Art, lectures, and dance kick off Southeastern's Fanfare
Wednesday, September 30, 2020 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
PERFORMANCE ARTIST COMING TO COLUMBIA THEATRE – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present “Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers” at the Columbia Theatre on Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Special Fanfare guest and award-winning New Orleans performance artist Jose’ Torres-Tama completes his three-day residency on campus with a performance of his highly theatrical, one-man, sci-fi Latino noir. Advance tickets are available at the Columbia Theatre box office Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will also be available one hour prior to each performance.
HAMMOND – Two screenings of a cult classic movie, lectures, and a dance concert
are just some of the events providing the opening flourish for the 35th season of
Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University’s annual fall arts festival.
“This year’s Fanfare lineup is diverse and dynamic,” said Jim Winter, artistic
director of Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts and Fanfare. “I am so grateful
Fanfare 2020 is happening. We need the arts now more than ever.”
Fanfare and the Columbia Theatre present “Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers”
at the Columbia Theatre on Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. Special Fanfare guest and award-winning
New Orleans performance artist Jose’ Torres-Tama completes his three-day residency
with a performance of his highly theatrical, one-man, sci-fi Latino noir.
Reserved seating is $25 for adults and $15 for students. Advance tickets are
available at the Columbia Theatre box office Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m. and will also be available beginning one hour prior to each performance.
Next up is a concert from the Southeastern Dance Department. Titled “Voices of
the Planet: 2020,” the concert is scheduled Oct. 7 – 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Vonnie Borden
Theatre in D Vickers Hall.
Tickets can be purchased one hour before each performance from the Vonnie Borden
Theatre box office, located in the lobby of D Vickers Hall. General admission tickets
are $12 adults and $10 seniors/military/students/children.
Also on Oct. 7, the Southeastern Orchestra will have its first performance of
the season at 7:30 p.m. in Pottle Music Building Auditorium. The free concert will
present string works by Antonin Dvorak, Edvard Grieg, Bela Bartók and Southeastern
faculty member Stephen Suber.
Conductor Victor Correa-Cruz said the concert repertoire is a selection of pieces
that have strong connections with popular music.
“Dvorak’s Serenade Op. 22 depicts the romantic soul of one of Czechia’s most
universal composers,” Correa-Cruz said. “Grieg’s ‘Holberg Suite’ will bring a taste
of the warm Norwegian character, and Bartok’s Dances embrace the lively spirit of
the Romanian people. Finally, a piece inspired by the lyric poetry of ancient Greece,
Stephen Suber’s ‘Dithyramb’ will feature original music that bears this artist’s unique
American touch.”
“Social distancing protocols and mask requirements will be in place for the event,”
he said. “After months without live concerts, come and get a treat of great music
at Southeastern!”
Up next, the Columbia Theatre hosts two screenings of the “The Rocky Horror Picture
Show” Oct. 8 and 9 at 9 p.m. Sponsored in part by ‘The Rock School Radio Show,’ the
screenings of this cult classic feature a shadow cast, costume contest and more. Southeastern’s
own Joe Burns of the Communication and Media Studies Department will serve as Master
of Ceremony for both performances. Reserved seating tickets are available at the Columbia
Theatre box office and are $15 for both adults and students. A special VIP ticket
that includes a throw bag is available for $20.
“Writing through the Pandemic,” a series of readings is scheduled Oct. 8, at
2 p.m. Featuring Southeastern’s own David Armand, Anne Babson and Alison Pelegrin,
the readings will take place in Southeastern’s Writing Center. The three writers will
read some of their work and discuss how they adjusted to a pandemic-style writing
life – what worked, what didn’t, and how the abundance of despair and hope in these
last months surfaced in their work.
Also beginning Oct. 8, the Contemporary Art Gallery, located at 100 East Strawberry
Stadium, will host an art exhibition by Ruth Owens titled “Black Outdoors: Crossing
Boundaries.” The exhibition is free and open to the public from Oct. 8 – 29 and will
include recent paintings and video works by Owens. Contemporary Art Gallery hours
are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on
Wednesdays, and Friday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
As part of the exhibit, a public Zoom conversation between Owens and Gallery
Director Cristina Molina will take place Tuesday, Oct. 13, at noon. For more information,
contact the gallery at 985-549-5080.
Owens was born in 1959 to a young German woman and a black serviceman from Georgia.
Her childhood nomadic military lifestyle was complicated by restrictions to mixed
families in many communities and laid the basis for the formation of her cultural
identity and, therefore, her artistic practice, Molina explained.
Owens is a master of fine art graduate from the University of New Orleans and
is currently a Joan Mitchell Center Artist in Residence. Her artwork is represented
by Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, and she currently serves as a participating member in
the artist-run collective, The Front, located in the New Orleans St. Claude art corridor.
For a complete Fanfare schedule, contact the Columbia/Fanfare office at 985-543-4366
or visit columbiatheatre.org.
