College Center

Racing headlong toward graduation from Belmont University's acclaimed musical theater program, Zachary Waters (scion of the Calhoun, Georgia, Waterses) has a jam-packed week ahead even before he can take a breath and consider the gravity of his impending college commencement. This weekend, he opens in the role of Uncle Fester in BUMT's production of The Addams Family (running April 1-10 at The Troutt Theatre, with Waters' cast performing April 2, 8 and 10).

This past weekend, Bethel College put on a fantastic rendition of the classic musical, Mary Poppins. The music and lyrics are written by the Sherman Brothers while the script is written by Julian Fellowes. The show is based on children's books by P. L. Travers and the consequent famous Disney film. The degree to which Bethel College went above and beyond to make such a monumental show come to life speaks volumes to their abilities as a theatre department.

The UM School of Theatre & Dance celebrates an evening of sophisticated and cutting-edge original choreography in its production of DANCE IN CONCERT, March 23-26 at 7:30 pm at Montana Theatre, PARTV Center, UM campus.

Like so many other college students before her, Emily Meinerding is back from an adventuresome spring break, all set to plunge headlong into the rest of her semester at Nashville's David Lipscomb University. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, the Lipscomb sophomore has already made a name of herself onstage with her critically acclaimed role in The Crucible, a joint production of Blackbird Theater Company and LU Department of Theatre, and as Sleeping Beauty in last fall's campus musical, Into the Woods.

A perfect example is Chantal Nchako, a native of Douala, Cameroon, and a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. On her burgeoning resume, you will find such projects as The Vagina Monologues at New World Stages; All American Girls at the Actor's Temple; and Henry V at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. In addition, she starred as Agent Cooper in the feature film Raltat, which was nominated in the Pan African Film Festival.

Marx Brothers, line dancing and drag add spice to Palmetto production of The Tempest

Whew! We need a vacation already, so you can only imagine how Cody, the guy with the enormous heart and brilliant imagination must feel! So, here's some quick and sage advice for you: Buy yourself some Cody Rutledge stock and watch its value increase, even as his reputation as both an actor and as a scenic designer continues to grow.

In many ways, the Ohio State Department of Theatre's latest production, "Stupid F---ing Bird," resembles the stage on which it is presented - an intimate performance space bordered by jagged-edged support beams, backed by planks of overlapping wooden boards and strewn with overturned paint buckets, plastic sheeting and stacked chairs. Indeed, this "lovingly deconstructed" version of Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" has the feeling of a work in progress, like something built right before one's very eyes.

Valencia College will hold its Annual Spring Dance Concert on March 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. in Valencia's East Campus Performing Arts Center.

Audiences expecting a historic, telling musical of our seventh president of these United States, Andrew Jackson, are in for quite a surprise. The show, which prefaces that it is not historically accurate, is an emo and rock filled tale of Jackson, the formation of the Democratic Party, and his torture and removal of Native Americans. The musical uses extreme irony to expose the faults of our nation's history and leaders, a topic that is very relevant in the today's news.

In this time of physical proximity of different cultures, Fadi J. Khoury, Artistic Director and Choreographer of FJK Dance, believes in the unique fusion of culture and dance, with the endless possibilities of experimenting with the fundamentals of various dance forms, including classical ballet, ballroom, Middle Eastern, and jazz, creating their own language to bridge the gap, demonstrating a shared capacity to create. Using atmosphere created by music, lighting, costumes, and movement, Khoury takes us on a journey, via his and his dancers' fusion, in a singular performance at the Kaye Playhouse, February 27, 2016, which I was glad to attend.

'Into the Woods' reframes well-known fairy tales into a single narrative that brings characters from beloved stories together in an inclusive universe for a re-envisioned adventure.

Ashley Eskew – a native of Irvine, California, who did her undergraduate work at Northwestern University, where she earned a BS in Theater, with a certificate in Music Theater – is one such member of the rather rarefied group of aspiring actors earning advanced degrees from USC this year.

The lecture auditorium in Hitchcock Hall, normally the venue in which engineering presentations are given, was transformed into a brightly colored, wildly patterned scene straight out of the '60s when Ohio State's Off the Lake Productions took to the stage Friday to perform "Hairspray." From the opening number that brought a taste of morning in Baltimore to the campus of OSU to the cast's final bows, "Hairspray" created an atmosphere bursting with energy and exuding undeniable passion.

Off the Lake Productions, the only student-run musical theatre group on Ohio State's campus, is bringing its 20th production, HAIRSPRAY, to you this spring!

Chae Chaput - a native of Manchester, New Hampshire, who did her undergraduate work at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey, where she earned her BA in Theater Arts with a double concentration in Acting and Technical Theater with a minor in film - is one such member of the group.

Grand opera--lavish in scale, setting and voices--certainly has its place, but, oh, the joys of hearing Cavalli and Faustini's bawdy, early baroque charmer LA CALISTO in a theatre with fewer than 100 seats! The Juilliard Opera production not only proved a great showcase for the singers, dancers and instrumentalists involved but for the opera itself, which is still infrequently heard and should be better known.

It's a shame that Bellini wasn't Donizetti--because the story of LA SONNAMBULA seems to be begging for the full comic treatment and could have been a great companion to L'ELISIR D'AMORE. (I'm not sure how Maria Callas would have felt about changes in one of her great roles.) As it stands, performing the semi-serious work in a concert format--as The Juilliard Opera did last week--is the next best thing, putting the emphasis on the music and the virtuoso singing it calls for and less on the absurd storyline.

Chris Ramirez is an excellent example of the talented, driven and committed individuals honing their craft at USC. A native of Kansas City, Kansas - "aka Wyandotte County, aka The Dotte!" - he earned his B.A. in theatre performance at the University of Kansas before heading westward to USC.

Love was in the air this weekend at the Lincoln Theatre in Columbus when the Ohio State Department of Theatre presented its reimagined version of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." A sense of magic and unpredictable mischief, paired with energetic performances from the student actors in the production, defined OSU's take on this romantic classic.

The translation of art from the stage to the screen is often viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. Yet an annual event by the Ohio State Department of Dance proves that the fusion of dance and film is far from two-dimensional. "Dance@30FPS," a presentation of dance films from around the world, was hosted on OSU's campus in the Wexner Center for the Arts' Film/Video Theater on Feb. 11.

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago concludes its 2015-16 season with the choreographer-performer duo of Rennie Harris and Michael Sakamoto, performing their dance-theatre duet Flash. Performances take place March 31-April 2, 2016 at The Dance Center, 1306 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago.

Here is your opportunity to get to know USC's Salome Mergia in this week's edition of Collegiate Theatrics. Miraculously, it would seem, she found time to sit down and consider our questions - and to offer some elucidating answers - about her time at USC and how her experiences there have prepared her for the future…

Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2015-16 season with Moscow Festival Ballet's double bill of one-act ballets, Romeo and Juliet and Carmen, on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 8pm. Tickets are $36-45 and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).

The Piano Lesson is an important part of American theater.  August Wilson wrote a story that needs to be told, now more than ever.  And a story which asks the important questions like, What do you do with your legacy, and how do you best put it to use?  Are we forced to live in the shadows of our ancestors choices?