Roosevelt Theatre Announces 2013-14 Performances

The Midwest premiere of Ripper, a romantic thriller based loosely on the case of murders by Jack the Ripper, will be one of the highlights of the 2013-2014 performance season announced this month by the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University.

The theatre season kicks off in September with the following productions being staged in the University's O'MAlley Theatre, 431 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago:

The Visit, a tragic comedy by Friedrich Durrenmatt, begins the season. Directed by associate professor of theatre Kestutis Nakas, The Visit will be performed on stage at O'Malley on Sept. 27-29.

Caryl Churchill's comedy Cloud Nine is a political parody and satirical spoof that will be directed by Theatre Conservatory instructor Jaclynn Jutting. Cloud Nine will be staged at O'Malley on Oct. 18-20.

The Midwest premiere of Ripper, a musical set against the backdrop of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders, rounds out the Theatre Conservatory's fall season. Written by Duane Nelsen and directed by Roosevelt associate professor of theatre Ray Frewen, Ripper will be performed on Nov. 14-17.

"The upcoming theatre season will be a challenging one for our students," said Sean Kelley, director of the Theatre Conservatory and associate dean of Roosevelt's Chicago College of Performing Arts. "The spirit, the energy and the talent of our students has been breathtaking and it's caused us to think outside the box as we prepare for our upcoming performance season," he said.

Among exciting developments, the Theatre Conservatory will expand its Fall Freshman Showcase to include new incoming dance theatre majors who will be performing alongside the Conservatory's acting and voice theatre majors. The Showcase will be led by Kelley, musical theatre director and associate professor of theatre Luis Perez and Jain Lanier, a Tony Award nominated dancer, actress and choreographer who will be an assistant professor of theatre starting in the fall for the Theatre Conservatory's new musical theatre program for dance majors.

"We are very excited about the new dance program and the potential it will have for enhancing not only our productions but also the experiences of our students both on stage and through our program," said Kelley.

The spring 2014 performance schedule at O'MAlley Theatre includes:

Amadeus, a Tony Award winning play by Peter Shaffer that tells the provocative story of breathtaking dramatic power. Amadeus will be staged Feb. 14-16, 2014 at O'Malley.

The Suicide, a dark comedy by Nicolai Erdman that sets up suicide as a commodity that does not come easy, will be performed March 14-15, 2014.

Closing out the coming season will be Thoroughly Modern Millie, a high-spirited musical romp based on the book by Dick Scanlan and Richard Henry Morris, new music by Jeanine Tesori and new lyrics by Scanlan. The Tony Award-winning musical will be directed and choreographed by Luis Perez, associate professor of theatre at Roosevelt. Performance dates for the musical are April 16-19, 2014.

For more information on the coming season, contact Kendall Kelley at kkelley@roosevelt.edu or 312-341-6355. Season brochures will be available in late summer. The Theatre Conservatory Box Office Hotline is at 312-341-3831.

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