Theatre and Dance
WIU Theatre and Dance 2018-2019 Theatre Season
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ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE
By Ted Swindley Faculty feature – Lysa Fox Directed by Bill Kincaid, Musical Direction by Lynn Thompson September 14 & 15 at 7:30pm Horrabin Theatre About the play: ALWAYS...PATSY CLINE is based on the true story of Patsy Cline's friendship with Houston housewife Louise Seger. In 1961 when Cline went to Houston for a show, Seger and her buddies arrived about an hour-and-ahalf early and, by coincidence, met Cline who was traveling alone. The two women struck up a friendship that was to culminate in Cline spending the night at Seger's house-a friendship that lasted until Cline's untimely death in a plane crash in 1963. The show combines humor, sadness, and reality. 
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SHOWCASE: NEW FRIENDS V – HELLCAB
Directed by Adam Lewis September 28 & 29 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the play: HELLCAB is a collection of scenes from a day in the life of a Chicago cabbie. Beginning with a 6:30 a.m. trip by a born-again couple…the cabbie's long day's journey proceeds with fares from, among many others, a dangerous trio of druggies, a piggish mini-capitalist, a benumbed rape victim, an argumentative pair of fellow cabbies, a drunken woman on welfare, a smug lawyer, a randy couple on the way to a motel, and two boisterous New Yorkers out on the town. Alternately frightening, hilarious and poignant, these sharply etched blackouts and cameos…are capped by a stunning and very touching final scene. |
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ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS
By Richard Bean Directed by DC Wright, Musical Direction by Kitty Karn October 3 – 6 at 7:30pm, October 7 at 2:00pm Hainline Theatre About the play: Brighton, England. 1963. Change is in the air, and Francis Henshall is looking to make his mark. Fired from a skiffle band and in search of work, he finds himself employed by small-time gangster Roscoe Crabbe, in town to collect a fee from his fiancée's gangster father. But Roscoe is really Rachel, posing as her own dead brother, herself in love with Stanley Stubbers (her brother's killer) who, in turn, becomes our hero's other 'guvnor'. Fighting a mounting sense of confusion, Francis goes out of his way to serve both bosses. But with the distractions of a pneumatic book keeper, a self-important actor and select members of the criminal fraternity (not to mention his own mammoth appetite) to contend with, how long can he keep them apart?
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WORKING, THE MUSICAL
Based on the novel by Studs Terkel, Book by Nina Faso, Stephen Schwartz, Music and Lyrics by Craig Carnelia, James Taylor, Mary Rodgers, Micki Grant, Stephen Schwartz, Susan Birkenhead Directed by Lysa Fox, Musical Direction by Matt Bean October 19 & 20 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the play: The characters of WORKING are everybody you know! The situations are everyday situations. But this musical is anything but ordinary. A different look at the seemingly humdrum lives of working people reveals a myriad variety of hopes, aspirations and dreams. Of course, to some, life is a Monday to Friday drudge, but to others there is great pride in their daily routine. A powerful contemporary score backed by a vital and dramatic book makes WORKING a winner. |
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A MARCH TALE
By Tim Slover Directed by Hadley Kamminga-Peck October 24 – 27 at 7:30pm, October 28 at 2:00pm Horrabin Theatre About the play: Slover's Elizabethan-era play features Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth, and various other characters who tromped about England in the 1600s. Loosely based on an actual historic incident, the play begins in March 1603 during the last few days of Queen Elizabeth's reign. The queen is dying, but trying to deny it, and takes her court to her palace in Richmond to see Shakespeare's company perform THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. The action, both on- and offstage, gives the play its comic momentum.
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DISTRACTED
By Lisa Loomer
Directed by Sarah Decker (BA Senior Directing Project) November 2 & 3 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the play: What's wrong with nine-year-old Jesse? He can't sit still, he curses, he raps, and you can't get him into—or out of—pajamas. His teacher thinks it's Attention Deficit Disorder. Dad says, "He's just a boy!" And Mama's on a quest for answers. Is Jesse dysfunctional, or just different? Don't we all have ADD, to some degree? Throughout, Jesse is an offstage voice, becoming louder and angrier, but he is in danger of fading away. And his parents' marriage is in peril. Everyone is distracted, even the actors—they're breaking character! A hilarious, provocative, and poignant look at a modern family and an epidemic dilemma: Are we so tuned into our 24/7 info-rich world that we've tuned out what really matters? |
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DROWSY CHAPERONE
Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison, Book by Bob Martin, Don McKellar Directed by Carolyn Blackinton, Musical Direction by Lynn Thompson November 7 – 10 at 7:30pm, November 11 at 2:00pm Hainline Theatre About the play: 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 in the chair 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.
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BFA Senior Showcase
Directed by Lysa Fox
November 30 and December 1 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre |
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Winter DanceWorks Concert
December 6 – 8 at 7:30pm, December 9 at 2:00pm
Hainline Theatre About the play: Western Illinois University's annual Winter DanceWorks Concert will offer an evening of dance, choreographed by students and instructors in University Dance Theatre (UDT). Each performance will incorporate a variety of dance styles, including modern/contemporary, jazz, Afro-modern and ballet.
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Underground Cabaret
Directed by Lara Petrin February 1 & 2 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the performance: The performance will feature musical theatre/theatre majors from the University. The Underground Cabaret is a performance to honor the career of Professor Emeritus Maughan McMurdie. As a former operatic baritone and bass, McMurdie taught at Western Illinois and performed throughout the region from 1969, until his retirement in 1992. Maughan passed away in 2007. |
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PROOF
By David Auburn
Directed by Carolyn Blackinton Featuring Emily Wirkus (MFA Thesis Project) February 22 & 23 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the play: On the eve of her twenty-fifth birthday, Catherine, a troubled young woman, has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, a famous mathematician. Now, following his death, she must deal with all that he's left behind. Over the long weekend that follows, a burgeoning romance and the discovery of a mysterious notebook draw Catherine into the most difficult problem of all: How much of her father's madness—or genius—will she inherit? |
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HAND TO GOD
By Robert Askins Directed by Bill Kincaid February 27 – March 2 at 7:30pm, March 3 at 2:00pm Horrabin Theatre About the play: After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and—most especially—his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. HAND TO GOD explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.
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OUTSIDE MULLINGAR
By John Patrick Shanley Directed by Adam Lewis March 22 & 23 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the play: Anthony and Rosemary are two introverted misfits straddling 40. Anthony has spent his entire life on a cattle farm in rural Ireland, a state of affairs that—due to his painful shyness—suits him well. Rosemary lives right next door, determined to have him, watching the years slip away. With Anthony’s father threatening to disinherit him and a land feud simmering between their families, Rosemary has every reason to fear romantic catastrophe. But then, in this very Irish story with a surprising depth of poetic passion, these yearning, eccentric souls fight their way towards solid ground and some kind of happiness. Their journey is heartbreaking, funny as hell, and ultimately deeply moving. OUTSIDE MULLINGAR is a compassionate, delightful work about how it’s never too late to take a chance on love. |
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PIPPIN
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz Book by Roger O. Hirson Directed by Lysa Fox, Musical Direction by Matt Bean April 3 – 6 at 7:30pm, April 7 at 2:00pm Hainline Theatre About the play: Heir to the Frankish throne, the young prince Pippin is in search of the secret to true happiness and fulfillment. He seeks it in the glories of the battlefield, the temptations of the flesh and the intrigues of political power (after disposing of his father, King Charlemagne the Great). In the end, though, Pippin finds that happiness lies not in extraordinary endeavors, but rather in the unextraordinary moments that happen every day.
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Unrehearsed Shakespeare
Directed by Bill Kincaid April 19 & 20 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About Unrehearsed Shakespeare: Shakespeare’s plays can be performed effectively without rehearsal, if all the actors understand a set of performance guidelines and put them into practice. In Bill Kincaid’s recent book Performing Shakespeare Unrehearsed: A Practical Guide to Acting and Producing Spontaneous Shakespeare, each chapter is devoted to a specific guideline, demonstrating through examples how it can be applied to pieces of text from Shakespeare’s First Folio, how it creates blocking and stage business, and how it enhances story clarity. Bill will use this method to guide our WIU T&D Students through the process of creating an Unrehearsed Shakespeare performance. Title of show coming soon! |
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Spring Gala Dance Concert
April 25 – 27 at 7:30pm, April 28 at 2:00pm Hainline Theatre About the concert: Western Illinois University's annual Spring Gala Dance Concert will offer an evening of dance, choreographed by students and instructors in University Dance Theatre (UDT). Each performance will incorporate a variety of dance styles, including modern/contemporary, jazz, Afro-modern and ballet.
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BYOP (Bring Your Own Play)
Directed by Adam Lewis May 1- 3 at 7:30pm Simpkins Theatre About the performance: New Plays, written by students, designed by students, performed by students, for students! Enjoy an evening of completely student-created new works. |
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