BLOOD BROTHERS, BADEN-BADEN 1927, 'YOU'RE WELCOME' and More Set for CCM's 2014-15 Studio Series

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is pleased to announce details for its 2014-15 Studio Series of opera, musical theatre, drama and dance productions.

This season's Studio Series includes eight exciting productions showcasing CCM's "rising stars." The series opens in October with the energetic and award-winning musical Blood Brothers and concludes in April with the profoundly funny drama You're Welcome (A Cycle of Bad Plays). Other highlights include Monteverdi's masterful opera The Coronation of Poppea in February and the Dance Department's annual Student Choreographer's Showcase in March.

All Studio Series performances are free and open to the general public, but reservations are required. Reservations can be made the week of each show by visiting the CCM Box Office in UC's Corbett Center for the Performing Arts or by calling 513-556-4183.

Unless otherwise noted, all Studio Series productions take place in CCM's intimate and versatile "black box" performance space, the Cohen Family Studio Theater.

Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates. For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

Titles and dates subject to change. For more information regarding CCM events, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 or visit ccm.uc.edu.

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CCM 2014-15 STUDIO SERIES

Opera, Musical Theatre, Drama, Dance

8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9

8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11

• Studio Musical Theatre Series •

BLOOD BROTHERS

Book, Music and Lyrics by Willy Russell

Vince DeGeorge, director and choreographer

Steve Goers, musical director

Now in its 30th year in London's West End, Blood Brothers is the haunting story of the Johnson twins, separated at birth and brought together by the power of friendship. A tale of superstition, class distinction and adolescent love loosely based on The Corsican Brothers by Alexandre Dumas, Blood Brothers was the winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 1983. Heart-warming and tragic, Blood Brothers is a contemporary parable, punctuated by an energetic score of pop-rock songs.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Oct. 6. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25

2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26

• Opera Cabaret Lab •

BADEN-BADEN 1927

Music by Kurt Weill and Paul Hindemith

Mark Gibson, conductor

Francis Rabalais, director (mentored by Emma Griffin)

Student TBA, music director

CCM Opera will present a mini recreation of the legendary Baden-Baden Festival of Contemporary Music performance of July 17, 1927. During the original composer-organized summer festival, four one-act operas were presented in one evening. For this recreation, CCM will be presenting two one-acts: Kurt Weill's Mahagonny-Songspiel and Paul Hindemith's Hin und zuruck (There and Back). All performances will be piano accompaniment only.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Oct. 20. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6

8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8

• Studio Drama Series •

SPEECH AND DEBATE

Written by Stephen Karam

Richard E. Hess, director

Written by Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Stephen Karam, Speech and Debate feels ripped from today's headlines. What begins as a story of on-line stalking quickly snowballs into a play that is part mystery, part coming-of-age story; a smart comedy and an insightful reflection of what it means to be young in America today.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Nov. 3. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Drama Studio Series Sponsor: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub

8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20

8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21

2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22

• Studio Opera Series •

L'INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA (THE CORONATION OF POPPEA)

Music by Claudio Monteverdi

Libretto by Francesco Busenello

English Translation by Geoffrey Dunn

Brett Scott, conductor

Emma Griffin, director

Love, power, morality, corruption... Monteverdi's final masterpiece, The Coronation of Poppea, is often described as his greatest achievement, combining mythic and very human themes and featuring some of his most glorious music. One of the first operas to use historical events and people, it tells the story of Nero's infatuation with the young and beautiful Poppea as she tries to make him divorce his wife Ottavia and take her as his new queen and empress of Rome. The Coronation of Poppea is a rich, complex and thoroughly modern work; a world populated by ruthless and all-too-human characters where lust and ambition ultimately triumph over virtue.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, Feb. 16. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

7 p.m. Wednesday, March 11

7 p.m. Thursday, March 12

7 p.m. Friday, March 13

• Studio Drama Series •

TRANSMIGRATION 2015

A Festival of Student-Created New Works

Richard Hess, coordinator

Brant Russell, producer

TRANSMIGRATION, so named for "the movement from one place to another" or "the transition from one state of being to another," is a festival of new works created by the acting students in CCM Drama. Six teams of actors craft and perform five original 30-minute shows. Performed simultaneously in different locations throughout CCM Village, TRANSMIGRATION will allow the audience to sample four different new works of their choosing in one spectacular evening. "Thanks to the drama program at UC's College-Conservatory of Music," observed CityBeat's Rick Pender, "theater fans were offered a jolt of onstage vitality."

Location: CCM Village

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 9. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Drama Studio Series Sponsor: Neil Artman & Margaret Straub

8 p.m. Wednesday, March 11

8 p.m. Thursday, March 12

8 p.m. Friday, March 13

2 p.m. Saturday, March 14

• Studio Dance Series •

DANCE STUDENT CHOREOGRAPHER'S SHOWCASE

Deirdre Carberry and Andre Megerdichian, directors

Come experience the next generation of emerging choreographers as CCM dance majors take the stage with exciting and diverse new works.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, March 9. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

The Dance Department gratefully acknowledges the support of the Corbett Endowment at CCM

8 p.m. Thursday, April 9

8 p.m. Friday, April 10

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 11

• Studio Musical Theatre Series •

MUSICALS REDUX: 110 IN THE SHADE

Lyrics by Tom Jones

Music by Harvey Schmidt

Book by N. Richard Nash

Vince DeGeorge, director and choreographer

Steve Goers, music director

CCM's award-winning Musicals Redux series returns with a gem from the storehouse of forgotten American musicals. Based upon the play The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash, 110 in the Shade tells the tale of Lizzie Curry, a forthright "old maid" living on a ranch with her father and brothers in the American southwest. When a charismatic conman posing as a rainmaker promises to bring relief to the drought-stricken area, he awakens new feelings of love and self-discovery in the heart of the lonely woman. With a lush score by the composers of The Fantasticks, 110 in the Shade is a lovely reminder of the "Golden Age" of American Musical Theatre.

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, April 6. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

Musical Theatre Program Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

8 p.m. Thursday, April 23

8 p.m. Friday, April 24

2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, April 25

• Studio Drama Series •

YOU'RE WELCOME (A CYCLE OF BAD PLAYS)

Written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen

Developed by Oliver Butler

Made by the Debate Society

Brant Russell, director

You're Welcome is a collection of five small plays about creation and failure; a unified theatrical myth that tells the story of an invented band of performers and their catastrophic attempts at connection. The plays are about love, death, desire, tragedy, comedy, drunk driving, sexiness, beauty, loss, the battle between good and evil, a baby born wearing a hat. And theater. They're about theater. Kind of the last word on theater. This is You're Welcome-five plays that pretty much nail it. You're welcome!

Location: Cohen Family Studio Theater

Admission: Admission is free, but reservations are required. Tickets become available at noon on Monday, April 20. Visit the CCM Box Office or call 513-556-4183 to reserve. Limit two tickets per order.

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Season subject to change-rights pending. For more information regarding CCM events, contact the CCM Box Office at 513-556-4183 or visit http://ccm.uc.edu.

Nationally ranked and internationally renowned, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is a preeminent institution for the performing and media arts. CCM offers the benefits of a professional training conservatory within the setting of a comprehensive public university. The school's roster of eminent faculty regularly receives distinguished honors, and its alumni go on to notable success in the performing and media arts.

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts presentations in the state of Ohio. All event dates and programs are subject to change.

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