DRACULA Music by Frank Wildhorn Book and Lyrics by Don Black, Christopher Hampton Conceived by Des McAnuff, Frank Wildhorn, Christopher Hampton Original Orchestrations by Koen Schoots Original Broadway Production by Dodger Theatricals and Joop Van Den Ende in association with Clear Channel Entertainment Directed and Choreographed by Denny Berry September 13-22, 2019 The Hayes Christensen Theatre (MCD)

MACBETH by William Shakespeare Directed by Wendy Franz September 27-October 6, 2019 Studio 115

THE ODYSSEY by Homer Adapted and originally directed by Mary Zimmerman Adapted from the translation of “The Odyssey” by Robert Fitzgerald Directed by Alexandra Harbold November 8-17, 2019 Babcock Theatre

SHE KILLS MONSTERS by Qui Nguyen Directed by Jamie Rocha Allan January 16-19, 2020 Kingsbury Hall

FLOYD COLLINS Book by Tina Landau Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel Additional Lyrics by Tina Landau Directed and Choreographed by Denny Berry February 14- March 1, 2020 Babcock Theatre

TARTUFFE by Molière In a translation by Ranjit Bolt Directed by Robert Scott Smith March 27-April 5, 2020 Studio 115

Tickets available in July, 2019.

Published in Blog

WOMANSPLAINING?

by Director Sarah Shippobotham

When asked to direct this show I initially didn’t see what all the fuss was about. So what that ten men were being played by ten women? We’ve turned male roles into female ones many times before—we did a female-forward Julius Caesar last semester—because we have always had such strong women in our program, often outnumbering the men, and we have tried hard to give them the opportunities they deserve. I have always been aware of the gender disparity in theatre and I have always decried it; and yet I still didn’t think the gender make up of this play was anything noteworthy. How wrong I was!

Being in a rehearsal room with fourteen young minds, including ten actors, three stage managers and one assistant director/movement director—of whom only two are male identifying—has actually been an eye-opening experience for me. I have learned so much about myself and what it is to be true to my own strength as a woman; about how privileged I was to have a mostly single-sex education; about how fearless many of these young women in the show are in their exploration of their roles in this world; about how we can listen to a lone male voice without it coming off as mansplaining (even though I was worried it may), and about how much work there still is to be done to give women the space they deserve as a matter of course without needing to talk about it because it is still an issue.

Jacklyn Backhaus said that she wrote this play because she wanted to write an adventure play. While writing it she realized she couldn’t be in it, as it was an all-male adventure. To change that, she wrote it for women to play the roles of John Wesley Powell and his crew. She has been asked why she didn’t write a story about women and did she discover women’s stories as she wrote it. She wanted to tell the Powell story. And she did encounter females’ stories along the way, but they had to be looked for as most of our historical documentation puts men’s—and mostly white men’s—stories on show, hiding or overlooking those of the “others” who helped to shape the world.

I love seeing the women of our theatre department taking up male-sized spaces, having fun with each other as they embark on Powell’s epic journey. And I hope you too will value the experience of seeing so many women on stage together at one time.

MEN ON BOATS MARCH 1-10 in Studio 115 Tickets: tickets.utah.edu/events/men-on-boats/ 801-581-7100

Published in Blog

LOVE IN THE ARENA My first adventure with Big Love started with a trip to the emergency room, because someone accidentally scratched my cornea during callbacks. Maybe the director just took pity on me after the accident and wanted to make a peace offering, but I was cast in the role of Nikos. And now, fourteen years later, I have the privilege of revisiting this wonderfully wild and fiercely relevant work. I thought I had a good sense of the production and the story I wanted to tell, but that was before I started looking more closely through the magnifying glass of the #MeToo Movement.

The story I wanted to tell evolved. One line kept reverberating in my mind, one spoken passionately by Thyona: “there can be no love because there can be no love that is not freely offered and it cannot be free unless every person has equal standing.” What would happen to the power dynamic if women actually had equal standing? And if women do not have equal standing, can we ever have justice?

I jumped at Chuck Mee’s invitation to “pillage the plays as I have pillaged the structures and contents of the plays of Euripides and Brecht and stuff out of ‘Soap Opera Digest’ and the evening news and the internet.” I updated references to bring us to 2018, added text from other works by Chuck, and changed almost all the music he suggested—which had been exclusively male—and found music composed, written or performed by women. This production is an equal collaboration amongst the actors, designers, and stage management team, and I couldn’t have fulfilled my vision without their incredible work.

So, welcome to our boxing ring. Chuck Mee says: “I like plays that are not too neat, too finished, too presentable. My plays are broken, jagged, filled with sharp edges, filled with things that make sudden turns, careen into each other, smash up, veer off in sickening turns, that feels good to me. It feels like my life. It feels like the world.” We hope you feel the same!

—Robert Scott Smith, Director


We will have a post-performance discussion immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance on November 16, to talk about the impact the #MeToo movement has had on Big Love.

Big Love | November 9-18 | Babcock Theatre Tickets available at tickets.utah.edu

Published in Blog

The University of Utah’s Department of Theatre ends the fall season with Charles L. Mee’s Big Love, an elaborate, updated retelling of one of the oldest plays in Western history, The Danaids by Aeschylus. Directed by Robert Scott Smith, the production runs Nov. 9-18 in the Babcock Theatre in the lower level of the Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 South and University Street.

Big Love, which has nothing to do with polygamy or the late cable TV series, tells the story of 50 brides who flee their 50 grooms and seek refuge in an Italian villa. Mayhem ensues, complete with grooms in flight suits, women throwing themselves to the ground, occasional pop songs, romantic dances, and even a bride falling in love.

Written originally for the Humana Festival, Louisville, in 2000, this play is topically relevant by tackling the issue of sexual misconduct that prompted the #MeToo movement, and challenging the many misconceptions of gender and sexuality that still exist today. In a 2003 interview with Open Stages newsletter, Mee explained, “…it’s all about refugees and gender wars and men and women trying to find what will get them through the rubble of dysfunctional relationships, and anger and rage and heartache.”

Big Love is timely, important, and a spectacular theatre piece the audience won’t forget.


Tickets General $18

UofU Fac/Staff $15

Seniors (60+) Military $15

Free for UofU students with valid student ID, must show Ucard in person to request a ticket

Student $8.50

big love 4612 edit 732x1024big love 4712 edit 731x1024

Published in Blog

The U's Department of Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, set in a futuristic Rome run by women. Guest directed by David Carey, the production runs Oct. 26-Nov. 4 in Studio 115.

The vision for this futuristic, women-ruled production of Julius Caesar comes from guest director, David Carey. Carey is a UK National Teaching Award-winning Fellow who has worked as a Voice and, Text Director on over 30 productions at the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and who has taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He made the decision to cast 13 women and 5 men in what he calls a “gender-flipped version of Shakespeare’s play.” The casting led to the development of a conceptual Rome set in 2118, where Caesar has declared herself “Mother of the Motherland.”

“The increasing domino-effect of climate change across the world led to the complete disruption of advanced technology and the collapse of the social order by 2048,” Carey says about this production’s time and setting. “Seventy years later, women have established themselves as the dominant power in the post-technological world following the failure of male leadership, while men have become the ‘weaker sex.’

” This 400-year-old political drama, based on true events from Roman history deals with political topics that are timely and, significant to audiences today. Carey explains, “The play deals with the consequences of authoritarianism and idealism in the political sphere. At a time when populism, authoritarianism, and the idealisms of left and right are threatening the basic tenets of democracy, it feels right to be mounting a production of Julius Caesar.

A post-performance discussion about power and dominance of women on the theatre stage will be held on Friday, November 2, immediately following the evening 7:30 p.m. performance. Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre and of Gender Studies, Lynn Deboeck will be leading the discussion with production dramaturg, Alia Richards where audiences are invited to engage in the conversation.

Julius Caesar at a glance:

Dates and Times: Previews Oct. 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. The show runs Oct. 26-28 and Nov. 1-4 at 7:30 p.m. with matinees on Nov. 3 and 4 at 2:00 p.m.

Post-Performance Discussions: Nov. 2 immediately following the evening 7:30 p.m. performance.

Location: Studio 115 in the Performing Arts Building, 240 S. 1500 East. Parking is available in the visitor's lot to the south of the theatre, at Rice-Eccles Stadium or on Presidents Circle.

Tickets: General Admission tickets are $18, University of Utah faculty and staff are $15, University of Utah students are free with UCard and all other students with valid student ID are $8.50. Tickets can be obtained by calling 801-581-7100, online at tickets.utah.edu/events/julius-caesar/ or at the Performing Arts Box Office, located at Kingsbury Hall.

Published in Blog

Championship chess is a thrilling world, filled with larger than life personalities, intrigues, and fast paced action. Who knew that watching hyper-intelligent people think could be so interesting? Mix chess with the dynamics of take-no-prisoners international diplomacy, crossed with complicated interpersonal entanglements, and you have the basis of a compelling story. The story of these various attempts at manipulation come together compellingly in Tim Rice, Benny Anderson, and Bjorn Ulvaeus’s musical Chess.

Why this play? This play has been tried in different forms between the West End and Broadway. It has been pretty commonly understood in the industry that neither form worked perfectly. Tim Rice, whose idea this play was, invites a director to continue the work of shaping the telling of this story, its character development, and the interplay of those different worlds. That alone was a compelling reason to work on this material.  ABBA’s score is well known and well loved, and Tim Rice’s lyrics give fuel to the world. It was an exciting prospect for me to dissect this wonderful story, script, and score, and to reimagine the intersections of the characters in order to make their journey touch us across the footlights.

Why now? Current Russian–American sparring cannot help but remind us of the deadly diplomatic tensions of the Cold War. How do we relate to each other as nations and as individuals? How do we know what the other side really wants, really means? How we really function productively?

We in the Chess company have a tremendous respect and admiration for the amazing minds that compete in chess at the championship level. We’ve come to understand the dominance of Russia in the game and the support they have given their most skilled players. The obsession and focus required to participate at this level attracts minds that just don’t turn off. Unfortunately, minds that ignore other aspects of life are easily mis-used. We hope that you will love these characters and their story in this rarified world as much as we have loved creating it all for you.

The collaborative nature of theatre requires that artistry and co-operation from many specialists come together. Our team has been especially brilliant. We have an amazingly talented cast. Musical Director Alex Marshall’s orchestration underscores the drama with passion. Halee Rasmussen’s tilted, raked chess board is a constant tweak to the predicatable. Cole Adams’s inspired lighting keeps us on edge and guessing at what will happen next. Adam Day masterfully brings the voices front while still letting us feel the band in the room. Brenda Van der Wiel created our edgy, surprising costumes. Amanda French wig’s and make-up have added to the off kilter nature of the characters. Amber Lewandowski and her skilled stage management team have kept us focused and on schedule. The Musical Theatre Ensemble supports and broadens the score allowing us to expand the sound.

We have been so blessed with a team that has bonded, and who serve the show with definitive focus and unique sensitivity and talent.

We hope you enjoy the show!

--Denny Berry Director and Choreographer of Chess The Musical

Musical Theatre Program Head

Published in Blog

We are excited to open our season by returning for the fourth year to the Hayes Christensen Theatre at the Marriott Center for Dance for Chess The Musical, a politically-driven, Cold-War–era musical about a chess tournament where players, lovers, politicians, and spies collide through manipulation. Then, David Carey from Oregon Shakespeare Festival joins us in October to direct Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. November brings Charles L. Mee’s Big Love, an elaborate, updated retelling of one of the oldest plays in Western history, The Danaids by Aeschylus.

In the spring, we present Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s musical comedy Company, directed by Ryan Emmons, followed by the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, Men On Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus in March. We close with Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s first play, The Rivals, a comedy of manners set in 18th-century Bath, England.

We strive to maximize the access, interest, and impact of theatre for our diverse audiences. Our productions will ignite exciting dialogue through talkbacks, panels discussions, and other artist-interface opportunities.

IntroChess

Music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus
Lyrics by Tim Rice
Based on an idea by Tim Rice
Directed and Choreographed by Denny Berry
September 14-23, 2018
The Hayes Christensen Theatre at the Marriott Center for Dance

 

IntroJulius

By William Shakespeare
Directed by David Carey
October 26-November 4, 2018
Studio 115

introBigLoveBy Charles L. Mee
Directed by Robert Scott Smith
November 9-18, 2018
Babcock Theatre

IntroCompany

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by George Furth
Originally Produced and Directed on Broadway by Harold Prince
Orchestration by Jonathan Tunick
Directed by Ryan Emmons
February 15- March 3, 2019
Babcock Theatre

 

introMOB

By Jaclyn Backhaus
Directed by Sarah Shippobotham
March 1-10, 2019
Studio 115

introRIvals

By Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Directed by Alexandra Harbold
April 5-14, 2019
Babcock Theatre

Tickets are now available at tickets.utah.edu

Published in Blog

The New Plays Workshop class taught by Professors Tim Slover and Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell invites you to three nights of free staged readings of new and bold plays. The plays written and performed by members of the Department of Theatre community will run April 23-25, at 6:00 p.m in PAB 115. Admission to the play readings is free and post-performance discussions will happen each night following the play readings. Light refreshments with be served.

Shooter by Mark Macey (Theatre Studies) April 23

The Value by Nicholas Dunn (Adjunct Faculty, ATP alumnus) April 24

Mapplethorpe by Mary Stringham (Art History Major & Theatre Minor) April 25 *Plays contain adult language and themes


About New Plays Workshop class: As a class, the plays are developed through discussion and exploratory workshops over the course of the semester. The development process culminates with student-run staged readings where members may serve variously as actors, directors, dramaturgs, stage managers or producers depending upon area of interest and the requirements of each play.


PERFORMING ARTS BUILDING PARKING:Parking is available in the visitor’s lot to the south of the Performing Arts Building, in the Marriott Library lot. Monday-Friday payment for parking is now required until 10:00 p.m.Please make sure to pay at the kiosks in the parking lot. The closest parking kiosk to Performing Arts Building is located outside the University of Utah Credit Union.

Published in Blog

"And Here We Are..."

A story of our years in the MTP

The Musical Theatre graduating class presents “And Here We Are…” The showcase is both a reflection and capstone for our graduating seniors of the Musical Theatre Program and will feature their wide-ranging and phenomenal talents. The seniors have created a show that shares the story of their lives over the past four years–including the hard work, friendships, and lots and lots of dancing! Come and see the Class of 2018 in their very last University show! The production runsApril 20-22 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee on April 22 at 2:00 p.m. in Studio 115. FREE tickets with RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/and-here-we-are-tickets-44810717061


Musical numbers in And Here We Are... include: “If You Knew My Story” - Bright Star “For Forever” - Dear Evan Hansen (Part 1) “Someone in the Crowd” - La La Land “Soft Place to Land” - Waitress “Everything I Know” - In The Heights “Cell Block Tango” - Chicago “I Don’t Need a Roof” - Big Fish “And Here We Are…” by Lloyd Livengood, Zach Marquez, Makayla Cussen, and Bailey Cummings

Published in Blog
Page 1 of 3