Tag Archives: Northern Kentucky University

INTO THE WOODS Runs April 21-May 1

NKU_Into the Woods logoINTO THE WOODS
Northern Kentucky University
April 21-May 1
NKU Corbett Theatre [Highland Heights]

Directed by Jamey Strawn
Music Directed by Damon Stevens
Choreographed by Tracey Bonner

Cast: Taylor Isabel Winkleski, Katherine Ann Jackson, Anne Tish Schneider, Brittany Harmony Hayes, Megan Urz, Dakota Dean, Amanda Steier, Melissa Cathcart, Alexa Fangman, Heather Hale, Kristin Schisler, Madison Pullins, Charlie Klesa, Aaron Marshall, Brandon Huber, Hunter Henrickson, Kyle Douglass Taylor, Andy Burns, Trey Paris & Ben Cohen. Featuring Sue Ott Rowlands as The Giant

In this timeless musical, your favorite fairytales are flipped upside down and given a hefty dose of reality to boot. You might think you know the real stories of Little Red, Cinderella, Jack, and Rapunzel, but when a Baker and his wife learn of the curse placed upon their house by the witch next door, their quest to break the spell will cause fairytales to collide. As expected, wishes are granted and dreams come true, but in this modern classic, ‘happily ever after’ is not always what it seems: wishes have consequences, princes have flaws, and giants seek revenge.

  • Thu-Sat, April 21-23 at 8pm
  • Sun, April 24 at 3pm
  • Wed-Sat, April 27-30 at 8pm
  • Sun, May 1 at 3pm

Official page |

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PYGMALION Marks Final NKU Production Directed by Retiring Professor Sandra Forman

NKU_PygmalionHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY – Northern Kentucky University | School of the Arts | Program of Theatre and Dance presents PYGMALION March 29 – April 3, 2016.

Performances will take place in the Stauss Theatre in the Fine Arts Center. All performances are sold out. The wait list policy can be found online at theatre.nku.edu on the Box Office page.

PYGMALION
By George Bernard Shaw
March 29 – April 3, 2016 | NKU Robert and Rosemary Stauss Theatre

PYGMALION—written over a century ago—continues to provide hilarious entertainment and sharp social commentary that resonates today. A chance encounter between Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, and Henry Higgins, a world expert on speech, inspires a bet that he can transform her into a lady. As Higgins strives to do the impossible, Shaw employs his trademark wit to examine issues of class and independence. Later adapted into the hit musical My Fair Lady, Shaw’s original tale is not one of romance, but of transformation and self-identity.

Sandra Forman, professor of performance, directs the production. This will be the final NKU production directed by Ms. Forman, who is set to retire at the end of the spring semester. In addition to directing and performing on the NKU stage, she has served for many years as the director of the Y.E.S. Festival of New Plays.

Sandra Forman (Director)
NKU:  Favorite directing credits include The Bacchae, As You Like It, Nunsense, Nuncrakers, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Bus Stop, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Little Women – the Musical and the Y.E.S. Festival world premieres of Dorian, The Musical, Nightjars and One Good Turn. Performance credits include Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Liz in Ladyhouse Blues, Mary in The Rimers Of Eldritch and Jean Louise in To Kill a Mockingbird. She has also served as the project director for the Y.E.S. Festival of New Plays.

Elsewhere: Ms. Forman has appeared as “Queen Eleanor” in The Lion In Winter at Bas Bleu Theatre in Colorado, “Meg” in The Hostage with North Carolina Shakespeare, “Lady Alyce” in A Man For All Seaons for Downtown Theatre Classics in Cincinnati. She has directing credits with Virginia Shakespeare, as well as in Spain, Austria and France. Ms. Forman has appeared in outdoor dramas, dinner theatres and toured Europe with the USO in the 60s entertaining our military. She is the author of three books.

For more information call the NKU School of the Arts Box Office at 859.572.5464 or visit theatre.nku.edu.

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2016-2017 Season Announced by Northern Kentucky University

NKU ANNOUNCES 2016-17 THEATRE + DANCE SEASON

NKU_logoHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY – Northern Kentucky University | School of the Arts | Program of Theatre and Dance is excited to announce our 2016-17 academic season. Performances begin in September 2016. An exact schedule of performances will be released closer to the start of the 2016-17 academic year.

THE GRAPES OF WRATH
By Frank Galati
From the novel by John Steinbeck
September 29 – October 9, 2016
NKU Corbett Theatre

A powerful and deeply affecting stage version of one of the masterpieces of American literature, there’s a reason why THE GRAPES OF WRATH is a classic. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the story’s themes—endurance, sacrifice, and family—are no less powerful today than they were 77 years ago, when John Steinbeck penned the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. This Tony Award-winning stage adaptation follows the Joad family on their flight from the dust bowl of Oklahoma, culminating in a soaring and deeply moving affirmation of the indomitability of the human spirit.

MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
By August Wilson
October 25 – October 30, 2016
NKU Stauss Theatre

Chicago, 1927. In a recording studio on the city’s South Side, a battle of wills is raging. Ma Rainey, Mother of the Blues, uses every trick in the book to fight her record producers for control of her music. Hardened by years of ill-treatment and bad deals, she’s determined that ‘Black Bottom’, the song that bears her name, will be recorded her way. But Levee, the band’s swaggering young trumpet player, plans to catapult the band into the jazz age. His ambition puts them all in danger.

Inspired by the real-life Blues legend and infused with her music, August Wilson’s play speaks powerfully of a struggle for self-determination against overwhelming odds.

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
By Jeanine Tesori, Dick Scanlan, and Richard Henry Morris
December 1 – December 11, 2016
NKU Corbett Theatre

A high-spirited romp that has all of New York dancing the Charleston, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE tells the story of a small-town girl who travels to New York City to marry for money instead of love. Audiences will relive the roaring 1920s in this Tony Award-winning musical featuring jazz, thunderous tap dancing, frisky flappers and dashing leading men.

ALL SHOOK UP
Inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley
Book by Joe DiPietro
February 16 – February 26, 2017
NKU Corbett Theatre

It’s 1955, and into a square little town in a square little state rides a guitar-playing roustabout who changes everything and everyone he meets in this hip-swiveling, lip-curling musical fantasy that’ll have you jumpin’ out of your blue suede shoes with such classics as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” and “Don’t Be Cruel.” The story is all new, the hits are all Elvis.

SEASON EXTRAS

FIRST YEAR SHOW
November 18 – November 20, 2016
NKU Stauss Theatre

This production shows off our talented freshman and transfer students.

DANCE ‘17
March 31 – April 1, 2017
NKU Corbett Theatre

Not to be missed, DANCE ‘17 features a company of our best young dance artists. Full of new and innovative works created by faculty, guest artists, and nationally renowned choreographers in creative expressions including theatre dance, contemporary and classical ballet, tap, modern, jazz, and world dance, DANCE ‘17 features something for everyone!

THE Y.E.S. FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS
April 20 – April 30, 2017
NKU Corbett and Stauss Theatres

Be the first to see the two World Premiere plays in our 18th Biennial Year End Series Festival of New Plays. Titles will be announced in January 2017.

For more information call the NKU School of the Arts Box Office at 859.572.5464 or visit theatre.nku.edu

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Commonwealth Theatre Co. at NKU Announces Summer Dinner Theatre season

CTC_logoHIGHLAND HEIGHTS, KY – Commonwealth Theatre Company at Northern Kentucky University is proud to announce our 2016 Summer Dinner Theatre season. Performances begin in June 2016.

THE STAR SPANGLED GIRL
By Neil Simon
June 8 – 26, 2016 | NKU Robert and Rosemary Stauss Theatre

San Francisco, 1966. Andy and Norman are two young radicals barely making a living publishing their magazine that nobody reads. Everything’s swell until Sophie, an all-American girl and self-described “religious follower of Sports Illustrated”, moves in next door, sending the boys into a romantic tail spin. Will a love-fest, a love-triangle, a love-in, a sit-in, or a political falling-out ensue? The fun and freewheeling play out with the masterly skill and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of a Neil Simon comedy.

Director: Nathan Gabriel

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING
The Songs of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
Concept by Jeffrey B. Moss
July 6 – 24, 2016 | NKU Robert and Rosemary Stauss Theatre

More so than any composer and lyricist who have written for the stage, the works of Rodgers & Hammerstein have become musical theatre classics that have forever defined the genre: Carousel, Cinderella, The King and I, Oklahoma, South Pacific, and more. Although the partnership’s final collaboration, The Sound of Music, was composed 25 years ago, their musicals are as solidly entrenched, as mass-adored as ever. SOME ENCHANTED EVENING gives the audience a chance to relive the best of the duo’s music in a single evening. This stunning collection of compositions promises a glorious parade of genuine hits.

Directors: Ed Cohen and Dee Anne Bryll
Choreographer: Dee Anne Bryll

For more information call the NKU School of the Arts Box Office at 859.572.5464 or visit theatre.nku.edu

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PYGMALION Runs March 29-April 3

NKU_logoPYGMALION
Northern Kentucky University
March 29-April 3
Stauss Theatre [Highland Heights]

PYGMALION—written over a century ago—continues to provide hilarious entertainment and sharp social commentary that resonates today. A chance encounter between Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, and Henry Higgins, a world expert on speech, inspires a bet that he can transform her into a lady. As Higgins strives to do the impossible, Shaw employs his trademark wit to examine issues of class and independence. Later adapted into the hit musical My Fair Lady, Shaw’s original tale is not one of romance, but of transformation and self-identity.

  • Tue-Fri, March 29-April 1 at 8pm
  • Sat, April 2 at 3pm & 8pm
  • Sun, April 3 at 3pm

Official page |

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