The Johns Hopkins University Theatre Arts and Studies Program will present the world premiere of Legion at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 9, in the John Astin Theatre in the historic Merrick Barn on the university's Homewood campus, 3400 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. Two additional performances will follow at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 11.
In Legion, a complex and driving legal thriller, a drug dealer is in the hospital, a teenage honor student is in jail, and the service organization the student started is under siege. Who is telling the truth? And who – and what – is Legion? The cast includes 13 undergraduates who perform alongside renowned actor John Astin, a Johns Hopkins alumnus who leads the theatre company and is director of the university's Theatre Arts and Studies Program.
Legion was written by nationally acclaimed, award-winning playwright Nicky Glossman. He is the author of Professional, which was performed by Edward Asner and Jay O. Sanders; and Devil, winner of the 2011 Samuel French Inc. Young Playwriting Competition. The director is James Glossman, the playwright's father, and a longtime faculty member of the Theatre Program.
The Theatre Arts and Studies Program is celebrating its 10th season, eight of them in the historic Merrick Barn. On December 3, 2011, in recognition of Astin's 10-year anniversary of teaching, acting and directing at Johns Hopkins, the university named the recently renovated theatre in the Merrick Barn after the noted actor and teacher.
Astin is best known for the role of Gomez Addams on the television show The Addams Family. After a year as a graduate student at the University of Minnesota following his 1952 B.A. in Drama from Johns Hopkins, Astin spent the rest of the decade in New York on and off Broadway. His first big break in film came with a part in West Side Story in 1961. His talent for comedy led him to roles in numerous television sitcoms and motion pictures. He received an Academy Award nomination for Prelude, a short film he wrote, produced and directed. Astin returned to Johns Hopkins in 2001 to teach acting and directing and to restore the undergraduate Theatre Program.
Please note that the play contains adult language.
Tickets are $5 for students with ID, $13 for Johns Hopkins faculty, staff, alumni and seniors (60+), and $15 for the general public. Cash or check only. For reservations and information, call 410-516-5153 or e-mail JHUT@jhu.edu.
The theatre's Web site is http://krieger.jhu.edu/theatre-arts. Visitor parking on campus is available in the South Garage, 3101 Wyman Park Drive, Baltimore, Md. 21218.
Production Summary
Production: Legion
Playwright: Nicky Glossman
Director: James Glossman
Venue: John Astin Theatre in the historic Merrick Barn on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood campus.
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