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UWSP Department of Theatre & Dance
2007-2008 SeasonLend Me a Tenor
by Ken Ludwig
October 12-14 and 18-21, 2007
Noel Fine Arts Center Studio Theatre
This night in September of 1934 is the biggest in the history of the
Cleveland Grand Opera Company world famous tenor Tito Morelli is to perform
Otello, his greatest role, at the gala season opener. Saunders, the General
Manager, hopes this will put Cleveland on the operatic map. Morelli is late;
when he finally sweeps in it is too late to rehearse with the company.
Through a hilarious series of mishaps, Il Stupendo is given a double dose of
tranquilizers which mix with the booze he has consumed and he passes out.
His pulse is so low that Saunders and his assistant Max believe he is dead.
What to do? Max is an aspiring singer and Saunders persuades him to get into
Morelli's Otello costume and try to fool the audience into thinking he's Il
Stupendo. Max succeeds admirably, but Morelli comes to and gets into his
other costume. Now two Otellos are running around in costume and two women
are running around in lingerie, each thinking she is with Il Stupendo! A
sensation on Broadway and in London's West End, Lend Me a Tenor is
guaranteed to leave your audiences teary eyed with laughter.
Urinetown - The Musical
by Gret Kotes
Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollman
November 2-4 and 7-10, 2007
Noel Fine Arts Center Jenkins Theatre
One of the most uproariously funny musicals in recent years, URINETOWN is a
hilarious tale of greed, corruption, love, and revolution in a time when
water is worth its weight in gold. In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water
shortage, caused by a 20-year draught, has led to a government-enforced ban
on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a
single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of
humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides he's had
enough, and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! Inspired by the
works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, URINETOWN is an irreverently
humorous satire in which no one is safe from scrutiny. Praised for
reinvigorating the very notion of what a musical could be, URINETOWN
catapults the “comedic romp” into the new millennium with its outrageous
perspective, wickedly modern wit, and sustained ability to produce gales of
unbridled laughter.
Afterimages
December 6-8, 2007
Noel Fine Arts Center Jenkins Theatre
Extraordinary student choreography and performance. Varied, inspired and
entertaining.
The Fifth of July
by Lanford Wilson
February 8-10 and 14-17, 2008
Noel Fine Arts Center Studio Theatre
The scene is a sprawling farmhouse in rural Missouri, which is home to Ken,
a legless Vietnam veteran, and his lover, Jed, a horticulturist. They are
visited by Ken's sister, June, and her teenage daughter, and by Gwen and
John—the former a hard-drinking, pill-popping heiress who aspires to be a
rock star, the latter her wary-eyed husband and manager. All are old friends
from college days, and former activists who agitated for what they hoped
would be a better world. The action centers on Gwen's offer to buy the farm,
which she plans to convert into a recording center, and on Ken's Aunt Sally,
who has come to the family homestead to scatter the ashes of her late
husband. Their talk, as the play progresses, is sharp and funny and, in the
final essence, deeply revealing of lost hopes and dreams and of the
bitterness that must be fought back if one is to perceive the good that life
can offer.
Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare
February 29-March 2 and 6-8, 2008
Noel Fine Arts Center Jenkins Theatre
Shakespeare’s masterpiece of conspiracy and ambition made vital and
immediate. A contemporary adaptation of the classic tragedy of honor,
patriotism and friendship
Disclaimer: Not recommended for young audiences
Danstage 2008 |
Danstage slideshow
three new choreographic collaborations
by Michael Estanich, Jeannie Hill and Joan Karlen
April 11-13 and 17-20, 2008
Produced for the first time in the new
Noel Fine Arts Center
Studio Theatre
Baby
by Sybille Pearson
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr
Music by David Shire
May 2-4 and 7-10, 2008
Noel Fine Arts Center Jenkins Theatre
Is there anything more exciting, frightening and utterly transformational
than impending parenthood? “Baby” tells the story of three couples on a
university campus as they deal with the painful, rewarding and agonizingly
funny consequences of this universal experience. There are the college
students, barely at the beginning of their adult lives; the thirty-somethings,
having trouble conceiving but determined to try; and the middle aged
parents, looking forward to seeing their last child graduate from college
when a night of unexpected passion lands them back where they started.
DIsclaimer: Deals with matters of conception, pregnancy and
birth; may not be suitable for young children.
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