Northwestern University Announces its June 2009 Theatre/Dance Calendar

For the fourth consecutive year the Theatre and Interpretation Center at Northwestern University and the Johnny Mercer Foundation in New York will present “A Celebration of Johnny Mercer.” The weeklong revelry will include workshops, lecture demonstrations and a closing concert featuring Broadway performers Liz Callaway and Capathia Jenkins and other guest artists.

The Johnny Mercer events (June 24 to 27) will launch the Theatre and Interpretation Center’s Summer Music Theatre Festival 2009 that continues through early August.

The public is invited to a Summer Music Theatre Festival 2009 Preview (June 11). Reservations are required for the free event that will include a catered reception, a preview of songs from festival productions, as well as an opportunity to meet the directors and students involved with the shows.

Another Summer Music Theatre Festival highlight will be the three-week run of the new musical “Girls vs. Boys” (July 10 to Aug. 2), developed in partnership with the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University and The House Theatre of Chicago. With book and lyrics by Chris Mathews, Jake Minton and Nathan Allen and music by Kevin O’Donnell, Allen also will direct “Girls vs. Boys.” The show also launches Northwestern’s collaboration with Broadway in Chicago, Chicago’s premiere commercial theatre presenting organization.

Later this summer, Dominic Missimi, director of the School of Communication’s Music Theatre Program, will direct the Broadway musical hit “Bye Bye Birdie” (July 24 to Aug. 9) with book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse, as well as “Diva! Diva! Divas!” (Aug. 3 and 4), two exclusive evenings of song by Chicago music theatre divas Hollis Resnik, Alene Robertson and Paula Scrofano. “Diva!” also features Joseph Jefferson Award-winning Northwestern alumnus and music director Doug Peck.

An Aug. 8 reading of “The Doctor in Spite of Himself,” a new musical by Tony Award-winning composer and Northwestern alumnus Sheldon Harnick (“Fiddler on the Roof”) is admission free and available only to summer season subscribers.

Subscriptions for the Summer Music Theatre Festival are currently on sale.

The Dance Program will present performances by the contemporary dance company Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak (June 4 to 6). Participants in the Jump Rhythm Technique Summer Intensive program will celebrate the culmination of the weeklong program with a June 26 concert, and the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project will celebrate the start of their 20th anniversary season with a June 27 program presented in partnership with the Dance Program and the Theatre Interpretation Center.

Performances are open to the public and will take place in venues on Northwestern’s Evanston campus, as noted.

Single tickets to all productions may be purchased by phone through the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or at the door prior to each performance. Tickets also are on sale through the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office or online at
http://www.tic.northwestern.edu.

The June 2009 Theatre/Dance calendar includes:

Theatre:

Summer Music Theatre Festival 2009 Preview, 4 p.m. Thursday, June 11, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive. The public is invited to a 2009 Summer Music Theatre Festival event featuring a catered reception, a preview of songs from all the summer festival productions, as well as an opportunity to meet directors Nathan Allen and Dominic Missimi and Northwestern students involved with the shows. Admission is free, but reservations are required. For reservations, call (847) 467-0333 or e-mail d-mcgillicuddy@northwestern.edu.

Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Master Teacher Cabaret, “The Legacy of Johnny Mercer,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 24, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive. An intimate evening of song featuring the Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project 2009 Master Teachers: Craig Carnelia, Tony Award-nominated composer and lyricist of “Sweet Smell of Success”; Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tony Award-winning creator of “In the Heights”; and Lari White, three-time Grammy Award-winning songwriter. Tickets are $10.

Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m. Friday, June 26, Josephine Louis Theater, 20 Arts Circle Drive. An audience favorite, this evening of original music features the works of emerging songwriters from across the country, in the fields of pop, music theatre, folk, Latin and country music. Tickets are $10.

Johnny Mercer Songwriters Project, Johnny Mercer Celebration Concert with guest artists Liz Callaway and Capathia Jenkins, 8 p.m. Saturday, June 27, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive. A special one-night-only concert featuring Broadway stars Liz Callaway (“Merrily We Roll Along,” “Baby”) and Capathia Jenkins (“Caroline, or Change”) will celebrate the centennial of Johnny Mercer’s birth. The evening also features performances by Tony Award-nominated composer/lyricist Craig Carnelia, Tony Award-winning composer/performer Lin-Manuel Miranda and Grammy Award-winning Nashville singer/songwriter Lari White, as well as talented young songwriters participating in the Mercer Songwriters Project. The program will be directed by Dominic Missimi. Tickets are $30 for Festival subscribers and $35 for the general public.

Dance:

Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, “Stamina of Curiosity: my answer is yes,” 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4; 8 p.m. Friday, June 5; and 8 p.m. Saturday, June 6, Ballroom Theater, Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. Northwestern Dance Program faculty member Molly Shanahan is the artistic director of Molly Shanahan/Mad Shak, a critically acclaimed contemporary dance company she founded in Chicago in 1994. This marks the company's fourth performance at Northwestern University and the 15th anniversary of their premiere performance, which was held in the Marshall Dance Center’s Ballroom Theater in 1995. “Stamina of Curiosity” is the most current in a series of works developed by Shanahan. Working with dancers Tim Heck, Benjamin Law, Kristina Fluty and Jessie Marasa, Shanahan is expanding her exploration of the energetic exchange between observers and the observed as a palpable, alchemical agent in spontaneous composition, and deepening her evolving movement vocabulary with The Ensemble. A discussion with the artists will follow each performance. Seating is on a first-come, first-seated basis. General admission is $15 and $10 for students with IDs and senior citizens. For tickets, call the Theatre and Interpretation Center Box Office at (847) 491-7282 of visit http://www.dance.northwestern.edu.

Jump Rhythm Technique Summer Intensive Finale Performance, 7 p.m. Friday, June 26, Ballroom Studio Theater, Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. This informal showing includes Jump Rhythm Jazz Project repertory performed by the participants in the Jump Rhythm Jazz Project’s intensive summer program for intermediate to advanced level dancers, dance teachers of diverse age groups and styles and tap-dance, percussive-dance and physical-theatre artists who are interested in deepening their rhythmic approach to dancing, theatrical movement and vocalizing. General admission is free and open to the public.

Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, 8 p.m. Saturday, June 27, Ballroom Studio Theater, Marjorie Ward Marshall Dance Center, 10 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. The Jump Rhythm Jazz Project’s 20th anniversary season kick-off celebration will feature a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inner workings of this award-winning Chicago dance company. During a post-performance discussion and a reception, audience members will have the opportunity to meet Jump Rhythm Jazz Project members and founder and artistic director Billy Siegenfeld. Admission for the general public is $20. For advance tickets, visit http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/68151.

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