2008-2009 ASU Theatre Season
Summer 2008 Season | Fall 2008 Season | Spring 2009 Season | Subscriber Information
Summer 2008 Season
Summer Dinner Theatre 1
The Boys Next Door
a comedy
by Tom Griffin
June 26-29 and July 3-5, 2008
ASU Modular Theatre
An Off-Broadway success, this very funny yet very touching play focuses on the lives of four mentally challenged men who live in a communal residence under the watchful eye of a sincere, but increasingly despairing, social worker. Filled with humor, the play is also marked by the compassion and understanding with which it peers into the half-lit world of its handicapped protagonists. Mingled with scenes from the daily lives of these four, where "little things" sometimes become momentous (and often very funny), are moments of great poignancy when, with touching effectiveness, we are reminded that the handicapped, like the rest of us, want only to love and laugh and find some meaning and purpose in the brief time that they, like their more fortunate brothers, are allotted on this earth.
"THE BOYS NEXT DOOR is one of the most unusual…and one of the most rewarding plays in town." —BackStage.
"Griffin's play hits squarely on the truth of life with its constant interplays and shadings of triumphs and tears." —NY Daily News.
"THE BOYS NEXT DOOR moves the audience to an awareness of how many things in everyday life we take for granted…" —NY Times.
Summer Dinner Theatre 2
Blithe Spirit
a farce
by Noel Coward
July 31-August 3 and August 7-9, 2008
ASU Modular Theatre
The ingenious plot tells how novelist Charles Condomine invites into his placid country home an eccentric, breezy lady medium in order to learn the language of the occult. Little does Charles or his lovely second wife, Ruth, dream that the seance staged by the medium will summon back Charles' first wife, now "passed over" for seven years. But the lady from beyond, still handsome, still mischievous, appears and torments Charles by reminding him of their days and nights together. Only Charles can see or hear her. A floating vase, handed to her out of thin air, finally convinces Ruth that Charles is not losing his mind that his first wife is indeed in the room. How Charles manages to extricate himself from this very blithe spirits make a hilarious conclusion to this very unusual farce.
Fall 2008
A Lie of the Mind
a drama
by Sam Shepard
October 3-5 and 10-11, 2008
ASU Auditorium
Filled with enormous vitality, and humor, the play explores the destinies of two families, linked by marriage but set apart by jealousies and distrust. As the play begins Beth, brain-damaged from a savage beating that Jake has given her, is being tended by her parents, Baylor and Meg. Jake sends his brother, Frankie, to Montana to see if she is dead or alive, but Beth's father, mistaking Frankie for a poacher, shoots him in the leg and takes him prisoner. Thereafter the tensions and enmities that motivate the two families grow increasingly disturbing and dangerous. Frankie falls in love with Beth, but her brother, Mike, is bitterly determined that she no longer have anything to do with her husband or his loathsome family. Meanwhile the distraught, hysterical Jake, back home in California, is nursed by his possessive mother, Lorraine, and his sister, Sally, to whom Lorraine is openly hostile. Having gotten Jake back from Beth, Lorraine is determined to keep him with her forever, but Jake soon recovers and sets out to regain his wife. These dispossessed characters struggle to find order and meaning in the present by coming to terms with the haunting spectres of the past.
"A LIE OF THE MIND is a mesmerizing, emotionally raw play that once again pulls the view into Shepard's distinctive world of disturbed reality and hungry hearts." —Variety.
"Sam Shepard is surely the only dramatist alive who could tell a story as sad and frightening as this one and make such a funny play of it without ever skimping on its emotional depth." —The New Yorker. "…unforgettable." —Time.
Recommended for mature audiences.
“A Lie of the Mind” is the Angelo State University Theatre entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Holiday Dinner Theatre
THE NERD
a comedy
by Larry Shue
November 13-16 and 20-22, 2008
ASU Modular Theatre
Willum Cubbert has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met but who saved has life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He has written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, "you will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you"—so Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly at his apartment on the night of his thirty-fourth birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless "nerd"—a bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence and less tact. And Rick stays on and on, his continued presence among Willum and his friends leading to one uproarious incident after another, until the normally placid Willum finds himself contemplating violence.
"Shue delivers a neatly crafted package that uses some classic comic forms to bring the audience to its knees, laughing." —Milwaukee Journal.
"…the audience almost never stops laughing—handkerchiefs wiping away tears of merriment…" —Variety.
"…a spring tonic of side-bruising laughter…" —Milwaukee Tribune.
Spring 2009
Godspell
musical
Book by: John Michael Tebelak
Music and Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz
Based on The Gospel According to St. Matthew
March 4-8 and March 11-14, 2009
ASU Modular Theatre
“Godspell” is one of the biggest off-Broadway and Broadway successes of all time.
Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew, and featuring a sparkling score by Stephen Schwartz, “Godspell” boasts a string of well-loved songs, led by the international hit, “Day By Day.” As the cast performs “Prepare Ye The Way Of The Lord,” “Learn Your Lessons Well,” “All For The Best,” “All Good Gifts,” “Turn Back, O Man” and “By My Side,” the parables of Jesus Christ come humanly and hearteningly to life.
Drawing from various theatrical traditions, such as clowning, pantomime, charades, acrobatics and vaudeville, “Godspell” is a groundbreaking and unique reflection on the life of Jesus, with a message of kindness, tolerance and love.
"A Hit, A big, big Hit. GODSPELL believes in God -- and people -- and possibility." --The New York Post
"Exhilarating… a rapid fire musical fun house"
--New York Magazine
Picnic
a play
by William Inge
April 30-May3 and May 7-9, 2009
ASU Modular Theatre
The play takes place on Labor day Weekend in the joint back yards of two middle-aged widows. The one house belongs to Flo Owens, who lives there with her two maturing daughters, Madge and Millie, and a boarder who is a spinster school teacher. The other house belongs to Helen Potts, who lives with her elderly and invalid mother. Into this female atmosphere comes a young man named Hal Carter, whose animal vitality seriously upsets the entire group. Hal is a most interesting character, a child of parents who ignored him, self-conscious of his failings and his position behind the eight ball. Flo is sensitively wary of temptations for her daughters. Madge, bored with being only a beauty, sacrifices her chances for a wealthy marriage for the excitement Hal promises. Her sister, Millie, finds her balance for the first time through the stranger's brief attention. And the spinster is stirred to make an issue out of the dangling courtship that has brightened her life in a dreary, minor way.
Winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and the Critics Circle Award.
"Having one good play to his credit, William Inge now has another play, PICNIC…and memorable though Come Back, Little Sheba was three seasons ago, PICNIC is a notable improvement." —NY Times.
Subscribe Now for the 2008-2009 Season! Subscribe Now for the 2008-2009 ARTS@ASU Season! Subscribers receive the best deal in town paying only $30.00 for all major 2008-2009 University Theatre and Music events. (Subscriber Dinner Theatre tickets are an additional $15.00 to cover the food costs.) Overall, the Arts at ASU subscription package IS THE BEST entertainment value in town. Furthermore, it is LIVE for YOU! The $30 cost of a single subscription membership will afford the subscriber six (6) admissions to University Theatre productions (additional food preparation charge for dinner theatre) and advance notice of ten (10) music events (which are admission free). The theatre admissions can be used in whatever combination of shows you choose. For example, if you choose to bring a guest to the first production, you may do so using two of your six season subscription admissions, thus, having four remaining admissions. Reservation cancellations must be made in advance of the performance for which the reservation is made in order to maintain those admissions. Subscribers may make reservations two days before general admission tickets go on sale by calling 942-2000 (dinner theatre reservations must be paid within 48 hours of the reservation due to the need to guarantee meal counts to catering service, these can be paid by Visa or MC provided we have a signature on file.). Theatre tickets sold in advance are available at the Arts at ASU Box Office, located in the north foyer on the main floor of the Robert and Nona Carr Education-Fine Arts Building on the Angelo State University campus. Tickets purchased in addition to subscriptions will be sold at general admission prices. BOX OFFICE is open 2-6 PM weekdays beginning 10 days before opening to help accommodate our subscribers. Subscribers receive notification by mail in advance of all events, including the seven theatre events listed below and ten music events. Music events include notable performances from the Concert Choir, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and various ensembles. Subscribers may call for last-minute reservations to performances and can have your name placed at the top of a waiting list in the event of a sold-out house. (Reserved seating for dinner theatre productions and productions staged in the Auditorium. Other performances are general admission seating. Advance ticket purchase is highly recommended and necessary for dinner theatre productions.) Subscribers enjoy outstanding ASU facilities for music and theatre events in the University Modular Theatre, Recital Hall, and the ASU Auditorium Theatre.
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Ticket Prices:General Admission: $8 for plays and musicals, $20 for dinner theatre The Arts at ASU 2008-2009 season will continue to present the very best in music and theatre entertainment to the Concho Valley. Join us for a season of great music events, comedies, musicals, and drama. That's a complete season of six theatre productions and 10 music events! Join us for a season filled with laughter, thought, tears and fine music when you subscribe to the ARTS AT ASU. Subscribers rest in the knowledge that your support allows us to maintain our mission of providing the best educational experience for our students, while providing the community with quality arts and entertainment opportunities. Subscribers may attend the dinner theatre productions as a part of the season package with no dinner service or additional charges. Admission will use one of the six admissions that are a part of the season subscription. We recognize this will affect a limited number of special needs subscribers who will be seated in their reserved seats 15 minutes before curtain time. Subscribers may purchase season subscriptions and additional tickets per production (as they go on sale) with cash, check, Visa or Mastercard. Tickets purchased by telephone require a signature on file, which subscribers will have by virtue of signing the subscription application. University Theatre productions run two weekends. Tentative dates are listed below. Please note: all Sunday theatrical performances, including dinner theatre, will curtain at 2:00 P.M., all other theatre performances begin at 8:00 P.M. For dinner theatre, dinner is served one hour before curtain time and doors open one hour and 15 minutes before curtain. (Give us an email address, and we'll even give you advance notice via an email in addition to the postcard!) Remember that s ten music and six Drama/Musical productions! Contacts:Arts at ASU University Theatre Contacts: 942-2146 ext 246, bill.doll@angelo.edu 942-2146 ext 241, james.worley@angelo.edu 942-2146 ext 248, maggie.blair@angelo.edu
Department of Art and Music Contacts:
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