Academic Season
"Little Women"
By Kate Hamill
Adapted from the novel by Louisa May Alcott
Directed by Geovonday Jones
October 11-14 7:30pm, Oct 15 2:00pm, Dunham Hall Theater
Jo March isn’t your typical Victorian lady. She’s indecorous and headstrong, and one day she’s going to be a great American novelist. As she and her sisters grow up in the middle of the Civil War, they strive to be brave, intelligent, and imaginative young women. But as adulthood approaches, each sister must negotiate her private ambitions with society’s expectations. In a war-torn world defined by gender, class, and personal tragedy, Jo March gives us her greatest story: that of the March sisters, four dreamers destined to be imperfect little women.
"Dance in Concert 2023 - Luminous"
Conceived, Choreographed and Directed by Kristin Best-Kinscherff and Omar Olivas
November 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 and Nov 11 at 2:00pm
Dunham Hall Theater
“Luminous” is a dance exploration of illumination, shadows, silhouettes, things that glow, and movement concepts inspired by light and darkness. Choreographers and dancers will investigate lighting properties like intensity, color, focus, and patterns to find out how light affects us as movers and viewers. Running as one continuous concert with no intermission, Luminous includes guest artist works and pieces by SIUE dance faculty in collaboration with lighting designer Theresa Comstock.
"Dead Man's Cell Phone"
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Chuck Harper
December 6, 7, 8, 9 at 7:30pm, Dec. 10 at 2:00pm
Metcalf Theater (Parking Lot F)
An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. A stranger at the next table who has had enough. And a dead man – with a lot of loose ends. So begins Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a wildly imaginative new comedy by MacArthur “Genius” Grant recipient and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl. A work about how we memorialize the dead – and how that remembering changes us – it is the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption, and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world.
"Black Theater Workshop 25th Anniversary"
Conceived and Directed by Kathryn Bentley
February 21, 22, 23, 24 at 7:30pm, Feb. 25 at 2:00pm
Metcalf Theater (Campus Parking Lot F)
Professor Kathryn Bentley is joined by esteemed alums and current students as we celebrate 25 years of Black Theater Workshop at SIUE Theater and Dance in this signature event at the College of Arts and Sciences.
"Gypsy"
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Jule Styne
Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Suggested by the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee
Directed by Tress Kurzym
April 17, 18, 19, 20 at 7:30pm, April 21 at 2:00pm
Dunham Hall Theater
Regarded by many theatre professionals as the finest musical ever created, Gypsy is the ultimate tale of an ambitious stage mother fighting for her daughters’ success – while secretly yearning for her own. Set all across America in the 1920s and 30s, when vaudeville was dying and burlesque was born, Arthur Laurents’ landmark show explores the world of two-bit show business with brass, humor, heart and sophistication.
The celebrated score by Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim boasts one glorious hit after another, including “Everything's Coming Up Roses,” “Let Me Entertain You,” “Some People,” “You'll Never Get Away from Me,” “If Momma Was Married,” “All I Need Is the Girl,” “You Gotta Get A Gimmick,” “Small World” and “Together Wherever We Go.”
