UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 7, Page 7
October 14, 1993
Up and coming
Broadway star Mandy Patinkin to rededicate Mitchell Hall Nov.1
Broadway star Mandy Patinkin will give a special preview performance
of his upcoming tour "Mandy Patinkin in Concert: Experiment" at 8 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 1, at a gala benefit concert celebrating the University's
rededication of newly refurbished Mitchell Hall where the concert will be
held. The performance will benefit performing arts scholarships at the
University.
Known as Broadway's master song interpreter, the Tony Award-winning
Patinkin has had a remarkable career spanning every area of the
entertainment world including theatre, film and recordings. He most
recently starred on Broadway as Marvin in Falsettos and Uncle Archie in the
Tony Award-winning musical The Secret Garden.
Patinkin received a Tony Award for his shattering portrayal of Che in
the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical Evita and received a second Tony
nomination for his portrayal of George in the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical Sunday in the Park With George.
Mitchell Hall, constructed in 1928-29, was the first of many gifts
made to the University by H. Rodney Sharp. Originally an organ recital hall
and cultural center, the original building was completed at a cost of
$300,000. The hall was named in memory of Samuel C. Mitchell, president of
the University from 1914 to 1920. This rededication in the building's 65th
year marks a major refurbishing of the facility.
Patron tickets for the gala are $100, which include a $75
tax-deductible contribution and a pre-concert reception at the President's
House. A limited number of regular admission tickets are available for the
gala at $25 each.
For information, call the box office at 831-2204, from noon-5 p.m.,
Mondays through Fridays.
Pulitzer musical on stage Oct. 21
Sunday in the Park with George, the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical
with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, will be presented this month as
part of the University's Performing Arts Series.
This production-to be performed at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 21, in
Mitchell Hall-uses the original Tony Award-nominated costumes from the
Broadway show.
Tickets-at $18 for the general public, $15 for senior citizens and
U.D. faculty and staff, and $10 for students-are on sale at the Hartshorn
box office, telephone 831-2204. The box office is open from noon-5 p.m.,
Mondays through Fridays.
Sunday in the Park with George is a theatrical reconstruction/fantasy
of the work of Georges Seurat, the famous 19th-century Impressionist
painter. Sondheim and librettist James Lapine use Seurat's life to examine
such issues as the nature of the creative process, the limitations placed
on interpersonal relationships by artistic commitments and the dangers of
artists responding to fads rather than their own impulses.
The show, which is entirely fictitious, examines the creation of
Seurat's masterpiece, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte,
a huge work composed entirely of thousands of tiny dots of red, blue,
yellow and their complements that took two years to complete. It depicts a
crowd of bourgeois 19th-century Parisians who represent all ages and
stations of life.
When the play opened on Broadway in 1984, a critic in The New York
Times called it "audacious, haunting and touching."
The original production was nominated for 10 Tony awards and won eight
Drama Desk awards, including best musical; the New York Drama Critics
Circle Award for best musical; and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. The
Broadway cast album won a Grammy, and a 1990 London production won the
Olivier Award for best musical.
This University presentation is part of a 10th anniversary tour of the
show by Circa 21 Productions. Directing is Seth Reines, a veteran of more
than 200 productions throughout the country. Circa 21 Productions has
produced successful national tours of Pump Boys and Dinettes, Oil City
Symphony and Big River.
African film series on Tuesday nights
The University's African Studies Program is presenting an unusual mix
of films through Dec. 7.
All the films, free and open to the public, are shown from 7-10 p.m.,
Tuesdays, in Room 100 of Kirkbride Hall.
Family Across The Sea, scheduled for Oct. 19, tells the story of a
delegation of Gullah people who travel from the U.S. to Sierra Leone in
West Africa to trace the roots of their heritage.
Art of Darkness, to be shown on Oct. 26, shows that the slaves of the
Caribbean contributed not only to the wealth of their masters but also to
the cultural heritage of the British Empire.
On Nov. 2, South Africa Belongs to Us: Five Portraits of Women Under
Apartheid, will be shown. In the film, each woman describes her life in
South Africa.
Generations of Resistance will be shown on Nov. 16. The film documents
the rise of black nationalism in South Africa in the 20th century, as seen
through the eyes of youth.
Yeelen, which focuses on fundamental oppositions: change and
tradition, life and death, light and darkness, will be shown on Nov. 23.
Scheduled for Nov. 30 is Woza Albert, which, based on a musical, shows
the humiliation and terror suffered as well as the resiliency of black
South Africans. If this film is unavailable, the film Sugar Cane Alley will
be substituted.
The film series concludes on Dec. 7 with a screening of Chocolat, the
story of a young woman's return to her native Cameroon and her reflections
on growing up in a traditional society.
For information, call 831-8413.
E-52 to present 'Glass Menagerie'
E-52 Student Theatre will present Tennessee Williams' classic drama,
The Glass Menagerie, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 15-16, and Thursday
through Saturday, Oct. 21-23.
The performances will begin at 8:15 p.m. for Friday and Saturday shows
and at 7:15 p.m. for the Thursday performance.
All shows are in 100 Wolf Hall. Tickets, which are $3, are available
Oct.14-15 and Oct. 20-22 in the Perkins Student Center or at the door
before each performance.
For information, call the E-52 Student Theatre office at 831-6014.