Follow your dreams with "Up (The Man in the Flying Chair)"
The Department of Theatre is thrilled to present the dramatic comedy written by Bridget Carpenter Up (The Man in the Flying Chair), a story that captures the essential truth about the lure of the impossible dream, its freedom, and its danger. Directed by Head of the Actor Training Program Chris DuVal, the production runs March 9-17 in Studio 115. Up (The Man in the Flying Chair) is based on the real-life escapade of truck driver Larry Walters who attached 45 helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and found himself 16,000 feet above the world, 20 years ago. He rose up from his backyard in San Pedro, California, was seen by commercial airliners, and drifted into controlled air space near Long Beach airport. Today he’s furiously holding onto his dreams and the faded memory of that glorious day, doing everything he can to keep his feet from touching the ground.
This is a story about breathtaking tension between hope and despair, “I love how we get to see inside Walter's mind as he's chasing a dream of who he is,” DuVal says. He creates an environment that doesn’t sacrifice the communal nature of making theatre—the inherent love of art making. “Theatre must always retain its joyful attitude,” he explains. This production shows what it is to pursue one’s dream. To go on a hero’s journey where the destination is unknown, and the path uncertain, but that it is a calling of something that must be undertaken. “It’s a story that is needed now more than ever.” "A brilliant play...original, poignant, moving, sad and funny. I have rarely sat in a theater audience that laughed so hard at one moment and, at the next, sat so still you'd swear you could hear the actors' hearts beating together on stage."
- Eugene Register-Guard
“Up (The Man in the Flying Chair)” at a glance:
Dates and Times: March 9-11 and 15-17 at 7:30PM with a matinee on March 17 at 2PM
Post-Performance Discussions: March 16
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, U faculty and staff are $15, U 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 or at the Performing Arts Box Office, located at Kingsbury Hall.
Age Recommendations: Ages 14+
U.S. Premiere of "The Beautiful Game" at the Babcock Theatre
We return to the Babcock Theatre with the U.S. premiere of The Beautiful Game with Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Lyrics and Book by Ben Elton. This politically and religiously charged romantic musical tells the story of ordinary people in extraordinary times. Choreographed by Musical Theatre graduate Jesse Klick and directed by Musical Theatre Program Head Denny Berry, the production runs February 16-March 4 at the Babcock Theatre.
Set amid The Troubles in Northern Ireland, this late 1960s coming-of-age musical is about a group of young men and women who are involved with a local soccer team at the start of a 30-year civil war. The amateur Catholic soccer team finds themselves torn between becoming professionals and fighting for their country. Some are drawn into the conflict, while others stand aside wanting only to be allowed to live and love in peace. It speaks of love, the things that keep us human, and the reality of dashed dreams.
Writer Ben Elton tells the story with humor and compassion, with lyrics that are both funny and heartbreaking. In the program note from the original 2000 production he wrote, “Although this is an Irish story, taking place in Belfast—a brave big-hearted city that I know well, having performed there many times—I hope that the themes and sentiments of The Beautiful Game are universal.”
The significance of this production in today’s society will be discussed through a panel discussion lead by Theatre Instructor and Production Dramaturg, Mark Fossen on February 23, immediately after the evening production.
From the Dramaturg:
“We’re at war, Mary. We’ve been at war for eight hundred years.”
By Mark Fossen, Dramaturg
The Beautiful Game looks at the early years of “The Troubles.” But the complicated history of Ireland dates at least as far back as the 1171 the invasion of Ireland by the English King Henry II—the beginning of centuries of English rule over the island.
The political and territorial conflict between the native Irish and the colonizing English took on a religious aspect in 1534 when King Henry VIII broke from the Roman Catholic Church and founded the Church of England. The Irish were staunchly Roman Catholic and loyal to the Pope, and the religious division multiplied their grievances against the English. King James I took the English throne after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, unifying the crowns of Scotland, Ireland, and England. He began a project to settle the Plantation of Ulster in what is now Northern Ireland with Protestant English and Scottish settlers in order to suppress a hotbed of rebellion on the island.
In 1688, the Catholic King James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution and fled to Ireland to find support amongst the Catholic populace, only to be defeated by the Protestant William of Orange, who is celebrated by the Protestant Unionist faction to this day. William ascended the English throne in 1689, and established the Protestant Ascendency—a series of repressive laws designed to strip the native populace of political and economic power, enabling the Protestant minority to hold political and economic power over the Catholic majority.
By the dawn of the 20th Century, the political movement towards Irish self-governance reached a climax in the 1916 Easter Rebellion and the War for Independence, which established the Republic of Ireland as an independent nation. However, the counties of Ulster remained part of the Union as a separate Northern Ireland.
The late 1960s saw the beginning of a 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland between the paramilitary Irish Republican Army and the Unionist forces, supported by the British Army.
The Beautiful Game begins near the start of The Troubles—specifically, the weekend of August 12-14, 1969, as violence broke out in Derry in “The Battle of the Bogside.” A Protestant march celebrating a 1689 victory by William of Orange’s forces passed near the Catholic area of Bogside, sparking three days of deadly violence between Catholic and Protestant forces.
The Troubles would consume Northern Ireland for three decades, overflowing at times to England and even mainland Europe. In the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the Republic of Ireland recognized Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. But both countries agreed that Northern Ireland could join the Republic, should a majority in both vote for the change.
For more information about The Beautiful Game and “The Troubles,” please visit our
dramaturgical website at http://beautifulgame2018.wordpress.com
'Eclipsed' To Be Performed at Regional Festival
University of Utah Theatre Department’s Eclipsed Will Be Performed at Regional Festival The University of Utah Theater Department’s production of Eclipsed from last season was chosen by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival to perform at Festivention from February 14 to 17 at Mesa Community College, Arizona. This is one of only six productions that has been chosen to perform from our region, comprised of schools from Utah, Southern Nevada, Southern California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Guam.
Eclipsed is a powerful production based on real life stories of the women and girls who helped bring peace to the African nation of Liberia during its second civil war. It became the first play with an all-black and female cast and creative team to premiere on Broadway in 2015. The U of U’s production followed this example by casting an all-black cast and hiring Stephanie Weeks, New York resident, as artistic director. Of their performance, Utah Theater Blogger stated, “The five women on stage of this production took on material that has the ability to bring empathy, understanding, and advocacy that is desperately needed.”
U of U Theatre professor Bob Nelson currently serves on the board of KCACTF, and has been serving there for 10 years. In fact, this year he was honored with a Gold Medallion for his years of dedicated service with the organization. Nelson said this year there were over 70 eligible applicants, and the U was one of 6 selected.
Some of KCACTF’s goals are “to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs, to provide opportunities for participants to develop their theater skills and insight . . . [and] to encourage colleges and universities to give distinguished productions of new plays.” Professor Nelson said of the festival, “I particularly appreciate working with KCACTF because this organization, more than many, focuses on the students’ experience. It gives students an excellent opportunity to interact and work with other individuals and institutions at the festival.”
Participating in the festival is no small undertaking. The entire company will be returning for their three performances at the festival, including recently graduated students. The company will also transport their entire set and costumes to the venue. While at the festival, they will get the opportunity to participate in workshops and seminars on such topics as dramaturgy, theatre criticism, playwriting, auditioning, voice, movement, stage combat, theater for children, scene painting, and scenery construction.
Speaking of Eclipsed, Artistic Director Stephanie Weeks was quoted in the Daily Utah Chronicle saying as, “Often when we talk of prisoners of war we talk about the soldiers who have been captured, tortured, and killed. Rarely do we talk about the women and children who are also in the trenches and are, in fact, prisoners of war themselves . . . trapped by their circumstances. So how and why do we imprison the women who gave us life and nurtured us?” Audiences who attended this production last year were deeply moved, and the University of Utah is proud to be able to send our talented cast and production team to this festival to share this important story.
By Adam Griffiths, CFA
'Eclipsed' selected to attend KCACTF Region 8 Festival
Eclipsed written by Danai Gurira, directed by Stephanie Weeks, produced by our Department in March of 2017, has been invited to attend Festival 50 in Mesa, Arizona at Mesa Community College February 13-17, 2018.
Eclipsed is one of six productions chosen to attend the KCACTF Region 8 festival in 2018. Other productions chosen include Where Words Once Were by Finegan Kruckemeyer, directed by Tracy Callahan, Weber State University (Utah); The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogo, adapted by Theatre Movement Bazaar and directed by Tina Kronis, Los Angeles City College (California); Man of La Mancha by Mitch Leigh, Joe Darion and Dale Wasserman, directed by bree valle, Cuesta College (California); Story Theatre by Paul Sills, directed by Kevin Dressler, Mesa Community College (Arizona); and Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, directed by Linda Bisessti, California Polytechnic University, Pomona (California).
Eclipsed tells the story of five extraordinary women brought together by the upheaval of war in their homeland of Liberia. “A driving force behind the resolution of the conflict were the women of Liberia who came together because they were tired and angry at what war was doing to their country,” said director Weeks. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, Eclipsed reveals the courage and strength of the women who are often overlooked in a world where war endures, and women are still fighting to survive.
The brilliant all-black female cast traveling to Arizona includes Madelaine Lamah as Maima, Terryn Shigg as Bessie, Darby Mest as The Girl, ATP alumna McKenna Jensen as Helena, and local artist Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin as Rita. Other members from the original University of Utah production will also be traveling to the festival including scenic designer Megan Branson, lighting designer Michele Collins, costume designer Kerstin Davis, sound designer Shea Madson, stage manager Tahra Veasley, properties designer Lesli Spencer, dramaturg Catherine Heiner, and director Stephanie Weeks.
Congratulations to everyone involved with the University of Utah’s production of Eclipsed.
Enroll now for Spring 2018!
The Department of Theatre offers Theatre Major and Non-Major students the opportunity to explore many aspects of the theatre, from acting to directing, history to playwriting. In the spring of 2018, our devoted faculty will teach classes that cover a variety of topics including multiculturalism, feminism, and Shakespeare among other classes aimed at diversifying the learning opportunities of our students.
Instructor Jerry Rapier, Artistic Director of Plan-B Theatre Company, will explore multiculturalism through the arts in his class, Diversity: Arts Inquiry. Students will develop a working understanding of critical theories useful to the analysis and production of theatrical texts in Theatre and Theory, (2 sections) taught by Instructors Mark Fossen and Lynn Deboeck.
Theatre of the Pacific taught by Ethnic Studies/Theatre Professor Kimberly Jew, and Contexts: Historical Plays, Then and Now are both courses that will count toward the BA Dramatic Lit requirement. Head of the BA Theatre Studies program, Professor Bob Nelson will teach students the craft of acting and directing Shakespeare through play analysis, interpretation, rehearsal, and performance in Acting and Directing Shakespeare. Playwright in residence, Professor Tim Slover, will explore with his students the collaborative processes that bring a new script from the page to production in New Play Workshop.
Check out a list of all our spring classes in the Spring 2018 Schedule.
Theatre and Theory (THEA 2713)
Section 001 MW 11:50-1:10pm, Mark Fossen
Section 002 MW 11:50-1:10pm, Lynn Deboeck
Theatre Core Requirement. Through readings, discussion, and performance, students develop a working understanding of the critical theories most useful to the analysis and production of theatrical texts, including semiotics, (post)structuralism, feminism, and post-colonialism. The capstone experience in the class is a performance that exemplifies one or more of the theories studied during the semester.
*Required in BA Theatre Studies.
Diversity: Arts Inquiry (THEA 3000)
TH 12:25-1:45PM, Jerry Rapier, Artistic Director, Plan-B Theatre Company
Use of arts-based inquiry to represent data and explore diverse texts dealing with multiculturalism and diversity. Students create and produce performance pieces that integrate formal histories, personal narrative, case studies, and theories and critiques of multicultural education.
*Fulfills the General Education DV requirement.
Theatre of the Pacific (Thea 3790)
TH 2:00PM-3:20PM, Kimberly Jew, Ethnic Studies and Theatre
Special topics courses are designed for both Theatre Majors and Non-Majors. The focus of these courses varies each semester. Past courses have included: Performance Art, American and European Scene Study, and Dialects. Auditions for Actors Stage Combat Improv Check the Department’s web site for current information on the content and emphasis of special topics offerings. A variety of topics in theatre are covered relating texts to the culture that produced them.
*Can count as a BA Theatre Studies elective or toward the BA Dramatic Lit requirement.
Acting and Directing Shakespeare (THEA 4110)
MW 11:50AM-1:10PM, Bob Nelson, head of BA Theatre Studies
For Theatre Majors and Non-Majors. Students will study the craft of acting and directing Shakespeare through play analysis, interpretation, rehearsal, and performance. Students will craft a “director’s vision” and realize that vision through the rehearsal and production of scenes.
*Can count as a BA Theatre elective.
New Play Workshop (THEA 4420)
TH-2:00-5:00PM, Tim Slover, playwright in residence
For Theatre Majors and Non-Majors. Instructor’s approval. Meets with THEA 6220. Students explore the collaborative processes which bring a new script from the page to production.
*Can count as a BA Theatre elective.
Contexts: Historical Plays, Then and Now (THEA 4703)
MW 8:35-10:30AM
This course is an exercise in advanced analysis of a range of representative plays from the pre-nineteenth century history of theatre, including works of female and non-Western playwrights. Students will conduct close readings of the assigned plays. They will study the plays structures and their particular contexts: political, socio-economic, cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic and analyze how the plays establish, reinforce, or challenge values within these contexts. They will study themes, strategies, multiple meanings, dramatic genres and movements, reactions, and innovations. The course will focus on bridging the gap between the plays original context and the perspectives and production possibilities of today. The particular plays studied will vary to some degree each time the course is taught, depending on the live performances of historical plays available during the term, specific curricular needs, and the instructor’s expertise.
*Counts toward the BA Dramatic Lit requirement.
Alumnus William Copper Howell in "Hamilton" parody called "Spalmiton"
Musical Theatre Program alumnus William Cooper Howell plays Lin-Manuel Miranda's character in "Hamilton" parody called, "Spamilton." Read the entire the LA TIMES ARTICLE by Charles McNulty below.
'Spamilton': Musical spoof lands its punches softly, and with a smile
If you can't beat 'em, parody 'em.
Gerard Alessandrini, the man behind the popular “Forbidden Broadway” series, has made his theatrical career spoofing his musical theater betters. He’s turned theatrical lampooning into an art form, sending up the excesses of bloated shows and caricaturing the mannerism of divas.
Alessandrini has had much to mock over the span of 25 “Forbidden Broadways,” from the fervid pop operas of Andrew Lloyd Webber to the empty-headed jukebox musicals that, until recently, had a commercial stranglehold on the American musical theater.
The success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” has inaugurated a new and more promising era. The show, too much a game-changer to be crowded into a skewering revue, is the target of Alessandrini’s “Spamilton,” which opened last weekend at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
The show (created, written and directed by Alessandrini) tweaks the familiar logo of “Hamilton” to leave no doubt about the teasing intentions. A pianist (music director James Lent) pounds away discreetly at the keys on a mostly bare stage. The ensemble is surprisingly populous, but the production still has the feeling of a small-scale cabaret.
“Spamilton” substitutes the story of Miranda, a Broadway revolutionary, for the story of Alexander Hamilton, the original American revolutionary. The rhymes of “Alexander Hamilton,” the opening number from “Hamilton,” are rejiggered to introduce Broadway’s reigning king, whose Tony-winning show has become one of the hottest tickets in the land.
How does a whipper snapper
Student of rap
And a Latin
Trapped in the middle of a
Manhattan flat
With Broadway accolades
While other writers kiss
The corporate dollar
Grow up to be a hip-hop op’ra
Scholar?
These words are sung by Wilkie Ferguson III, who plays Leslie Odom Jr., the “Hamilton” cast member who won a Tony for playing Aaron Burr. Hamilton’s rival is still bitterly competitive, though in “Spamilton” the two characters argue about artistic integrity, not politics.
Everyone knows that Lin-Manuel (William Cooper Howell) is destined to “build a better Broadway,” but it’s not going to be an easy road. Audiences like to stick to the familiar, and the commercial temptations and traps have grown only more extreme.
But this hot young talent means business. In “His Shot,” Lin-Manuel roars, “I am not gonna let Broadway rot” — and both the swagger and nobility of his ambition come through.
The structure of the show seems jury-rigged. The story readily gives way to gag numbers. Impersonations of Liza Minnelli and Barbra Streisand are de rigueur. The spirit of “Spamilton” is mostly adulatory, but Alessandrini, a shrewd observer of musicals, takes a few gentle shots at Miranda.
“Be terser in your verse, sir/You’re no Johnny Mercer,” critiques Odom in a rhyme that demonstrates Alessandrini’s own rap prowess. After “Hamilton” becomes a blockbuster, Lin-Manuel comes on and self-deprecatingly introduces himself: “I’m slightly obnoxious/Too broad, too pained/My voice is strained/and thin/I’m Lin-Manuel!”
The “Spamilton” cast infuses the show with nonstop energy. Zakiya Young summons Renée Elise Goldsberry as effectively as she conjures Audra McDonald and J-Lo. John Devereaux simulates the cool, lanky, big-haired eccentricity of Daveed Diggs.
Glenn Bassett, who plays crazy King George, camps it up in “Straight Is Back,” a “Penny Lane”-like ditty (converted, if you will, from “You’ll Be Back”) bemoaning the way “Hamilton” has made Broadway conspicuously less gay.
Some of the raillery, while funny, feels like overkill. The mash-up of shows, combinations that are like Frankenstein’s monster (“The Lion King and I”), might be more amusing in a nightclub serving drinks.
Alessandrini is on steadier ground when bringing in Stephen Sondheim. “Spamilton” pokes fun at Miranda’s hero worship. (Is there a note of Eve Harrington in Lin-Manuel’s earnest praise?) “Sweeney Todd” is invoked in a running gag in which a beggar woman cacophonously pleads not for alms but for “Hamilton” tickets.
Yet Alessandrini detects more lyrical kinship between these composers than might be obvious to a civilian theatergoer. Sondheim’s deft wordplay seems like a precursor to Miranda’s rap style by the end of a section in which Renée repeatedly sings, “And another hundred syllables/Came out of his brain.”
“Spamilton” infuses original insights into a show that without these kernels might seem tiresomely broad. The musical unfolds as a sort of dream of President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, who made “Hamilton” the “Camelot” of their administration. The production can get surreally silly at points, but Alessandrini treats Miranda’s masterpiece with the rambunctious love this watershed musical deserves.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
‘Spamilton’
Where: Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City
When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays (call for exceptions); ends Jan. 7
Price: $55-$99 (subject to change)
Info: (213) 628-2772 or www.centertheatregroup.org
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes (no intermission)
London Learning Abroad info Session
Next London Learning Abroad Info Session:
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
5:00 -5:50 pm
PAB 103
Students who participate in the Theatre, Fine Arts and Humanities London Learning Abroad program will spend 6 weeks in England attending classes, performances by some of the finest theatre companies in the world, and visiting art galleries, museums, and historic sites.
The Theatre, Fine Arts and Humanities in London Learning Abroad program is an exciting way for students to earn their International Requirement. This requirement is designed to help students appreciate the interdependence of the global community, understand the viewpoints of other nations, and improve communication between people across international borders. Credit may also be counted toward the completion of theatre major requirements and/or meet Fine Arts or Humanities General Education requirements. Honors credit can also be awarded with permission from the Honors College.
Travel Dates: May-June (6 weeks)
Application Deadline: February 15
U of U students nominated the Theatre, Fine Arts, and Humanities in London Learning Abroad Program for a Beacons of Excellence Award. To see a video about the program and the award, click here. (Video produced by Amy Jensen for Learning Abroad.)
For more information about this program and for applications, click here.
Wonderland by ATP alumnus, Matt Morgan
ATP alumnus, Matthew Morgan brings WONDERLAND to SLC presented by his company The Petite Palace & the Utah Arts Alliance, November 3-12. WONDERLAND is a high energy, madcap circus celebration of humanity! Leave your cares at the door as you enter a joyous world of entertainment presented by your hosts, the ridiculous husband and wife duo Matt and Heidi Morgan. Acrobats, aerialists, speed jugglers and quite possibly YOU promise to thrill and amaze while the comedy may literally be in your lap in this beautiful and intimate 150 seat tent. Come sit shoulder to shoulder with your neighbors and enjoy circus like you’ve never experienced before!
This is different ... unexpectedly moving and beautiful--Democrat & Chronicle
The Petite Palace is also presenting 2 performances of PRINCESS WENDY'S LATE NITE TEASE ROOM, November 10 and 11 at 9:30pm. Princess Wendy’s Late-Night Tease Room, a delightfully raucous evening of comedy, burlesque, and sexy circus. Hosted by the sassy, wine drinking children’s birthday party princess, Princess Wendy, and featuring a menagerie of hot and hilarious talent. The Petite Palace is a new and exciting 150 seat traveling performance venue where communities can come and sit shoulder to shoulder, share a laugh and a gasp while experiencing a night of world class entertainment. It's the perfect venue for a family outing, a night out with friends or a date night with that special someone.
Glorious--Rochester City Newspaper
Shockheaded Peter Oct 13-Nov 4
Created for the stage by Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott.
Original music and lyrics by The Tiger Lilies.
Originally conceived and produced by Michael Morris for Cultural Industry, London.
A smattering of cautionary tales pulled from the popular German children’s book Struwwelpeter, featuring live music and dead children. A silly and sinister evening for the Halloween season. Come, join us in the “withdrawing room” before Shockheaded Peter meets its end.
Shockheaded Peter stars Actor Training Program Professor Sarah Shippobotham as the MC, and Actor Training Program junior student, Emily Nash as Player.
SHOCKHEADED PETER $25 at the door / $17-23 online8 PM @ The Art Factory 193 West 2100 South, SLC, UT 84115
"A vile and repulsive story told by reprehensible characters in a thoroughly degenerate fashion--Absolute Bliss” – David Bowie