AU’s performing arts department and student theater groups are gearing up for a busy and dynamic fall season.
For its fall musical, the Department of Performing Arts will present “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” a stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar’s 1988 film of the same name. The show will run from Oct. 16-18 at the Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre.
“The film is a brilliant comedy,” director and DPA professor Carl Menninger said. “Our hope is to remain true to the tone of the source.”
“Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” was originally written in Spanish, tying into the “Passport to the Arts: Plays from Around the World” theme of this season’s DPA performances.
Other highlights of the DPA season include:
Goreman Piano Project: French Edition on Oct. 18
The opening concert of the AU Symphony Orchestra on Oct. 25 and 26
A staged reading of “Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapukasing” on Oct. 2
The Choreolab performance of “Ph®ases on Nov. 12
This fall in Katzen
The AU Museum at the Katzen Arts Center will unveil its early fall exhibits on Sept. 6. Exhibits include “Memorial Modeling: Peter Belyi and Petr Shvetsov,” “Readymade@100,” “Bridging the Past, Present and Future: Recent Works by Sandra Ramos,” “Some Uses of Photography: Four Washington Artists” and “Sam Noto, Steel Sculpture: Anxiety and Hope.” These exhibits will explore a variety of mediums including canvas, photography and sculpture.
Katzen will also be sponsoring “Fall for the Arts: Celebration and Auction,” an evening program that offers art classes and workshops, ending with a reception and auction of artist H. Marc Moyens’ work. “Fall for the Arts” will take place on Sept. 26 in Katzen. Tickets are $10 for the AU community.
Student troupes
AU’s Rude Mechanicals, the University’s Shakespearean theater group, will host its annual variety show with the theme of “Shakespeare’s Seven Deadly Sins.” Later in the semester, the Rude Mechanicals will be performing an adaptation of “King Lear.” Dates will be announced closer to the beginning of rehearsals.
AU Players, another student-run theater group on campus, will be performing “Time Stands Still” by Donald Margulies from Nov. 20-22. The show will be directed by College of Arts and Sciences senior Carter Lowe, who successfully proposed the play to the AU Players Executive Board, according to the group’s Public Relations director Rosemary Cipriano, a senior in School of Communication.
“From the themes of social activism and questions surrounding journalistic ethics, there is so much room for AU students to be involved,” Cipriano said.
The Players might host a talk-back after one performance so that students are inspired to continue the show’s dialogue, according to Cipriano.
AU Players will also host its annual musical theater cabaret, “Broadway: A Journey Through Time” from December 5-6.
For a full DPA calendar including these events and more, click here.
For a full listing of Katzen’s early fall exhibits, click here.
