Performing Arts Series takes spotlight
By Susannah Elliott, Entertainment Editor
October 4, 2005 | 7:10 a.m.
Beginning in October and ending in April, Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium will welcome a wide variety of performances for both OU students and members of the Athens community. This year’s series will not only feature popular Broadway shows, but other blends of dance, music and dramatic entertainment.
On Sunday, Oct. 2, the series kicked off with “Mountain Stage,” West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s two-hour special, which featured a variety of music genres and showcased artists from around the world. A second production of “Mountain Stage” will be performed in April.
This Wednesday, students and community members have the opportunity to see the longest-running show Broadway has ever seen as Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” takes the stage. This Webber musical has already been translated into 10 languages, and with lyrics based on poems from T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” this magical musical will provide its audience impressive choreography and memorable tunes. As of yesterday, tickets for “Cats” are sold out.
Also arriving in October, “Blast!” will open on Thursday, Oct. 27. This one-of-a-kind mix of music and theater is often compared to England’s “STOMP,” but, as opposed to being largely percussion, “Blast!” started with Star of Indiana, Drum Corps International World Champion. The drum and bugle corps evolved into a show that combines the same precision marching and showmanship of DCI with the effects of musical theater. Visuals of the show include choreography and athleticism of color guard and musicians alike. The show also displays an exploration of the color spectrum designed to heighten the audience’s musical and emotional experience. The 15-number “Blast!” incorporates an explosion of jazz, classical, techno and more.
On Feb. 15, “Rent” will come to the MemAud stage. This Pulitzer Prize-winning show follows the spirit of young artists in the harsh reality of the world. According to the ticket office, this production is already gaining many audience members. The University Program Council, a financial benefactor of five of the series’ performances, wanted to lend their support to a wide variety of theater styles. They also hoped to host performances expected to capture the most student interest.
“We know ‘Rent’ is a student favorite,” said senior Laura Alexander, president of UPC. “I remember when I was a freshman and ‘Rent’ came…there were lines out the door for that.”
The Office of Public Occasions Associate Director Andrew Holzaepfel agrees that Broadway shows like “Rent” generally have a strong student attendance. This and many other factors influence the selection process he and the staff go through to organize each performance in the series. Holzaepfel said that the process, which involves attending booking conferences and later sifting through information to choose the best shows, starts roughly a year and a half before the season begins. They usually bring seven to nine shows to OU and consider certain standards when choosing each performance. “We want it to have high artistic quality,” Holzaepfel said. “We also look at how they might appeal to the student population in addition to the community of Athens.”
The performance lineup of the 2005-2006 season reveals that those standards have held true. The next performance after “Blast!” will show on Jan. 13 and will be “Woven Harmony,” a husband-and-wife team working as a musical and visual duet of classical guitar and tapestry art. Also showing in January, “Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo” will take the stage on Jan. 31. This all-male comedy troupe knows not only how to make an audience chuckle, but also how to dance “en pointe.”
The Acting Company’s new stage adaptation of “The Three Musketeers” will come on Feb. 9, and the special family performance of the “New Shanghai Circus,” sponsored by the International Student Union and UPC, will show on Feb. 26. The circus features traditional Chinese acrobatics as well as new techniques and performers.
On March 3, ISU and UPC will also present “Illstyle & Peace Productions,” an urban dance group celebrating peace and unity through the evolving world of hip-hop. Closing the season on April 20 will be Mark O’Connor’s “Appalachia Waltz Trio,” a unique form of chamber music. O’Connor, Carol Cook and Natalie Haas will use their classical training and modern influences to create a new soundtrack to Americana.
Tickets to all Performing Art Series shows can be purchased at the ticket office just inside MemAud. The office is open every weekday from noon to 5 p.m. and during the hour prior to each performance. For more information, visit the ticket office’s http://www.ohio.edu/performingarts/tickets.cfm Web site.