Southeastern announces cast for 'Rodgers and Hart: A Celebration'
Contact: Christina Chapple
9/23/05
HAMMOND – From their first hit song in 1925 through their final show-stopper in 1943, the prolific songwriting team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart continually redefined musical theater and film scores with their wit, freshness, sophistication and intelligence. The Southeastern Louisiana University Opera/Music Theatre Workshop will celebrate their legendary musical partnership in “Rodgers and Hart: A Celebration,” Oct. 14-17.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. nightly at the Pottle Music Building Auditorium. Tickets -- $14 adults; $10, senior citizens, Southeastern faculty, staff and alumni, and non-Southeastern students – are available at the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts box office, 220 E. Thomas St. in downtown Hammond (985-543-4371), and at the door one hour prior to performance time. Southeastern students are admitted free with their university I.D.
The fast-paced musical review, the workshop’s contribution to Fanfare 2008, will feature 10 Southeastern vocalists, who will highlight the variety and vigor of Rodgers and Hart classics such as “My Funny Valentine,” “ Ten Cents a Dance,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” “Manhattan,” and “ With a Song in My Heart.”
The Rodgers and Harts classics will be performed by Cassandra Arnold of Bedico, Clay Donaldson of Gonzales, Dustin Johnson of Covington, William Musso of Independence, Kayla Louis and Bridget Lyons of Ponchatoula, Colby McCurdy and Brandon Wear of Slidell, and Jane Rownd and Maggie Rownd of Hammond.
“This is a lively, high energy showcase for excerpts from 60 Rodgers and Hart songs,” said Charles Effler, director of the Opera/Music Theatre Workshop and the show’s musical director. “Although there is no story line, the songs have been combined into themes, such as selections from Rodgers and Hart’s Hollywood period or love songs.”
Effler said Steve Schepker’s set will give an intimacy to the Pottle Auditorium, accommodating the band on the stage and directing the show’s fast-moving songs and dancing to a center stage ramp and a covered orchestra pit.
“Rodgers and Hart: A Celebration” will be directed by theater instructor Chad Winters of the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts with Alison Mariman as assistant director and choreographer. In addition to Effler and Schepker, the production crew also includes Richard Walsh, costume design, and Ellen Sovkoplas, lighting design.
For additional information, contact Effler at 985-549-2249 or ceffler@selu.edu.
More News...
