THE CHERRY ORCHARD and More Set for Hartt School Theatre's 2012-13 Season

The Hartt School Theatre Division, under the direction of Alan Rust, has announced its 2012-2013 Theatre Division performance season.

Tickets are available 6 weeks prior to each show. Call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for tickets and up-to-date scheduling information for all performances. Admission to each performance is $20 with discounts for seniors, students, and groups.

Theatre Division Director Alan Rust directs Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, the first show in the 2012-2013 Theatre season. Hartt composition student Matthew Primm composes original music for this performance. After the death of her young son and then following a lover to Paris, Madame Ranevsky returns to her beloved home in Russia with its well-known cherry orchard to find it will soon be auctioned off to pay down the family’s debt. Lopakhin, a local businessman, proposes a solution to the problem that haunts this family, for whom his grandfather was once a slave. Find out what Madame Ranevsky and her family decide to do with their beloved cherry orchard Thursday through Saturday, October 11-13, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, October 14, at 3:00 PM, in the Kent McCray Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford.

University Professor and Former Hartt Dean Malcolm Morrison directs Actor Training students in Sophocles’ Antigone, Thursday through Saturday, October 18-20, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, October 21, at 3:00 PM, in the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. One of the greatest plays of ancient Greece, whose title character represents one of literature’s first great feminist heroines, Antigone features original music by Hartt composition student Evan Cogswell.

For the first music theatre production of the season, Hartt students perform Miss Saigon, with music by Claude-Michel Schonberg; lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil; adapted from original French lyrics by Alain Boublil; additional material by Richard Maltby Jr.; orchestrations by William P. Brohn; and under the direction of Hartt faculty member Kevin Gray. Miss Saigon is the epic tale of a courageous young Vietnamese girl, Kim, and her journey of survival in post war Vietnam and Bangkok. Based loosely on Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and set against the backdrop of Saigon in the turbulent final days of the U.S. involvement, Miss Saigon tells the story of ordinary people caught in the extraordinary circumstances of war. Miss Saigon runs Thursday through Saturday, October 25-27, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, October 28, at 3:00 PM, in Lincoln Theater, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford. Please note that, due to construction, the roadway between The Hartt School and Lincoln Theater is closed to vehicles and pedestrians, so plan accordingly and use the alternate route, following signs posted on campus.

Guest artist Terry Layman returns to Hartt to direct Actor Training students in Moss Hart's great comedic expose of show business, Light Up the Sky, with original music by Hartt composition student Robert Tomasulo, Thursday through Saturday, November 29-December 1, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, December 2, at 3:00 PM, in the Kent McCray Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. Light Up the Sky takes place in Boston, where New York theatre folk are preparing the "out of town tryout" of a new play. The star, the director, the producer and the playwright fall all over each other trying to save the troubled show

Music Theatre students perform in Honk! Thursday through Saturday, December 6-8, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, December 9, at 3:00 PM, in the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. Honk! is the musical adaption of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Ugly Duckling and follows Ugly, and odd looking duck on his quest to find his mother. With book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe and music by George Stiles, Honk! is sure to entertain.

As part of The Hartt School’s Partnership-in-Training with Goodspeed Musicals, fourth year Music Theatre students participate in the Goodspeed Festival of New Artists, January 18 through January 20. This weekend-long creative gathering of authors, actors, artists, and music theatre lovers includes staged reading of three brand new works. Don’t miss your chance to see the next big musical hit! Visit http://goodspeed.org/education-library/festival for details.

Associate Professor of Theatre Diana Moller-Marino directs Paul Rudnick’s dramatic comedy I Hate Hamlet Thursday through Saturday, February 21-23, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, February 24, at 3:00 PM, in the Kent McCray Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. An actor who is to play the part of Hamlet in Central Park has a fear of the role. While in his apartment, he calls on the help of a former tenant, the ghost of John Barrymore, to help him overcome his fear.

Professor of Theatre Robert H. Davis directs On the Twentieth Century, the musical that goes behind the scenes to follow the relationship of an actress and director aboard a train - the Twentieth Century Limited - as it travels from Chicago to New York. With book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman, this Tony Award winning musical comedy is sure to entertain. On the Twentieth Century runs Thursday through Saturday, March 14-16, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, March 17, at 3:00 PM, in Millard Auditorium, University of Hartford, 200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford.

Actor Training students perform Carlo Gozzi’s The King Stag Thursday through Saturday, April 11-13, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, April 14, at 3:00 PM, in the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. The King Stag, a tale of love, magic, and mystery, appeals to both the young and the young at heart.

The musicals The Drowsy Chaperone and Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn run in repertory Monday, April 22, through Sunday, April 28, in the Kent McCray Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford. Times vary for each show. With book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and directed by Theatre Division Director Alan Rust, The Drowsy Chaperone revolves around a present day music theatre fanatic who is listening to original cast recording of The Drowsy Chaperone. As he listens, the characters come to life in his apartment. The musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn features a book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller and is directed by David Watson. This musical follows Huckleberry Finn in his adventure down the Mississippi River as Huck and his friend Jim, a slave, escape to freedom.

As part of the Actor Training curriculum, students travel to England to receive intensive Shakespeare training with faculty from the professional British theatre. Upon their return, these students present Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. This show runs Thursday, May 2, through Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 PM, and Sunday, May 5, at 3:00 PM, in the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts Foundation Theater, Mort and Irma Handel Performing Arts Center, 35 Westbourne Parkway, Hartford.

Visit www.hartford.edu/hart for more information about each performance.

The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford that offers innovative degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920, Hartt has been an integral part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt School of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the University in 1957. 2010 markEd Hartt’s 90th year of providing world class performing arts education to students in Greater-Hartford and around the world. With more than 400 concerts, recitals, plays, master classes, dance performances, and musical theatre productions a year, performance is central to Hartt’s curriculum. For more information about The Hartt School, visit www.hartford.edu/hartt.

Pictured: Lars Lee ’13 and Jenna Zito ’13.

 

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