SEASON: 

Financial impacts of 2014 floods still felt

Minneapolis-St. Paul (May 5, 2015)--The University of Minnesota’s College of Liberal Arts and the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance announced that performances aboard the Minnesota Centennial Showboat are being suspended for the summer of 2015.

The Mississippi River flood during summer 2014 caused the cancellation of a significant portion of last year’s performances. The resulting financial shortfall, combined with deferred maintenance issues on the boat and the
razor-thin budgets common to most theaters, led to the decision to cancel the season.

By pausing this year to explore financial restructuring and new potential for programing partnerships, the University plans to come to a viable solution for the future of the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.

TARTUFFE IN DC: Taking the show on the road with TAD talents 

"The stage is lit for a thunderstorm," explains Marcus Dilliard. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Designer Marcus Dilliard, actors Luverne Seifert with alumna Susanne Warmanan join forces in a stunning Tartuffe at Washington, DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company.

“To light his production of Tartuffe, Molière’s 17th-century satire of religious hypocrisy, director Dominique Serrand had a bright idea. Why not make it look as if it’s happening in a single day, from sunrise to sunset…” reveals the Washington Post‘s feature story “A Dark Tartuffe’s Light Touch.” To accomplish this stage illusion, the director turned to lighting designer Marcus Dilliard, his friend, longtime theatrical collaborator and TAD, chair.  Dilliard is interviewed in this article which includes photos comparing the various “looks” he created to show shifting light over 24 hours through the towering windows of the three-story set. 

This Tartuffe production, hailed as “stunning,” features a cast that includes faculty member Luverne Seifert as Orgon, U of M alumna Suzanne Warmanen as Dorine  and Steve Epp in the title role. University Theater audiences will recall Epp who with Serrand directed All’s Fair (2011) at Rarig Center. Tartuffe, now on stage through July 5 in Washington, D.C. had earlier stints at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Costa Mesa’s South Coast Repertory has provided new insights for the actors. "This three city tour of Tartuffe has been a professional pinnacle in my research as a performer,”reflected Luverne Seifert, who teaches acting and performance in the undergraduate B.A. program. “To be given the time to perform the same role over two years’ time has allowed me to fully investigate the nuance of characterization. It's a rare and valuable opportunity for any actor." Visit the Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/a-dark-tartuffes-light-touch/2015/06/11/9682bd2c-0af7-11e5-95fd-d580f1c5d44e_story.html

Steven Epp as Tartuffe and Luverne Seifert as Orgon in South Coast Repertory’s 2014 production of Molière’s 'Tartuffe', adapted by David Ball, directed by Dominique Serrand. Photo by Debora Robinson/SCR.

CENTER STAGE: Alums and student collaborate at Bryant Lake Bowl  

 Francais L’Amour Francais, a show created and performed almost exclusively by alumni / current students from the U of M’s BA theatre program, opens this week at Bryant Lake Bowl.  This dramatic-comedy featuring a troupe of Frenchmen and live music, will be performed in English and simultaneously translated into French.  Director Edward Euclid (BA ’14) explains,“With zee tongue in zee cheek, French romance and the energy of improv comedy, zee kind of famous theatre company, Theatre de la Leuney Moons, travels to the Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater to share with jou a night of passionate love. Come for zee passion, stay for zee lauffs.”

Francais L’Amour Francais: 7:00 pm Thursday, June 18; Friday, June 19; Saturdays June 20 and 27.  Tickets at http://www.bryantlakebowl.com/theater/francais-l-amour-francais

Cast / Collaborators:  Emma Elise Childs, Elizabeth Cooper, Mandy Goldberg, Alex Hathaway, Kasey Heimstead, Cate Jackson, Joe Kellen, Baltimore Krahn, Alec W. Lambert, Evan Burigo O'Brien, Nico Pecans, Caleigh Rose, Austin Ruh, Bree Schmidt, Alexander Stene. 

ALUMNI UPDATES:  

Nathan Barlow and Ryan Colbert, both TAD alums, perform in Tarell Alvin McCraney‘s Choir Boy making its regional premiere at the Guthrie, now through July 5. Under the direction of Peter Rothstein, who staged the critically acclaimed Spring Awakening at Rarig  in 2013, this one act drama chronicles a year at an all-black boys’ school.

Alums, Peter Rusk ('12) and Hugh Kennedy ('08) play in The Jungle Theatre's production of the classic Kauffman & Hart comedy, "You Can't Take it With You," which  runs through August 9th. Be sure to catch Peter, Hugh, and a stellar cast of great performers under the direction of Gary Gisselman.

Alums Michael Fell and Ben Tallen are featured in Theatre Pro Rata’s "The Illusion," that runs through June 28th, hosted at St Paul’s Park Square Theatre. Take this opportunity to see them in action in this intriguing classic comedy by Pierre Corneille, adapted by Tony Kushner.  Michael was most recently played in the premiere of Lee Blessing’s new play For the Loyal at the Illusion Theatre, Minneapolis.

Katie Klieger (BFA ’15) plays Mary Boyle in the Guthrie’s Juno and the Paycock staged by Joe Dowling. Moreover, within a span of six months, Ms. Kleiger has had the rare opportunity to perform on all three Guthrie stages —as Scrooge’s intended Bell in A Christmas Carol, and Tess Moffat in Blue Stockings. Talk about winning the Trifecta! -- Quite the accomplishment considering she was also completing her studies in order to graduate with honors earning her BFA diploma only days ago.  A total of seven alums (three of whom graduated this month) are cast in Juno: Evan Adams, Dustin Bronson, Nate Cheeseman, Sean Michael Dooley, Casey Hoekstra, Riley O’Toole, and Katie Kleiger.   Don’t miss this ensemble in Juno which closes June 28.    

Congratulations to our alum of 2013, Steven Lee Johnson, who was recently accepted into the graduate acting program at the Yale School of Drama! After being featured in productions locally at the Guthrie Theatre, Theatre Latté Da, and Park Square Theatre, Steven continued his acting career in Chicago at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. We wish him the best as he heads off to Yale in the fall!

SPOTLIGHT: Summertime offers professional growth and research for faculty  

Shapiro & Smith Dance with artistic director Joanie Smith were the first to ignite Northern Spark festival performances at Northrop earlier this month. At 9:01pm the Theatre Arts & Dance’s award-winning choreographer and educator, presented with her company three poignant and humorous dances featuring the dancer's hands. "Our hands serve as emblems for what is paradoxical in human nature: sources for healing, consolation, and love, as well as instruments of torture, murder and hate," said Smith. "What can be communicated with our hands and how we use them have cultural, personal, and societal implications."These original dances, built on outrageous handshakes, unusual caresses, and slapstick encounters, attracted an audience of over 400 to multiple performances throughout the night.   

In response, they interacted leaving their own handprints displayed in a Hands gallery at the venue. Shapiro & Smith Dance is known for tales of beauty and biting wit that run the gamut from the intensely provocative to the absurdly hilarious. 

Shapiro & Smith Dance offers a summer workshop (July 20-31) for intermediate and advanced dancers ages 16 and up. Visit info@shapiroandsmith dance.org or call (612) 879-0863 to register.

NOTE: Earlier this year, Joanie Smith was awarded a McKnight Fellowship for artistic excellence in her career.  She holds the Barbara Barker Endowed Chair as a University of Minnesota faculty member in Theatre Arts & Dance Department, and was recently featured in the national publication, Dance Teacher Magazine.

Michael Sommers directs Wise Blood 

Congratulations to faculty member Michael Sommers, director of "Wise Blood," presented by Soap Factory and Walker Art Center, which concluded its final performance this past weekend. Based on Flannery O'Connor's novel, the stunning opera composed by Anthony Gallo received high praise from numerous publications including the Minn Post for its "masterful direction…and terrific cast…that delivered something new and thrilling." Additionally, MPR's The Current called "Wise Blood" a "striking achievement... that achieves a haunting effect that's much more than the sum of its parts." Audiences followed the action flowing through Chris Larson's amazing art installation-setting from gallery to gallery with in the 130 year old factory structure. Bravo, artist / director / professor Michael Sommers!

Summer Dance Intensive with Carl Flink and BLM

This summer’s Dance Intensive workshop in the Barbara Barker Center introduced 24 participants to a rigorous program based on Black Label Movement’s (BLM) contemporary movement technique, and Partnering Lab approaches aimed at creating their own original choreographic work.

“Together we also explored works from BLM’s propulsive repertory,” reports BLM Artistic Directors Carl Flink (TAD faculty) who with Emilie Plauché Flink worked to stretch learners’ physical and creative limits over the 10 days which began in earlier in June.  The workshop culminates with a public showing on Friday, June 26 at 1:30 pm in the Barker Center’s Studio 100. “Everyone is welcome to this free showing,” said Professor Flink, “The program will include two pieces from the BLM rep and original works created by participants in this U of M Theatre Arts and Dance workshop.”  

Deb Pearson Awarded for Outstanding Service to CLA; Spring Frameworks launches Semester; History Theatre & UMTAD develop Glensheen, Musicalproject by Jeffery Hatcher & Chad Poling

Congrats! A Standing Ovation for Deb Pearson

Deb Pearson has been honored for her outstanding service to the College of Liberal Arts. Dean Coleman in presenting the CLA Award January 21 at MacNamara Center remarked on Pearson 's years of dedicated service to the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance especially in the U of M /Guthrie Theatre Actor Training Program. Since 2005 Deb Pearson has served as a BFA associate supporting the work of this program behind the scenes. While her official title is teaching specialist, she covers a wide variety of responsibilities -- from advising to calming nervous student actors, planning the logistics of auditions, to scrounging for cheap props at Savers, and welcoming audience members as house manager for BFA showing. Dedicated, resourceful, talented and generous, Deb is living proof "there's no people like show people" Thank you, Deb, for all you do. It's time to steal that extra bow.

Spring Frameworks (Now with Fall Reflections!)
Rarig's Whiting Proscenium Theater Friday, Jan. 23rd noon-1:15pm

The Theater Arts & Dance community convenes for student reflections on the fall and sneak peeks towards spring. Students from BA and BFA theater and dance will perform and reflect on what they learned from Tadeusz Kantor, Tracy Letts, and the Walker Choreographer's evening, which responded to events in Ferguson. Directors Joel Sass and Michael Sommers (with designers) will offer their thoughts on what Blue Stockings and 7 Dwarfs provoke us to consider. The Peers will launch the first ever Theater/Dance 24-hour creative collaboration! All are invited to connect and question together.

GLENSHEEN : A Musical in Development

The University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance department in partnership with St. Paul's History Theatre announce acting and vocal student auditions for Glensheen: A Musical in Development January 26-27. Professor Dominic Taylor is coordinating the collaborative project as part of his playwriting students to observe the process of creating a musical. GLENSHEEN book by Jeffrey Hatcher with music and lyrics by Chan Poling will be directed by Ron Peluso (U of M alum) Artistic Director of History Theatre, where it will be eventually staged following this development phase.

This world premiere musical will explore the murder mystery at the great Glensheen Mansion on Lake Superior in Duluth. The 1977 American tragedy was one of the most intriguing and public stories in Minnesota history. Newspapers of the time covered this story for years and a handful of books were published tracking the drama that surrounded the trials. Hatcher and Poling explore the complex nature of the investigation and the bizarre behavior of the accused murderer, Roger Caldwell, and his wife Marjorie. GLENSHEEN is a dark musical with a crackling satirical edge - in the vein of Broadway favorites Sweeney Todd and Chicago.

Remembering Ken Washington; BFA senior Bear Brummel on Acting in Guthrie's A Christmas Carol

Ken Washington, the Guthrie Theater's Director of Company Development and a key figure in our BFA Actor Training Program, passed away November 26. "Ken was a friend, colleague and mentor to many of us in Theatre Arts and Dance. His quiet strength and passion for the education of young theater artists will be greatly missed," said Marcus Dilliard, UMTAD Chair.

A memorial service for Ken Washington was held on Thursday, December 11 at the Guthrie Theater and many of his BFA students and former students from around the country participated in this gathering with musical performances and personal remembrances. Over the span of his career, more than 500 young actors have studied and flourished under Ken's careful and caring mentorship. You can read about Ken and his impact on theater across the nation in this thoughtful piece written by Rohan Preston -http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/stageandarts/284112951.html

UMTAD colleagues, BFA students, alumni, and staff have come together to create The Kenneth Washington Memorial Scholarship fund. For more information or to make a gift, please contact Joe Sullivan at jmsulliv@umn.edu or 612-624-8573. Donations can also be sent directly to the U of M Foundation, PO Box 860266, Minneapolis MN 55486-0266.

Bear Brummel on Acting in Guthrie's A Christmas Carol

While Bear Brummel (BFA'15) plays Fred, Scrooge's nephew and Daniel, a Fezziwig suitor, eight times a week, he is earning his "professional chops" in this year's cast of A Christmas Carol, the perennial holiday favorite at the Guthrie Theater. He is just one of many actors representing U of M in the production. The acting ensemble also includes Katie Kleiger (Belle, BFA'15) and alums J.C. Cutler, (Scrooge), Eleonore Dendy (Dora Fezziwig /Jane), Stuart Gates (Mr. Wimple / David / Belle's Husband ), Zach Keenan (Young Scrooge), Elizabeth Reese (Deirdre Fezziwig / Sally) and Arusi Santesteban (Ali Baba / Donald / Ghost of Christmas Future). Together the company of 47 performers brings to life Dickens' tale of Scrooge's transformation from miser to benefactor, now through December 28th. Between performances, Bear Brummel took a moment talk about his role in A Christmas Carol.

Q: What is it like to have the mean and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge as an uncle?
"Fred, Scrooge's infinitely chipper nephew, is the one man in London whom Scrooge has no effect on. Others pass by Scrooge in the street and feel chilled to the core whereas Fred tries to counteract his uncle's tendencies with a fiery sense of unbridled Christmas spirit."

Q: Is this your first time acting professionally at the Guthrie?
"Yes, this is my first Guthrie gig and I couldn't be more thrilled to be on that stage working with some of Minneapolis' most experienced as well as a bevy of new faces, young and old."
Q: Was the Guthrie audition process different from other shows you've auditioned for?
"The audition process was a tad different than others .... Initially, the BFA senior class was called in for individual audition slots. After that the Guthrie released a list of people they wanted to "call back," which included students from my class and UMTAD alumni that had auditioned separately. During the actual callback we read various scenes from the show with each other and then were taught a short dance by the director/choreographer Joe Chvala. A few weeks later I got a call offering me a role in the show. Even though they weren't able to tell me at that time what characters I would be playing, I accepted and found out this October that I'd be playing Fred as well as Daniel, one of the Fezziwig suitors."

Q: How has your training in the BFA program at the University of Minnesota helped you in securing and creating your character?

"The training we receive in the BFA program has proven invaluable while working on such a massive stage as the Wuertle Thrust at the Guthrie. The nuances of the character's actions and movements seem to be what has come the easiest while working. The technical and physical demands of a space as large as this one forced me to re-explore the basics. I've worked on projection, clarity, and the physical orientation of a body on stage in order to be most effectively understood by every set of ears and eyes in the audience."

Q: And the rehearsals --what was going through your head as the show came together?

"A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie is a pretty special beast in the world of theater. Every year people come out to see this massive event and it's up to the new actors, myself included, to respect the work that has been done in years prior while also bringing our own flair to the characters we are playing. .. This show is a giant machine and each new actor is a gear that has to adjust to fit into the machine while the machine is being calibrated to work smoothly around all the new and unique parts that are added with each new run at it. I think everyone in the room noticed that we've got a really marvelous thing to share this Christmas season."

Faculty Spotlight

Marcus Dilliard creates the lighting design for All is Calm, produced by Cantus & Theatre Latte Da at the Pantages Theatre,playing through December 21. Written and directed by Peter Rothstein, All is Calm brings to life, with song and soldiers' words excerpted from their letters home, the 24 hour Christmas truce of World War I.

Carl Flink will be choreographing for Gainesville Georgia's Theatre Alliance a production of Antigone January 5-18, 2015.

Four World Premieres take stage in UDT's Dance Revolutions, Dec. 4-7

Four world premieres will take center stage in University Dance Theatre's Dance Revolutions at the Rarig Center December 4 through 7. This dazzling collection of innovative work by guest choreographers Greg Dolbashian, Justin Jones, Maurya Kerr, and Scott Rink, all Cowles Visiting Artists, will be performed by the university's dance program students. Dance Revolutions is directed by Toni Pierce-Sands, co-founder of St. Paul's award-winning TU Dance and adjunct professor at the university's Theatre Arts & Dance Department. Dance Revolutions plays December 4, 5, 6 at 7:30pm and December 7 at 2:00pm. Tickets are available by visiting dance.umn.edu or by calling (612) 624-2345.

The program of premieres begins with LOOP, LOOP with choreography and sound design by Justin Jones. The piece looks at the ways in which a simple rule sets can generate complexity: three dancers independently learn a floor pattern in a small space, then three dancers learn how to walk the same floor pattern while holding hands without disconnecting while the piece evolves further. "The simple becomes complex and the process of learning the material becomes relational," says Jones. His work has been presented in New York City at The Thalia, LaMama Etc., Sarah Lawrence, EMPAC and in Minneapolis at Bryant Lake Bowl, Red Eye, The Southern Theater and the Walker Art Center. Mr. Jones is the recipient of the 2007 McKnight Fellowship for Choreography and was awarded a 2003 NYFA Fellowship for Performance Art and Multidisciplinary Work.

Maurya Kerr's new work FLANK, she describes as a punk/folk piece exploring war, and its subtext of rage. " I am interested in freeing young people, young women in particular, from the bondage of prettiness and conformity, and giving them, in the words of one of my dancers, the 'agency to be loud'," noted Kerr. FLANK completes the first segment of the program. Kerr is the director and choreographer of tinypistol, a San Francisco and project-based dance company she founded in 2010 after a twelve-year career with Alonzo King LINES Ballet. Her dance company has been honored by a Hubbard Street National Choreographic Competition award. Her work has been commissioned and presented by Ballet Nouveau Colorado (now Wonderbound), the Aspen Fringe Festival,WestWave Dance Festival, and REVERBdance Festival/APAP.

INSIST by Greg Dobashian opens the second half of the program. According to the choreographer, "the work offers a view into the leadership identity of an individual and was built through a very collaborative process." INSIST displays "the will within a person to affect their surroundings and to influence the outcomes of their own ambitions and pursuits." Dobashian has created his first international work for Springboard Montreal and is winner of several international choreographic competitions. He has received commissions from Atlanta Ballet, TU Dance in Minnesota, and CityDance Ensemble in D.C. Five years ago he founded his own company, The DASH Ensemble which has presented works at the Skirball Center, DTW, The Gershwin Hotel, Riverside Theater, Summer Stage, and The JOYCE Theater. Dolbashian was honored at NYC's DanceNOW challenge for his company's work. Recently his company premiered a film at New York's Tribeca Cinemas in collaboration with fashion film director Charlie Wan.

PAST (PRESENT) TENSE with choreography by Scott Rink completes the quartet of premieres. "In a world where oppression exists in differing societal forms with regard to sexual identity, race and gender," observes Rink, "we as human beings have two potentialities: the magical, where the individual is celebrated in all their unique glory and power and the pedestrian, where the individual is erased and becomes part of a faceless group. Do we see each other as divine creatures or do our judgments diminish the other? When we become bystanders are we complicit through our inaction?" Mr. Rink's choreographic work has been commissioned by recognized companies such as Ailey II, American Ballet Theatre II, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Oakland Ballet, RDT and others. Rink choreographed for and directed his own company danceRINK based in New York City for 15 years, and has choreographed award winning Off-Broadway new musicals and revivals as the resident choreographer for NYC- based Transport Group. Additionally, he has worked as choreographer on other independent film projects, regional musical theatre and commercial Sage Cowles Land Grant Chair

For the academic year 2014/2015 Cowles Visiting Artists and Scholars are Gregory Dolbashian, Justin Jones, Maurya Kerr, Susan Kikuchi, Since 1987, through the generosity of Sage and John Cowles, the University of Minnesota Dance Program has annually hosted four to six dance professionals of international renown in residencies ranging from one to ten weeks. The guests teach, choreograph new dance work, rehearse repertory, and lecture in the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance, and the Twin Cities' community at large. The Cowles Land Grant Chair connects nationally and internationally recognized artists and scholars with dance students, exposing them to contemporary artistry,masterwork and new thinking in dance studies.

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Two NEW Freshman Seminars set for Spring '15 now enrolling; BFA Studio Series performs New Plays

With spring registration deadlines quickly approaching, plenty of new and exciting opportunities for freshmen are presented across the university. Consider registering for one of these seminars offered through the Theatre Arts & Dance department. Each fulfills essential requirements.

Live Theatre: Creating and Expressing Community
This seminar seeks to utilize the immensely rich culture and resources in the Twin Cities such as Penumbra, Mixed Blood, and Ten Thousand Things supplemented with in class discussions and conversations with professionals to "develop a critical language with which to look at, think, discuss, and write about live performance - particularly its relationship to who we are to ourselves and each other." Many classes will occur at the theaters mentioned above!
Taught by Professor Sonja Kuftinec Thursdays 6:30-9:30pm
Fulfills Intensive Writing requirement

Backstage Pass to London: From the Guthrie to the Globe
London, theatre capital of of the English-speaking world, once prohibited public plays within its city gates. Why? How did a rained-out Hamlet performance at castle Elsinore become "game-changer" for 20th century stage design that actually effected Minneapolis and Rarig Center? What does A Midsummer Night's Dream share with Romeo and Juliet? See the shows and explore for with us! No photo of 1598 original exists, so how accurate is that reconstruction of the Globe Theatre anyway? You'll check out evidence, and decide. Meet today's Cardboard Citizen Theatre that empowers the homeless in London through performance.

Raise the curtain on London's world famous theatre scene and get a backstage view of what makes a great performance. Research performance practices, take actor-led tours on the Globe Theatre and the National Theatre. You'll visit Hampton Court Palace, where Shakespeare performed for his queen. Plans include experiencing plays, the famous Old Vic, and the West End. You will be debating and writing about them.

Taught by Dennis Behl, PhD Thursdays from 6:30 - 9:30pm. Class will study in London over spring break, March 13-22,
Fulfills Globe Perspectives liberal education requirement

NOTE Register before Dec 5. A few spaces are still available.
For more information visit: UMabroad.umn.edu/programs/fsa or contact Lindsey
at lahr 0039@umn.edu or 612 625-8827. Financial aid and $1000 FSA scholarships are available.

Coming Soon in November BFA STUDIO SERIES: NEW PLAYS

The BFA Class of '15 performs two new plays from opposite ends of the genre spectrum: an intense crime thriller and a thought-provoking and entertaining mythical mash-up.

BACK BAY by Christina Ham directed by Hayley Finn is set in the 1950s. In the grips of the Cold War the violent unsolved murder of a young African-American woman in Boston's affluent Back Bay neighborhood has the community on edge. When a fresh-off-the-farm Violet comes to stay in the illustrious mansion belonging to her older brother, Lowell, and his socialite wife, Elsie, she meets their best friend Alton who enlists her help to collaborate on a true crime novel investigating the unsolved homicide. As Violet closes in on the killer by following the trail of lies, the truth that she uncovers may destroy the lives of those around her. Inspired by such Post-War female crime fiction luminaries as Patricia Highsmith, Mary Roberts Rinehart, and Zenith Brown, this psychological thriller is a riveting and revealing portrait of how the other half lives.

WORLD WITHOUT END by Dominic Orlando is directed by Joseph W. Stodola. In The Beginning There Was . . what, exactly? An Old Dude in The Sky with a beard? Adam and Eve? Adam and Steve? Talking Snakes and glowing Angels? All God and no Goddess? WORLD WITHOUT END asks more questions than it answers, in a freewheeling mash-up of cultural myths where only one thing is certain: In The Beginning . . . There Was a Story.

See both of these plays, performed in the Kilburn Theater on the Liu stage, November 20 - 22. Admission is free.

Alumni Spotlight: BFA Grad cast in Disenchanted!

Stephanie Bertumen,(BFA '14) stars as Mulan, Pocahontas, and Jasmine in DISENCHANTED! at Minneapolis' Illusion Theater. These original fairytale princesses team up with others to "storm the castle" as they stand up against the exploitation they've suffered in today's modern portrayals of their stories.. See Bertumen in Disenchanted! at the Illusion Theater, running now through November 23.
Visit http://www.illusiontheater.org for more information.

Faculty/Staff Professional Activities

University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance chair Marcus Dilliard provides lighting design for the Guthrie play RELICS. The year is 2314 and archaeologists have discovered remains from a 300-year-old colony in what was North America. As an audience member, you are invited to the opening night gala exhibition of the artifacts they uncovered. The Guthrie promises a "mind-bending interactive theatrical event [that] allows you to see today through the cracked lens of tomorrow." Among the cast is BA Theatre Program Head Luverne Seifert. Experience this theatrical museum event at the Guthrie Theater November 13 through November 23. For more information, visit http://www.guthrietheater.org

"To Embrace Failure? A Multi-Disciplinary Re-Thinking," moderated by Associate Professor Lisa Channer, explores the "productive" failure of single authorship and of representation in Bertolt Brecht's theatre, which ultimately led to new forms of collectivity. Featuring MA/PhD Associate Professor Margaret Werry, the panel will ask: what constitutes failure? What does failure mean for our academic work? Can failure be disentangled from success? This discussion will takes place on November 13 at 4 pm at the Crosby Seminar Room - 240 Northrop. Visit http://www.northrop.umn.edu for more

Associate professor Michael Sommers directs and designs THE JUNIPFER TREE at the Open Eye Figure Theatre playing now through Dec. 6. Recommended for ages 8 and up. Visit OpenEyeThreatre.org for details and ticket information.

Associate professor Carl Flink, presently on sabbatical leave, conducts an artist-in-residency program and stages his Lost Lullabies at Orem's Utah Valley University running November 17 - 22.

Working - Musical now on stage 'til Nov.9 / Cracks in the Wall: 25 Years after Berlin Symposium

UMTAD's current production of Working, now on stage through Nov. 9 at Rarig Center, has been dubbed as a Pick of the Week by Minn Post, enjoyed positive press reactions by Workday, Minnesota and Minnesota Daily. Working's dramaturg Rye Gentleman shares his observations about Studs Terkel (1912-2008) American author, historian, actor, broadcaster whose celebrated book served as the foundation for this musical stage adaptation:

In his introduction to Working: People Talk About what They Do All Day and How They Feel About It, Terkel wrote: "This book, being about work, is, by its very nature, about violence- to the spirit as well as to the body...It is, above all (or beneath all) about daily humiliations. To survive the day is triumph enough for the walking wounded among the great many of us. The scars, psychic as well as physical, brought home to the supper table and the TV set, may have touched, malignantly, the soul of our society."

Terkel's 1974 book, the basis for this production, is a compilation of his hundreds of interviews with working persons: a waitress, a fire fighter, a hedge fund manager. Despite wildly divergent occupations, socioeconomic statuses, racial identities, and geographic regions, the subjects of Terkel's book joined to form an unlikely chorus, again and again drawing our attention to the quiet desperation and indignity suffered by workers in the United States.

The steel worker who believes he is merely a beast of burden. The mechanized welder. The caged bank teller. The monkey in the office cubicle.

Forty years later, the roles have altered but the rules haven't. The fundamental dehumanization of the American worker remains and, in some respects, reaches its inevitable crescendo.
When was the last time you went to work and were treated like a human being?

During his career, Terkel interviewed Bob Dylan, Marlon Brando, and Dorothy Parker, and wrote several oral histories, including Race: What Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession (1992). He graduated from University of Chicago's law school in 1934; immediately shunning the legal profession, he took a job in radio broadcasting through the WPA's Federal Writers Project. He was a victim of McCarthyism and a National Humanities Medal winner. He held well over a dozen jobs over the course of his life. On his first date with his wife, Ida, he borrowed twenty bucks from her that he never repaid.

For tickets and information about Working visit theatre.umn.edu or call 612 624-2345.
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Cracks in the Wall: 25 Years after Berlin Symposium
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, this symposium asks how performance can animate representational ruptures in three walled (or previously walled) sites: Berlin, Israel/Palestine, and along the US/Mexico border. Organized by Sonja Kuftinec, participants will include members of the IAS Collaborative on Brecht, the Department of Theater Arts, and Combatants for Peace. Admission is free. November 6 at 4:00 PM, Crosby Seminar Room, Northrop
Further information: Theater Arts Professor Sonja Kuftinec kufti001@umn.edu

Alumni Spotlight: SAGE Award-winning Dancers, BFA Grad cast in Utah Shakespeare Festival
UM's Dance Program was well represented at this month's Sage Awards at the Cowles Center. The season's Outstanding Ensemble Award recognized members of Black Label Movement's Wreck. Cheng Xiong, Ashley Akpaka, Jessica Ehlert, Lauren Baker, Jose Bueno, Miriam Castro, Natalie (Braun) Carr and Margaret Johnson -- 8 of the 13 artists in the ensemble are graduates of the department's program.
Dance Program Alumus Duncan Shultz received one of the two Outstanding Dance Performance Awards.
Dance Program Alumna Rosy Simas piece "We Wait In the Darkness" received one of the two Outstanding Design Awards.
Visit http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/stageandarts/279218162.html

Fresh from crossing Northrop's stage for his diploma in May,Eric Weiman('14 BFA ), walked right into his first professional role at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Weiman, recently interviewed for the Festival's website was asked what or who inspired him to pursue his dream of acting. Eric answered, "My parents, first and foremost, are the biggest supporters and inspirations for following acting..., they have always been supportive and accepting of the path I wish to follow. I also cannot think of where I would be today without Jon Ferguson and Ken Washington, two teachers and mentors of mine in Minneapolis (at the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training program) who took chances on me early in my life as an actor and taught me that acting is a craft, an art, and not just a hobby."
For the full interview visit http://utahshakespearefestival.blogspot.com/2014/10/utah-shakespeare-guet-blog-eric-weiman.html

Faculty/Staff Professional Activities
Theatre Arts professor Michael Sommers directs and designs The Juniper Tree at the Open Eye Figure Theatre slated to open Nov. 6 and play through Dec. 6. In this production with original music composed by Michael Koerner, Sommers brings to the stage this classic Brothers Grimm tale brimming with singing birds, dancing bones, and barking trunks. A live band blasts the brutish stepmother and soothes the sobbing sister. Sommers predicts a not -to -be- missed whirl of fairytale fun "where everyone (who's supposed to) lives happily ever after." Recommended for ages 8 and up. Visit OpenEyeThreatre.org for details and ticket information.

Dance professor Carl Flink, presently on sabbatical leave, conducts an artist-in-residency program and stages his Lost Lullabies at Orem's Utah Valley University. Dance program's Linda Talcott Lee performs in the Ordway Center's A Christmas Story opening November 29.

UMTAD department chair Marcus Dilliard designs lighting for a string of productions in the coming weeks : Pittsburgh Opera's Otello opening Nov 8; Guthrie Theater's Relics, Nov. 14, Moving Company at The Lab: Love's Labour's Lost, Nov. 21, and finally for Cantus/ Latte Da Theatre at Pantages, All is Calm, Dec. 18.

WORKING opens UMTAD's mainstage season Oct.30 - Nov.9

Minneapolis, MN - "So what do you do?" asked Studs Terkel to create his celebrated book Working, which tells the stories of real individuals and investigates the work they do, why they do it, and for whom they do it. These highly personal, powerful, engaging interviews leap from the page and come alive as characters in Working, adapted by award- winning Stephen Schwartz (Pippin, Godspell, Wicked) and Nina Faso. Working reveals the hopes, dreams, joys, and concerns of average working Americans by following them through one 24-hour workday. Critics hailed it as "spirited, life-affirming" (Chicago Sun-Times),"warm, inspiring and celebratory..."(Chicago Tribune). Its eclectic folk/rock score, performed by a cast of 25, features songs by James Taylor, Stephen Schwartz, Mary Rodgers, Susan Birkenhead, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Craig Carnelia, and Micki Grant. Directors Professor Lisa Channer (co-founder of Theatre Novi Most) and alumna Samantha Johns stage this University Theatre production with musical direction provided by Marya Hart. Working opens October 30 and plays through November 9 in the Stoll Thrust Theatre, in Rarig Center on the Twin Cities campus at the University of Minnesota. Note: Recommended for ages 13 and up. Performances will be presented Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:00pm.

Director Samantha Johns said, "We are both very veracious makers," referring to her colleague and co-director Lisa Channer. "We like to hug the audience and kinda slap em' in the face at the same time...we tend to be darker and more rambunctious in tone." For this production of Working, "...we are cooking with contemporary life, and therefore are finding ways to excuse passé tropes while highlighting others that could use some sprinkles." Johns explained, "We are building a thing so that you can leave the theatre both hungry and fed." Lisa Channer added, "With this project we are colliding/combining several forms: musical theatre, documentary theatre, contemporary performance - and seeing what happens." Results will be shaped by "taking a good hard look at the state of America's soul right now. Along with the cast and crew, we are interrogating all notions of what 'work' is, has meant to us, or should be, and trying to be very honest. Our motto for this project has been 'no lying."

Both co-directors are accomplished theatre artists working in the Twin Cities community, and nationally. Channer is a founding director of Theatre Novi Most with whom she makes new works for the stage that combine and cross pollinate American and Eastern European aesthetics and a faculty member in the department of Theatre Arts & Dance. Besides Working, another current project is Rehearsing Failure about Bertolt Brecht and three of his women collaborators / lovers during their time in L.A. in 1947. For more information visit www.theatrenovimost.org Samantha Johns makes work based on her ability to understand what is needed in a given situation. "I come from theatre and marching band and love." With other humans, she builds work that is often in response to "theatre and marching band and love." Her tendencies lean toward rowdiness and saccharine meditations. samanthajohns.carbonmade.com

America's workplace has changed dramatically since Terkel first used his reel-to-reel recorder to capture what he described as "the extraordinary dreams of ordinary people," for Working published forty years ago. Stephen Schwartz, one of the creators of the original 1977 musical conducted new interviews for the recently revised version. "It is an entirely different world because of computers and cubicles and the Internet, so the show required new material," Schwartz says. "Some of the characters ... have become composites of several folks originally interviewed by Terkel and some roles have been updated... the operator has been outsourced to India. There are some new characters, including a hedge fund manager...The more things change, the more they stay the same," Schwartz says. "We have the same issues with the invisibility of our workforce, and it's coming to the fore, with the attention on inequality and lack of social mobility." (excerpted Boston Globe, Jan 2, 2014)

Post- play discussions featuring representatives of the ensemble and guest speakers from the university community will follow performances Saturday, November 1, Friday, November 7 and Saturday, November 8. All discussions are free and open to the public.
The Working ensemble includes the following performers who play multiple roles:
Milo Bunting, Anne Cameron, Brandon Cayetano, Elizabeth Cooper, Neva Dalager,
Emma Foster, Hayley Hansen, Gaosong Heu, Jamila Joiner, Eric Larson,
Berit Martinson, Molly McElroy, Jacob Mobley, William Olson, Cole Remmen,
Daniel Luka Rovinsky, Cody Borah Saurdiff, Daniel Sbriglio, Tate Sheppard,
Ashley-Rose Steinhauser, Emily Sullivan, Chrissy Taylor, Laura Torgeson,
Lindsey Wente, and Joseph Wurm.

The production's creative team creative team includes the following:
Austin Ruh (Assistant Director), Rye Gentleman (Dramaturg), Kathleen McCarron (Costume Coordinator), Kevin Springer (Sound Designer), Kathy Maxwell (Lighting Designer), Audrey Rice (Stage Manager), and Hailey Colwell (Assistant Stage Manager).
Musicians for the production are Nicholas White (Guitar), Karl Jones (Piano), Jack Pirner (Percussion), and Elise Beckel Santa (Rehearsal Pianist).

For tickets and information call: U of M Arts /Events Ticket Office at 612 624-2345 or visit theatre.umn.edu Customer parking is available the 21st Ave. Parking Ramp, located across from the Rarig Center, on the University of Minnesota West Bank Campus.

Quick Facts
What: Working
Who: University of Minnesota Theatre Arts & Dance
When: October 30 - November 9, 2014.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings at 7:30pm; Sundays at 2:00pm.
Where: Rarig Center's Stoll Thrust Theatre, West Bank Arts Quarter.
330 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis
Tickets: $6 Students; $11 U of M faculty and staff; $16 General Public.
U of M Ticket Office (612) 624-2345 or online at theatre.umn.edu
Tickets are also available at the door two hours prior to performance.

University Theatre Arts & Dance is a laboratory for performance and practice of content taught in the Department's academic programs. In keeping with the University of Minnesota's three public purposes - research, and discovery; teaching and learning; outreach and public service - the mission of the Department of Theatre Arts & Dance is to educate students and audiences about the performing arts, and about the social issues and human emotions the arts speak to so powerfully. We are committed to realizing this mission by creating, producing, and studying works of theatre and dance, and performing them publicly for diverse audiences drawn both from the University and the community at large. Patrons should expect to see performances that challenge the mind and are produced with the highest possible quality.