All IU Auditorium season shows will feature free pre-show talks this season, the auditorium announced Sept. 23.
The auditorium has held pre-show talks sporadically for years, but this is the first season in which they will occur at every season show. This does not include added shows, such as “Tom Segura: Come Together” and “Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.”
The pre-show talks will take place exactly one hour before the start of the associated show in Fine Arts Building Room 015. They will end at least 15 minutes before the start of the show, so guests have time to make their way over to the auditorium and take their seats.
These pre-show talks will consist of lectures aimed at providing context for the show.
Sometimes, this will include historical context for a show, like for the performance of “Les Misérables” last season. Grace Rimkunas, assistant director for education and engagement at the auditorium, said those pre-show talks consisted of a history professor explaining the historical context of the French revolution. However, these lectures could also give cultural context for the show or behind-the-scenes information on the production of the performance.
Like past discussions, the talks this season will be presented by IU professors and professionals from a range of disciplines, all chosen based on the subject matter of the associated show.
The first pre-show talks of the season will take place before each performance of “The Book of Mormon” on Friday and Saturday, led by Richard Roland, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance.
Roland said he will discuss the use of satire in musical theater, exploring how these productions toe the line between offensive and humorous and why audiences tend to gravitate toward these satirical shows.
Theater is not a one-way street; it’s a communication between audience and artists,” Roland said.
The auditorium is trying to ensure these pre-show talks are tailored to the target audience of the show.
There will be several other pre-show talks occurring this October. Anisa Tejpar, the associate producer of Côté Danse, the company behind “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” will provide behind-the-scenes information about the show Oct. 14. And Jeffrey Smith, an organ professor at IU, will speak about the use of organs in film ahead of “Dennis James Hosts Halloween” on Oct. 16.
Additionally, Amber Racoma, a Hawaiian native, as well as members of the IU Pacific Islander Student Association, will be leading a traditional hula dance demonstration for kids and a lei making craft table before the “Moana Live-to-Film Concert” on Oct. 24.
Ryan Sheets, the director of audience engagement, said the auditorium was determined to make these pre-show talks a consistent tradition as part of its education initiatives. The auditorium aims to provide a reliable resource that audiences can go to in order to learn more about the shows they are seeing.
“We thought there was a need in our community and within the IU community to do more beyond the stage and we take that very seriously,” Sheets said. “We hope [the pre-show talks] become a tradition of us to where we don’t even have to announce it anymore. Where it’s just known that, over time, this is a part of the IU Auditorium season show experience.”
These pre-show talks are also making strides in the accessibility of the arts and education, as they are free for anyone, not just those with tickets, to attend.
“We’re able to bring arts and culture to folks who may not have been able to experience it in the first place because there are so many barriers in place,” Rimkunas said. “The arts have very, very many barriers in place, whether it be a financial barrier or a physical barrier, so we're so excited that we’re able to provide as much access as possible.”
