University News
Showcase Concert 2012 Oct. 7
September 26, 2012
MACOMB, IL - - Western Illinois University's Department of Theatre and Dance will present its Showcase Concert 2012, featuring music by Kander and Ebb, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7 in the Hainline Theatre.
The performance will feature works from "Cabaret," "Chicago," "Curtains," "New York, New York" and "The Rink."
The showcase concert, presented by Western's Department of Theatre and Dance in cooperation with the School of Music, benefits the Dorothy and Maughan McMurdie Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Musical Theatre Scholarship Fund. Since Fall 2003, Western is the first and only public university in Illinois to offer a BFA in musical theatre, which is among the University's eight signature academic programs.
Musical directors for the scholarship concert are Associate Professor Kitty Karn and Lecturer Sharon Nott. Associate Professor Heidi Clemmens, Assistant Professor Lysa Fox and Kelsey Peters, a senior musical theatre major from Lakemoor, will choreograph the show. Nott will provide accompaniment on piano and senior music major Adam Brostowitz, of Macomb will accompany with percussion. Special guests Kay and Don Norton, of Macomb, will also perform at the concert.
McMurdie, an operatic baritone and bass, taught at Western and performed throughout the region from 1969 until his retirement in 1992. He was the musical director for Western's Summer Music Theatre from its beginning until 1991; occasionally playing leading roles, including Emile de Becque in "South Pacific" (1973) and Hadj the Beggar in "Kismet" (1974). McMurdie also sang in opera productions, including performances with the Peoria Civic Opera Company.
McMurdie is also well-known as the composer and musical director of the long-running outdoor musical "City of Joseph," which portrayed the history of the early Mormon Church in Nauvoo, located 50 miles west of Macomb along the Mississippi River.
The scholarship was started in 2004 by WIU alumni Don and Kay Norton to honor and acknowledge the many years of service Maughan McMurdie gave to musical theatre in Macomb. Maughan passed away July 20, 2007; Dorothy preceded him in death in 1996.
General admission is $15; $5 for WIU students with an ID. Tickets may be purchased at the door.
Posted By: Sarah Tomkinson (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
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