Syracuse University Drama Announces 17/18 Season
By: A.A. Cristi May. 04, 2017
"We are fortunate to have such talented faculty and students, all of whom want to engage with so many different kinds of theatrical experiences. As in recent seasons, we look forward to meeting the artistic challenges presented by these musicals and plays and we are equally excited about sharing them with our audience," said department chair Ralph Zito.
The season opens in style with the songs of George and Ira Gershwin and the delightful "Crazy for You." With a boy-meets-girl-let's-put-on-show story by Ken Ludwig, this romantic musical comedy played more than 1,600 performances on Broadway where it earned the 1992 Tony Award for Best Musical and was deemed "riotously entertaining" by the New York Times' Frank Rich.
The season-opening festivities will be followed by a gripping adaptation of Isabel Allende's best-selling and critically acclaimed debut novel "The House of the Spirits." Set in an unnamed South American country, not unlike Allende's native Chile, "The House of the Spirits" relates a time-bending tale of three generations of women from the Trueba family and their relationships with the family patriarch Esteban. Originally commissioned and produced in Spanish by Repertorio Espa?ol in New York City, "The House of the Spirits" was first performed in an English language version at the Denver Center Theatre Company and was honored with the 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize.
The holiday season marks the return of the annual Syracuse Stage/Department of Drama co-production and the return of the beloved classic "The Wizard of Oz." Adding an extra level of fun and excitement to this family favorite is choreography by 2 Ring Circus, a New York-based company that specializes in cirque-like acrobatics and has collaborated with theaters around the country.
From a classic American musical to a classic of the Modern Stage, the season continues in the new year with Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull." Unrequited love and artistic aspiration drive the lives of Chekhov's characters, especially Nina and Konstantin, the young couple in the play's center. In Chekhov's world, ambition and desire are not enough. Perseverance is what matters.
Paula Vogel ("How I Learned to Drive" recently at Syracuse Stage and the Tony-nominated "Indecent" currently on Broadway) wrote her 1992 Obie Award-winning play "The Baltimore Waltz" in response to her brother's death from complications from AIDS. In the play, she imagines a wild European adventure for a brother and sister-Vogel and her brother had planned such a trip-that turns into a quest for a cure for a fictional disease. Though broadly funny, "The Baltimore Waltz" has been hailed by critics as "a profound and timeless play about death and grief and remembrance."
The season closes with the ever-popular "The Little Shop of Horrors." With music by Alan Menken ("The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," and many more), this quirky, comic musical ran for five years Off-Broadway before becoming a Broadway hit and a major motion picture.
The Department of Drama season runs Oct. 6, 2017 through May 12, 2018. Season subscriptions ($99) and flexible 4Packs ($60) are available through the Syracuse Stage Box Office (315-443-3275) or at www.SyracuseStage.org. Discounts available for seniors, students and Syracuse University employees.
"Crazy for You"
Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Book by Ken Ludwig
Co-conception by Ken Ludwig and Mike Ockrent
Inspired by Material by Guy Bolton and John McGowan
Originally produced on Broadway by Roger Horchow and ElizaBeth Williams
Original Broadway Choreography by Susan Stroman
Directed and Choreographed by Brian J. Marcum
Musical Direction by Brian Cimmet
October 6 - 15
Take some of the greatest songs ever written for Broadway and Hollywood, mix them with a fabulous let's-put-on-a-show style story and the result is the joyous Gershwin celebration "Crazy for You." When a stage-stuck, wealthy, Manhattan ne'er-do-well named Bobby Child finds himself in a broKen Down Nevada mining town, he sets his sights on rescuing a bankrupt theater and loses his heart to the beautiful and talented Polly Baker. Boy meets girl, Times Square meets tumbleweed and great music meets great dancing. Who could ask for anything more?
"The House of Spirits"
A new play with songs by Caridad Svich
Based on the novel by Isabel Allende
Directed by Celia Madeoy
November 10 - 18
Isabel Allende's best-selling and critically acclaimed debut novel comes to vivid life in this powerful and poetic stage adaptation. In an unnamed South American country, a young woman endures a grueling imprisonment for unspecified political reasons. Her name is Alba and she is the youngest of three generations of women from the Trueba family. In her isolation and fear, she bears witness to dream-like memories of a family history shaped by the volatile patriarch Esteban. She wonders what the lives of her mother and grandmother can offer her now and asks how her plight can change the hard and harsh Esteban.
"The Wizard of Oz" *
With Music and Lyrics from the MGM Motion Picture Score
By Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg
With Background Music by Herbert Stothart
Book Adaptation by John Kane from the motion picture screenplay
Directed by Donna Drake
Choreography by 2 Ring Circus
Musical Direction by Brian Cimmet
Co-produced with Syracuse Stage
November 29 - December 31
The Syracuse University Department of Drama and Syracuse Stage team up with New York's 2 Ring Circus to create a dazzlingly acrobatic take on "The Wizard of Oz." This stage adaptation contains all your favorite characters and songs from the Oscar winning movie score, including "Over the Rainbow," "We're Off to See the Wizard (Follow the Yellow Brick Road)" and more. The cirque-like feats of 2 Ring Circus make it an "Oz"-and a holiday family treat-like you've never seen before. Great songs and L. Frank Baum's beloved characters make this musical a classic.
"The Seagull"
Directed by Rob Bundy
February 23 - March 4
"The comedy has three female roles, six male roles, four acts, a view of a lake, much conversation about literature . . . and five tons of love." So wrote Anton Chekhov to a friend about The Seagull, the 1895 play that established his reputation as a playwright and catapulted the famed Moscow Art Theatre to prominence. It's all quite simple: Medvedenko loves Masha who loves Konstantin who loves Nina who loves Trigorin who's involved with Arkadina. Meanwhile, Paulina is married to Shamreyev, but she pines for Dr. Dorn. What could go wrong? "So much love! Oh, that bewitching lake!"
"The Baltimore Waltz"
By Paula Vogel
Directed by Katherine McGerr
March 30 - April 8
Paula Vogel is a master of finding humor in life's dark corners. "The Baltimore Waltz," written as a kind of theatrical eulogy to her beloved brother who died of AIDS in 1988, is a satiric and at times whacky comedy that charts a tale of a schoolteacher named Anna who takes a wild, lust-filled, last grab at life trip abroad after contracting a (fictional) fatal malady. As she indulges in food and romance, her brother Carl embarks on an absurd pursuit for a possible cure inspired by the classic film "The Third Man." Reality and fantasy intermingle in this daringly comedic and ultimately heart-stirring play about love, loss and coping with grief.
"The Little Shop of Horrors"
Book by Howard Ashman
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Howard Ashman
Based on the film by Roger Corman, screenplay by Charles Griffith
Directed by Brian Cimmet
Choreography by Andrea Leigh-Smith
May 4 - 12
In 1982 a space alien invaded Off-Off-Broadway and in a quest for world domination quickly spawned iterations Off-Broadway, in London's West End, on film, on Broadway, on tours throughout America, in countries around the world and most insidiously in high schools and community theaters everywhere. Born of a low budget 1960s science fiction movie, the carnivorous plant-like alien, named Audrey II, arrived in a vehicle called "The Little Shop of Horrors" and came armed with an infectious 50s/60s pop-inflected musical score and a delightfully quirky love story. Horticulture never seemed so dangerous, or so much fun. Warning: don't feed the plants.
*Drama subscribers will receive vouchers redeemable for tickets to "The Wizard of Oz."
The Syracuse University Department of Drama offers conservatory-style training in a university setting shared with a resident, professional theater (Syracuse Stage), presenting an unparalleled combination of teaching professionals and diverse performance and production opportunities. SU Drama offers four conservatory-style bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree programs in acting, musical theater, stage management, and theater design and technology, as well as a bachelor of science (B.S.) degree program in drama that features a Theater Management track. Undergraduates put classroom theory into practice through productions and various special opportunities, including Wednesday Lab, study abroad, the NYC-based Tepper Semester, the Sorkin in L.A. Learning Practicum, numerous community engagement initiatives and the opportunity to participate in workshops or discussions with such visiting artists as Taye Diggs '93, Aaron Sorkin '83, Vanessa Williams '85, Frank Langella '59, David Henry Hwang, Tim Miller, Tony Kushner and more.
The Syracuse University Department of Drama is housed within the College of Visual and Performing Arts (SU:VPA). SU:VPA is committed to the education of cultural leaders who will engage and inspire audiences through performance, visual art, design, scholarship and commentary. It provides the tools for self-discovery and risk-taking in an environment that thrives on critical thought and action.
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