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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The newest jewel in IU's crown of arts venues shined Friday night as members of the campus and community joined together to officially welcome Arts Week 2002.\nThe Theatre/Neal-Marshall Education Center was bustling with activity as anxious parents, students and arts patrons rubbed elbows at the 18th annual Arts Week opening ceremonies. A collaborative effort between the Bloomington community and the University, Arts Week highlights the many arts opportunities and programs offered throughout the year. \n"I think it really reflects on -- not just the week of activities and programming -- but the great example of the kind of art options and entertainment options that the community has throughout the entire year," Mayor John Fernandez said. \nFernandez was one of several guest speakers throughout the evening, preceded by Vice Chancellor of Academic affairs Moya Andrews and building architect Dan Kelly.\nAndrews spoke of the highly collaborative effort between the community and the University, despite the fact that it did not start out on such even footing.\n"In the beginning we talked about working with the community by thinking that we would invite the community to come to campus and see some of the events," Andrews said. "Well, our thinking has matured and grown since that time and so now this year…we believe we have the beginning of a true partnership with the City of Bloomington."\nArts Week actually began as a single weekend under the guidance of former professor of modern dance Fran Snygg, Andrews added. \n"It was all those years ago that they had the idea that it would be wonderful to celebrate all the arts here on campus and also cross disciplinary lines -- so that all the musicians and the drama people and the dancers and the artist who exhibited in the museums could all work together," Andrews said. \nA prime example of the collaborative efforts of the community and the University were the performances by the Bloomington Early Music Festival Minstrels and the IU Children's Choir. Involving children ages five to 16, students and members of the Bloomington community, the groups helped showcase the diverse opportunities available throughout the week.\n"We've got some great, great collaboration this year; I think more so this year than in years past," said Eric Nichols, the emcee of the evening. "And I think that is really coming to fruition and moving forward, and I'm looking forward to what happens in the future with it as well."\nNichols, as well as Associate Dean of the Faculties Kim Walker, worked to bring all of the events of the week together. Nichols said he was thrilled with the turnout for the opening ceremony and the appropriateness of the venue. Kelly, the architect, also commented on the new facilities.\n"When we began to conceive of this new building -- which was, believe it or not, back in 1989 -- we imagined it as being a great vessel," Kelly said, echoing his comments from the building's dedication. "A vessel from which the most savory art may simmer and be served"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
A farcical romp through a storybook Naples awaits audiences at "Scapino! A Long way off Moliere" this weekend. \nA comedy of love, "Scapino!" is based on the 1671 Moliere production "Les Fourberies de Scapin." Adapted in 1975 by Frank Dunlop and Jim Dale, "Scapino!" tells the tale of two wealthy young Italian men who have fallen madly in love with women whom their fathers would never allow them to marry. To solve their heartache, the two enlist the aide of the witty servant Scapino. \n"It's a theater for the people," director Murray McGibbon said. "What people are going to see is a new 'Scapino!' We've invented all the action and some of the dialogue too."\nDescended from the commedia del arte tradition, "Scapino!" actors and actresses regularly cross the boundary between stage and audience, interacting and engaging viewers.\n"A lot of the characters are so interactive," said senior Jenny Bulla, who plays Giacinta. "And this way there is so much variety for entrances and exits. You can use the actual stage so much more than in a traditional stage.\n"I really think it's a nice change. Especially in this season so far. The humor of the show appeals to all ages."\nThe play is set in Naples, Italy, where it was originally set by Moliere. And the cast trained with a voice coach to work on Italian accents.\n"We're using these fake Italian accents but without being disrespectful to Italians," McGibbon said. "I think there's something charming and fun about the Italian temperament."\nThe costumes, designed by graduate student Becca Jarrell, add a playful, cartoonish and futuristic aspect to the performance. \n"It was almost just like a blank slate," Jarrell said. "I pulled some historical aspects -- that's why you'll see a lot of corsets and period pieces like that -- but I also looked at a lot of avant garde fashion designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivian Westwood and John Valliani. We wanted it to be very piecey and eclectic."\nJarrell said it was no oversight by the cast and crew in creating such a storybook atmosphere. \n"These are obviously not real people, and we're not asking the audience to believe that this is actually happening somewhere," she said, "So it's more about these are characters that are being presented to the audience. It's very, very presentational." \nMcGibbon agreed, praising the freeform style the production had taken on.\n"One of the beauties of directing in a university is that you've got the opportunity to experiment with style and to juxtapose a postmodern costume design on a fairly contemporary set design," he said.\nActors and actresses agreed that the playful attitude of the play was it's biggest draw.\n"It's just a lot of fun," said senior Peter Gerharz, who plays Argante. "There's not pretension of being anything more than a good time."\nMcGibbon urged that the show is one suitable for audiences of all ages.\n"We don't often get to see families come into the theater," he said. "One of my great loves is children's theater, and while this is not a children's play, it is a play that the family could come to see from grandmother right on down to 6- or 7-year-old child."\n"Scapino!" offers viewers a chance to be transported away from reality, McGibbon added. \n"This is not a play with a great message or issues to consider. The play is about love -- and that affects us all -- but it was written as a farce," he said. \n"Scapino!" will be performed in the Wells-Metz Theatre March 22, 23 and 25-30 at 8 p.m. and March 23 and 30 at 2 p.m.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Award-winning production "New World Rhapsody" packed the house Friday during its run at the Bloomington Playwrights Project theater, 312 S. Washington St. The crew had to add another row of folding chairs just to accommodate the incoming audience.\n"New World Rhapsody" is a coming-of-age story about a boy who grows up in the exotic Far East and sees his American home as a strange, new land, ripe for exploration. Playwright Adam Kraar admits the story is not autobiographical, but he writes that it was inspired by his experiences of returning to America after spending many years overseas.\nThe play tells the story of Lenny Kenowitz (played by IU sophomore Jerry McClure), who is trying to make a home in the harsh streets of New York City after spending his own childhood in India. He struggles with maintaining a relationship with the vibrant artist Naomi Gold, portrayed by IU freshman Nicole Bruce, while helping to launch her career as a sculptor. He makes frequent visits to his mother's upstate asylum and his father's apartment, now shared with his Asian soon-to-be wife. "New World Rhapsody" depicts a melting pot of cultures and ideologies, played out by a cast of talented actors and actresses.\nSenior Carol Enoch gave a stunning performance as the hauntingly sad and mildly insane mother, Elsa Kenowitz. And Phil Kasper and Caitlin Burke played well off each other as Lenny's father and soon-to-be stepmother, reveling in idiosyncrasies of their characters. The multi-purpose roles filled by the young talent of Emily Radke and North High School junior Winston Fiore rounded out the cast with delightful character acting and a variety of realistic accents.\nThe small shadowbox theater provided an intimate setting for the production. The backdrop, a jumble of the harsh lines of big city high-rises and the graceful sweep of Indian towers, provided yet another visual emphasis on the mixing of cultures. And as the story progressed, windows looking out upon New York City were opened, letting the light of the Statue of Liberty shine in on the cast, an artistic touch that brought the message home once again.\nWhile the rousing rendition of "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" at the conclusion of the play was a novel idea, the production could have gone without it. But the play as a whole granted audiences a glimpse of both Liberty's generous opportunities and her demanding prerequisites -- from the eyes of one not yet numb to her charms. \n"New World Rhapsody" reintroduces its viewers to America and reminds them not to stop dreaming for a better life.\n"New World Rhapsody" will continue through April 14, showing at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The upcoming play "Children of a Lesser God" combines the love of theater and practice of American Sign Language held by much of its cast. Directed by senior Ingrid Torres, the show is being produced as an independent project.\n"It blends the two things I studied in college -- sign language and theater," Torres said.\n"Children of a Lesser God" follows the story of a speech therapist, played by senior Stuart Ritter, who falls in love with Sarah, a deaf student. They marry and seem happy, but through the course of the play, their relationship begins to crumble over a litigation suit against the School for the Deaf. Sarah decides she wants to make her own statement in court and not let others continue to speak for her, and the marriage between the two begins to fall apart.\nEventually, though, the compassion that brought the couple together returns. The same force that drove them apart -- their wanting to understand and be accepted by each other -- eventually brings them closer together.\n"It's just a really good play," Torres said. "It really addresses a lot of issues in today's society -- issues with minorities and those with disabilities and what even really consists a disability."\nIn addition to raising consciousness and concern for the hearing impaired in society, Torres said all proceeds of the show above and beyond the cost of production will go to Hands Alive, the theater department of the Indiana School for the Deaf.\nTorres held auditions in February to find her cast -- eight in total -- all with varying degrees of American Sign Language proficiency.\nSenior Ryan Kirk said his signing skill improved through his involvement with the performance.\n"It was definitely a challenge," Kirk said. "I had taken four semesters (of American Sign Language) here at IU. I used it as my foreign language requirement. It was always something that I was interested in, and now doing this show my senior year is like coming full circle with it."\nBecause the program is an independent project and completely student-run, Torres and her cast solicited a variety of arts committees and local businesses for donations and funding to cover production costs.\n"Because we're all students, it was hard to fund it all," Torres said. "But everyone's been really dedicated."\nIn addition to pounding the pavement for monetary support, the cast also had to be dedicated to develop its work in American Sign Language. While expertise in sign language wasn't a requirement to be cast in the play, Torres said, a background in it was helpful. One of the difficulties cast members who already signed had to overcome was ridding themselves of the various dialects they had picked up over time. Kirk said the cast members watched video tapes to perfect their signing and learn their parts accurately.\nWhen casting, Torres said the speech and hearing department helped her in choosing students appropriate for each part. The cast also received help from Wayne Mnich, clinical lecturer in speech and hearing sciences. Mnich made a video, signing every line of the play. The tape was then distributed to all of the students, who were in turn able to learn their lines more easily.\nThrough the process of developing the production, students became dedicated to more than just perfecting their lines, though.\n"I really think in Bloomington, a lot of people aren't made aware of the deaf community as much as they ought to be," Kirk said. "I think this is a great opportunity to show them an aspect of that culture that isn't very prominent in Bloomington. It's a lesson in diversity and acceptance."\n"Children of a Lesser God" will run at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, and at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sunday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre.
(03/28/02 6:28am)
Nikki Giovanni, the first poet to make the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday in Alumni Hall of the Indiana Memorial Union. \nThe Union Board will be sponsoring the visit of this influential Black American poet, essayist and revolutionary. Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni has taken stances with her writing that have ranged from supporting revolution, to addressing the necessity of understanding identity, by both blacks and whites. Union Board Lectures Director Mzilikazi Koné said the board had been trying for some time to bring Giovanni to campus, and had worked extensively with the Office of Multicultural Affairs to finalize her visit.\n"As an artist of her caliber, she can really inspire people to think about the world we live in and enable us to grow and learn," Koné said.\nGiovanni has influenced people for more than 25 years with her writings and poetry and has received several honorary doctorates, including one in Humane Letters from IU in 1991. She is currently Professor of English and Gloria D. Smith Professor of Black Studies at Virginia Tech. \nGiovanni will incorporate aspects and readings from her various books into her lecture. Some of her books include: "Black Feeling, Black Talk;" "Black Judgment;" "The Women and the Men" and "Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day." Her newest book, "Blues For All the Changes: New Poems" made the Los Angeles Times Bestseller List, propelling her further into public consciousness.\n"(Giovanni) has a strong history in having something to say and saying it," Koné said. "She uses her art form to make a stance." \nAssociate Vice Chancellor for Multicultural Affairs Gloria Gibson said the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Union Board had cosponsored a lecture last year for Black History Month, and as a result of the success of the lecture, they decided to pair again. They attempted to align her visit for February, but Giovanni's schedule didn't allow for a visit until March, Women's History Month, which is also an appropriate time for her visit, Gibson said.\n"What we're most interested in is bringing speakers that will provide an enlightening message for students," Gibson said."It doesn't necessarily need to be in February."\nGiovanni has been involved in civil and women's rights through her art.\n"Her topic really will be looking at diversity and the issue of art and in fact diversity as art," Gibson said. "And I think that she has been a poet whose work has really in a very significant way, probed into the consciousness of America in dealing with issues of race. \n"I think as a poet she will bring a wonderful contribution in helping all of us understand how art can be didactic, informative and educational, as well as having an intrinsic value as art."\nGiovanni's visit coincides with the decision made over the Thomas Hart Benton mural panel in Woodburn Hall and the discussions over its artistic value.\n"It's quite appropriate with what we're going through on our campus in discussing the Benton Murals," Gibson said.\nThe lecture will be followed by a question and answer session, as well as a book signing by Giovanni. Admission is free and open to the public.
(02/25/02 4:35am)
Saturday the Bloomington Early Music Festival kicked off its annual festivities with the performance of "The 12 Dancing Princesses: A Musical Retelling." The program was an experimental addition to the regular lineup of the festival, done in conjunction with Arts Week. \nIt showcased professional storyteller Joe Lee and a recorder ensemble of students from the IU Precollege Early Music Program. \n"What we were trying to do is have an event that would include the community children," said Marie-Louise Smith, education director of the IU Early Music Program. "Most of the area schools teach recorder in the fourth grade, so what I did was send some very simple dance tunes from the Renaissance to the music teachers, asking them to prepare their recorder students to play."\nElin Williams, a member of the ensemble, has been playing the recorder for five years. She began playing when she was 10 years old and became interested in the IU Precollege Early Music Ensemble through her mother, who is studying for her doctoral degree in music.\n"I'll probably go into music," Williams said. "It's a lot of hard work, but fun too."\nLee, who served as the story's narrator, began his performing career as a circus clown for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He has performed with various circuses, and he continues to do some clowning and performance work with the Unitarian Universalist Church, Indiana Shakespeare Festival, Monroe County Civic Theater and other area organizations. He contributes a weekly comic to the IDS. \n"It's going to be a fun combination," Lee said of the performance. "The kids have been rehearsing this on their own, and we are going to kind of be putting this together as it goes."\nSaturday's show was only the second time the ensemble had performed the show with Lee, a testament to the talent of both Lee and the ensemble.\nLee narrated the performance, and his voice filled the room and echoed off the vaulted ceilings of the Unitarian Universalist Church, while students interspersed the story with authentic Renaissance recorder music. The music is, Lee said, one of the reasons this story was picked. It offers a unique opportunity to blend storytelling and music in a show that will engage the entire audience.\nChildren gathered near the front of the room, and Lee strolled among them using different voices and expansive gestures to tell the story of the 12 princesses, which is based on a Grimms Fairy Tale. \nSaturday's performance was a precursor of the Bloomington Early Music Festival, which actually runs May 17-27. BLEMF includes close to 17 events, including opera, ensemble and solo concerts, children's workshops and lectures. BLEMF is a not-for-profit organization independent of the University. But it collaborates closely with the Early Music Institute in the School of Music.\n"It's a fantastic festival that allows people to sample 'classical' music in a whole new way," Director Alain Barker said. "By using replicas of instruments from past centuries and the style and technique of those times, the artists bring the music alive in a completely new way." \nThe festival attracts musicians from all over the world, as well as from the community of Early Music musicians in Bloomington. So, while being a nationally recognized festival, it has a "strong, community feel," Barker said. \nSmith praised her students' performances, stressing that the children spent many long hours practicing.\n"(The children) will be playing the dances and…hearing the dances as they would have been played then," Smith said. "I think it will be great fun. Joe Lee is a wonderful storyteller, the story is a classic and the children are playing at a very high level."\nLee said the music would be a new experience for most in attendance.\n"The music is probably nothing that the audience will have heard before, but there are pieces that are very catchy, and they may go away humming some of them after the performance," he said. \nLee said the afternoon was a great success and hoped people would continue to turn out for the BLEMF. \n"It's very easy, enjoyable family entertainment," he said. "It's a real opportunity to see this wonderful mix of storytelling and music and to hear some of the younger performers in the community"