By: William Shakespeare
The Tempest mixes the fantastic world of Midsummer Night's Dream with the dark politics of Hamlet and Macbeth. The world of Prospero's solitary island, sustained by his "rough magic" and peopled only by himself, his daughter Miranda, the spirit Ariel, and the beastly Caliban, becomes ground zero for the battle between love and hate, of good over evil. As do all the best of Shakespeare's works, Tempest speaks as much to today's world as it did to the London of the early 1600s in which it was first performed.
MAD Weekend will offer more than 30 events and dance/movement master classes in a variety of levels and styles over three days for dancers 15 and older. The weekend will include seminars, workshops, and evening performances by professional dancers and choreographers.
Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison.
Winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, The Drowsy Chaperone is a loving send-up of the Jazz Age musical, featuring one show-stopping song and dance number after another.
With the houselights down, a man in a chair appears on stage and puts on his favorite record: the cast recording of a fictitious 1928 musical. The recording comes to life and The Drowsy Chaperone begins as the man looks on. Mix in two lovers on the eve of their wedding, a bumbling best man, a desperate theatre producer, a not-so-bright hostess, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, a misguided Don Juan and an intoxicated chaperone, and you have the ingredients for an evening of madcap delight.
By Charles M. Schulz, based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson; stage adaptation by Eric Schaeffer
By special arrangement with Arthur Whitelaw and Ruby Persson
The classic animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas comes to life in this faithful stage adaptation, in which Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanuts Gang discover the true meaning of Christmas.
By Roger Bean
This smash off-Broadway hit takes you to the 1958 Springfield High School prom where we meet Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy, and Suzy, four girls with hopes and dreams as big as their crinoline skirts! As we learn about their lives and loves, the girls serenade us with classic '50s hits including "Lollipop," "Dream Lover," "Stupid Cupid," and "Lipstick on Your Collar." In act two, the Wonderettes reunite to take the stage and perform at their 10-year reunion. We learn about the highs and lows the women have experienced in the past decade and are charmed to find that no matter what life throws their way, they will conquer it together. Featuring over 30 classic '50s and '60s hits, The Marvelous Wonderettes will keep you smiling in this must-take musical trip down memory lane!
By Naomi Lizuka
A visceral blend of classical mythology and real life stories told by street kids, Naomi lizuka's Polaroid Stories journeys into a dangerous world where myth-making fulfills a fierce need for transcendence, where storytelling has the power to transform a reality in which characters' lives are continually threatened, devalued, and effaced. Informed by interviews with young prostitutes and street kids, Polaroid Stories conveys a whirlwind of psychic disturbance, confusion and longing. Like their mythic counterparts, these modem-day mortals are engulfed by needs that burn and consume. Their language mixes poetry and profanity, imbuing the play with lyricism and great theatrical force.
Music and lyrics by Christopher Curtis; book by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan
The musical tells the story of a young Charlie Chaplin growing up and how he became his famous "little tramp." The first act is devoted to the issues of growing and becoming a man who realizes that he wants to be in the filming industry, which was at the very beginning of its ascent. A second act tells how he got into the world of cinema, which was then very similar to classical theater with its constant exaggerations in facial expressions, movements, makeup, and even in the manner of the play — and how he tried to change it.
For tickets to the production season shows, contact the Arts Center Box Office at 585-389-2170.
For tickets to all other performances, contact the Theatre and Dance department, 585-389-2603.