Art, lectures, theater and music highlight Fanfare's opening
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
by: Tonya Lowentritt 
STEP BACK IN TIME – As part of Fanfare, Southeastern Louisiana University’s annual fall arts festival, Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present “The Dinosaur Experience Returns.” Scheduled Oct. 7 at 11 a.m., the event is back by popular demand with an all new, original, interactive theatrical experience.
HAMMOND – An art exhibit, lectures, musical concerts and theater performances
are just some of the events scheduled during the opening of the 38th season of Fanfare,
Southeastern Louisiana University’s annual fall arts festival.
The 2023 Visual Arts + Design Faculty Exhibition is currently on display in the
Contemporary Art Gallery on campus and will remain through Nov. 2. Gallery hours are
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Wednesdays from 8 a.m. until
8 p.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. An artist lecture is scheduled Oct.
6, at 3 p.m. in the gallery.
The Southeastern English Department will present a Common Read Q and A with author
Adrian Matejka on Sept. 25, from 11 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre.
Matejka is the author of The Big Smoke, a collection of poems that was a finalist
for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She will present a reading
and hold a book signing that afternoon from 2 until 3:15 p.m. in the Student Union
Theatre.
Southeastern Theatre presents its first fall production, “Waiting for Lefty,”
just in time for Fanfare Sept. 27 – 30. An American classic by Clifford Odets, “Waiting
for Lefty” is directed by guest artist Leicester Landon and will be presented nightly
at 7:30 p.m. in the KIVA on the second floor of the Teacher Education Center on Southeastern’s
campus. Produced by The Impactful Group Theatre in 1935, the play revolves around
a meeting of cab drivers planning a labor strike. Tickets are free for Southeastern
students with university ID, $20 for general admission, and $15 for seniors, Southeastern
faculty and staff, military, and non-Southeastern students.
Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts presents “Aladdin! Choose Your Own Arabian
Night” in the Columbia Studio Theatre. Scheduled Sept. 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. and Sept.
30 at 2 p.m., the production is the creation of Columbia’s resident playwright Tommy
Jamerson.
Ever wished to control the fate of Aladdin and Genie? Well this time, it’s possible.
This all-new, interactive play allows the audience to determine what happens next.
No two performances are alike in this choose-your-own-adventure, world-premiere production.
The play will be performed in Columbia’s Studio Theatre, so tickets will go quickly.
Tickets are $25 general admission and $15 for students.
Also on Sept.28, the Southeastern Wind Symphony will present “A Gershwin Celebration”
with special guest Dr. Henry Jones. After graduating cum laude from Yale University
in 1978, Jones was a free-lance vocal coach and accompanist in New York City for 10
years. His credits include choral performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center,
vocal recitals at Lincoln Center, musical director of a gymnastic exhibition at Madison
Square Garden, and Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including Evita, Jerome Robbins’
Broadway, and The Fantasticks. Scheduled at 7:30 p.m. in Pottle Auditorium, the concert
is free.
The first Then and Now Fanfare lecture from the History and Political Science
Department is scheduled Oct. 4 at 2 p.m. in Pottle Music Recital Hall. Southeastern
faculty member Joe Burns from the Department of Communication and Media Studies will
present “What Was the First Music Video?”.
“Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles was the first video shown on MTV
Aug. 1, 1981 at midnight. Was it the first music video, that is, after the Moonman
intro, which had the MTV theme music, which was a video? Absolutely not,” Burns said.
So what was the first music video? That is the question that Burns will attempt to
answer in his lecture.
Also on Oct. 4, the Southeastern Symphony Orchestra Concert is scheduled in Pottle
Auditorium at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
On Oct. 7, at 11 a.m., Columbia Theatre presents “The Dinosaur Experience Returns.”
Ranger Martin, Rexi, and Nash are back with an all-new, original, interactive theatrical
experience. VIP tickets include a chance to meet the dinosaurs up close, take pictures
with them, and maybe even feed them. There will also be a Halloween costume contest
for children ages 14 and under. The winning costume receives two tickets to Columbia’s
Dec. 1 screening of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Tickets range from $15 to $30.
Advance tickets are available online at columbiatheatre.org, at the Columbia
Theatre box office at 985-549-2787, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,
and one hour prior to each performance.
Fanfare events are free, unless otherwise noted. For more information, contact
the Columbia/Fanfare office at 985-549-2999.
