Photo Flash: InCite Arts Festival: POPE JOAN & CARMEN

The festival returns to New York City after a remarkable success in March 2008, which culminated in a performance of Tom Stoppard and André Previn's rarely-performed Every Good Boy Deserves Favour at The Town Hall. Jim Petosa, Director of the BU School of Theatre and Artistic Director of the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, is InCite's Artistic Director, and explains the decision to return to New York for a second festival: "Despite our nation's economic crisis, we're feeling defiantly optimistic. Balancing the bad economic news, there is a new national spirit that shares our belief in the power of the arts to elevate and inspire." He continues, "InCite returns to New York in a streamlined format packed with new work, new voices, and a mission relevant to our challenging times. By highlighting a ‘new conservatory' model, InCite demonstrates the leadership role that universities can play as arts laboratories, in parallel with our scientific colleagues, as creative collaborators reenergizing their professions." This year's festival features current students, alumni, and faculty members of the College of Fine Arts, and will once again be supported by a host committee of prominent and influential BU alumni and friends who make New York City their home.

Pope Joan, a compelling new drama by BU alumna Michelle Poynton, explores gender bias in the church. The play recounts the scandal surrounding a ninth century German woman who, legend has it, disguised herself as a man in order to be educated in Rome. There, she was so successful with her studies that she was invited to the Vatican, where she moved up the ranks to become Pope after the death of Leo IV, reigning for two years. Rumor has it that she then became pregnant, fell from her horse, went into labor, and gave birth in the street, after which she was proclaimed the Anti-Christ and stoned to death. The production is directed by graduate directing student Tara Matkosky and features actors and designers from the BU School of Theatre. Each performance will be followed by an interactive talkback with the director, playwright, and cast, and the performance on March 7 will be preceded by a discussion on the topic "Women as Mythic Legend." This remarkable work was developed in 2008 as part of the BU School of Theatre's New Play Initiative, and is the School's official entry in the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

BU School of Music's Opera Institute alumni Stephanie Chigas and Darren Anderson join InCite to reprise their roles in Peter Brook's La Tragédie de Carmen (based on Georges Bizet's "Carmen," libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halevy). Carmen is the story of a doomed romance between a sensuous gypsy and Don Jose, a Spanish soldier whom she lures into her world. Don Jose rejects his childhood love of Micaela and turns from his superiors in the army, only to be betrayed by Carmen who falls in love with Escamillo, the dashing toreador. Directed by Jim Petosa with conductor William Lumpkin, the opera will be accompanied by a 14-piece on-stage chamber orchestra. Of the three performances, one will be preceded by a discussion about fostering the evolution of opera as theatre, and the increased role of theatrical experience in building an operatic career; and one performance will be followed by an interactive talkback with the director, cast, and select CFA faculty members. La Tragédie de Carmen will be performed in French, with English supertitles.

Reunited, a juried exhibition featuring the work of graduates of the BU School of Visual Arts MFA program. John Walker, renowned painter and chair of the BU graduate painting program, selected the work in the exhibition, along with painting faculty members Dana Frankfort and Richard Ryan. Two of the 16 featured artists include SoHyun Bae, who has exhibited from Korea to New York, and received Guggenheim and Pollock-Krasner awards; and painter and art writer/critic Alexi Worth, whose work is known for its quirky realism and visual complexity. Reunited will be on view at DFN Gallery in Chelsea February 23 through March 7, with the March 3-7 dates showcased as part of InCite. The exhibition offers a glimpse into the diverse work of a select group of alumni through the lens of their shared artistic roots. A tribute to both their artistic success and tenacity as working artists, it also honors the faculty who mentored them through their BU years. An opening reception will be held Thursday, March 5, 6:00-8:00pm with an artist talk with alumnus Alexi Worth and Assistant Professor of Painting Dana Frankfort from 5:00-6:00pm.

As part of the School of Theatre's Performance Showcase, performance majors will present individual monologues and scenes for an audience of producers, casting directors, agents, and alumni. These performances serve as a celebration of the accomplishments of the senior class, and the group's formal introduction to the professional theatre industry. Showcase is partially funded by the Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley Fund for Career Development and the Jonathan M. Scharer Fund for Career Development in Theatre Arts, through the generosity of Seymore and Vivian Scharer.

In addition to the Performance Showcase, the work of students graduating from the School of Theatre's design and production program will also be showcased in the second annual Design and Production Exhibit. This show, hosted by nationally acclaimed scenic designer and BU faculty member James Noone, will include representative work from this season's theatre and opera productions, as well as individual BFA and MFA student work. The exhibition will be held in conjunction with the Performance Showcase at New World Stages.

The Boston University College of Fine Arts was created in 1954 to bring together the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. The University's vision was to create a community of artists in a conservatory-style school offering professional training in the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students. Since those early days, education at the College of Fine Arts has begun on the BU campus and extended into the city of Boston, a rich center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity. More information about the BU College of Fine Arts is available online at http://www.bu.edu/cfa.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 3 - Saturday, March 7
Reunited: Boston University Alumni Exhibition
(On view February 23 through March 7, with the March 3-7 dates showcased as part of InCite)
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-6pm. Monday-Appointment Only, 212-334-3400

Thursday, March 5 - 6:00pm Opening Reception: Reunited: Boston University Alumni Exhibition
5:00pm Artist Talk: Alexi Worth in Conversation with Dana Frankfort

Friday, March 6 - 7:30pm La Tragédie de Carmen

Saturday, March 7 - 2:00pm Pope Joan
1:00pm Pre-show discussion: "Women as Mythic Legend"
4:00pm Talkback with director, playwright and cast

Saturday, March 7 - 7:30pm La Tragédie de Carmen
6:30pm Pre-show discussion: "From Bizet to Brook: Opera as Theatre"

Sunday, March 8 - 2:00pm La Tragédie de Carmen
3:30pm Talkback with director, select cast, Opera Institute faculty

Sunday, March 8 - 7:30pm Pope Joan
9:30pm Talkback with director, playwright, and cast

Monday, March 9 - 4:00-10:00pm Design and Production Exhibit, 7:00pm Performance Showcase

Tuesday, March 10 - 3:00pm and 7:00pm Performance Showcase

All artists and programs are subject to change; please visit http://www.bu.edu/cfa/incite for the most up to date schedules and program information.

TICKETING INFORMATION
Tickets for Pope Joan and La Tragédie de Carmen are $32 (general public), $22 (BU Alumni & seniors) and $17 (students with valid ID and groups of 10 or more). Tickets are on sale at http://www.telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200 for events at New World Stages.

Admission to Reunited: BU Alumni Exhibition and the Design & Production Exhibition are complimentary.

Call 617-353-3384 for Performance Showcase reservations ONLY. Admission is complimentary.

VENUES
New World Stages at 340 West 50th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues)
Box Office Hours: Mon-Thurs, 1-8pm; Fri, 1-11pm; Sat, 12-11pm; Sun, 1-7pm
http://www.newworldstages.com, Trains: C, E, 1 to 50th Street.

DFN Gallery at 210 11th Avenue, 6th floor (at W. 25th Street), 212-334-3400, http://www.dfngallery.com

Pope Joan photos courtesy of Boston University Photo Serices
Carmen photos by Stan Barouh

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