Tag Archives: UC College-Conservatory of Music

Running Feb. 28 through March 10, this dynamic new production features set designs by Tony Award-winning guest artist John Arnone

CINCINNATI, OH —The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) year-long Kurt Weill Festival resumes this month with a dynamic new production of the iconic musical The Threepenny Opera. Composed by Kurt Weill with book and lyrics by dramatist Bertolt Brecht (adapted into English by Marc Blitzstein), The Threepenny Opera weaves the riveting tale of notorious bandit and womanizer Macheath (“Mack the Knife”) and his seedy companions in London’s underworld. Weill’s innovative score invented a new form of musical theatre, leading the way for such shows as Chicago and Cabaret.

CCM’s Mainstage Series production of this jazz-infused musical is directed by Robin Guarino, with musical direction by Roger Grodsky, choreography by Patti James and scenic designs by Tony Award-winning guest artist John Arnone.

The Threepenny Opera runs Thursday, Feb. 28, through Sunday, March 10, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. Tickets are on sale now. This production contains mature subject matter.

Premiering in Berlin in 1928, The Threepenny Opera is a satirical take on traditional opera and operetta, perhaps best known for its opening ballad “Mack the Knife,” which has since been recorded by countless artists including Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin and Frank Sinatra. The Threepenny Opera exhibits a segment of Weill’s eclectic body of work that is totally distinctive from the one audiences saw during CCM’s acclaimed revival of Weill, Langston Hughes and Elmer Rice’s opera Street Scene this past November.

THEATRE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
Adapted from an 18th century ballad opera by John Gay (which itself was a parody of baroque composer George Frideric Handel’s operas), The Threepenny Opera is a work of “epic theatre,” designed to challenge conventional notions of property and art. A theatrical movement from the early to mid-20th century, epic theatre is characterized in part by keeping viewers aware that they are watching a play. “Brecht deliberately takes an ‘anti-naturalistic’ approach,” Guarino explains, “making the audience conscious that they are experiencing art, often by breaking the fourth wall and inspiring social action by disrupting the expectation of simple ‘threepenny’ entertainment.”

One of the ways that CCM’s production will underscore this tradition is by placing the show’s musicians on stage and in costume. “Brecht wanted the music to actually interrupt the play,” says CCM Associate Professor of Musicology and Kurt Weill expert bruce mcclung. “The original production had two different lighting systems so that it would be obvious to the audience when the cast switched from spoken dialogue to singing. Brecht wanted to highlight the break between the two.”

A TONY AWARD-WINNING ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE HELPS SET THE STAGE
Set in an anachronistic Victorian London, The Threepenny Opera features set designs by John Arnone, a Tony Award winner whose impressive list of credits for theatre, film and television spans nearly 40 years. As a founding member of New York’s Lion Theatre Company, Arnone designed numerous critically acclaimed productions including Music Hall Sidelights featuring Kathy Bates as Colette and K: Impressions of Kafka’s The Trial for which he received his first Obie Award. With director Des McAnuff, Arnone worked on over 15 productions at La Jolla Playhouse beginning in 1984, including works by Shakespeare, Moliere, Checkov and new works. They returned to Broadway in 1993 with The Who’s Tommy, which earned five Tony Awards including Best Set Design for Arnone, and the revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which won a Tony for its star Matthew Broderick. In addition to being a Tony Award and O­­­bie Award winner, Arnone is the recipient of the Drama Desk Award, NAACP Award, Ovation Award, New York Theater Wing Award, and others.

Arnone will serve as a master teacher-in-residence at CCM for the two weeks leading up to The Threepenny Opera’s opening, but his work on this production actually began last summer. Arnone and Guarino devised an impressive industrial setting for this musical based on Caspar Neher’s designs for the original 1928 production of The Threepenny Opera. Students in CCM’s Department of Theatre Design and Production are in turn bringing these designs to life one piece at a time. CCM senior Michael Feldmann serves as Technical Director for this production, overseeing the realization of Arnone’s substantial designs. “The steel portion of this set alone easily weighs over three tons,” he says. “The finished structure will show signs of rusting and aging,” he adds, suggesting that The Threepenny Opera’s set will be as weathered and compromised as the show’s morally ambiguous characters.

FREE PRE-SHOW TALKS EXPLORE THE GENESIS OF THE ENGLISH ADAPTATION OF THE THREEPENNY OPERA

University of Houston Professor of Music and Kurt Weill Foundation grant-recipient Howard Pollack will present a pair of free talks about The Threepenny Opera on Friday, March 1. Pollack will discuss Marc Blitzstein’s historic English adaptation of the musical at 2:30 p.m. in conjunction with CCM’s Thinking About Music Lecture Series. Pollack will present a second talk at 7:15 p.m., leading up to the 8 p.m. performance of The Threepenny Opera. Both talks take place in the Baur Room of UC’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts in CCM Village.

PERFORMANCE TIMES

• 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
• 8 p.m. Friday, March 1 *
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 2
• 2 p.m. Sunday, March 3
• 8 p.m. Thursday, March 7
• 8 p.m. Friday. March 8
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 9
• 2 p.m. Sunday, March 10 

*Note: The March 1 performance of The Threepenny Opera will be preceded by a FREE pre-show talk by noted Kurt Weill Scholar Howard Pollack at 7:15 p.m. in the Baur Room of the Corbett Center for the Performing Arts.

LOCATION
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

PURCHASING TICKETS
Tickets to The Threepenny Opera are $30 for adults, $19 for non-UC students and $17 for UC students with valid ID. $12 student rush tickets will be available for the Saturday matinee performances beginning at 1 p.m. on March 2 and March 9; limit two rush tickets per student ID. This production contains mature subject matter.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.

PARKING AND DIRECTIONS
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

ABOUT THE KURT WEILL FOUNDATION FOR MUSIC
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music Inc. administers, promotes and perpetuates the legacies of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya. It encourages broad dissemination and appreciation of Weill’s music through support of performances, productions, recordings and scholarship; it fosters understanding of Weill’s and Lenya’s lives and work within diverse cultural contexts; and, building upon the legacies of both, it nurtures talent, particularly in the creation, performance and study of musical theater in its various manifestations and media. Learn more about the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music by visiting www.kwf.org.

CCM’s production of The Threepenny Opera is a contin­uation of a year-long festival funded in part by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music. Other upcoming festival events include “Into a Lamplit Room,” a cabaret night of the songs of Kurt Weill compiled and directed by CCM’s Patricia A. Corbett Distinguished Chair of Musical Theater Aubrey Berg and featuring students from the Musical Theatre program running at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, and Sunday, March 10. The CCM Chamber Choir and Brass Choir will perform Weill’s Kiddush (Prayer for Sanctification) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 10, and the CCM Chorale will perform “Ho Billy, O!” from Weill and Alan Jay Lerner’s 1948 musical Love Life at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12.

For a full schedule of festival events, visit www.uc.edu/news/NR.aspx?id=16709.

Funded in part by the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music, Inc., New York, NY

The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation: Season Presenting Sponsor and Musical Theatre Program Sponsor

ArtsWave: Community Partner

Macy’s: Mainstage Season Production Sponsor

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing and electronic media arts, composition, scholarship and pedagogy.

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theatre performances.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2012-2013 season brochure visit our website at http://ccm.uc.edu.

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music – The Sound of Synergy

The only play to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the New York Drama Critic’s Circle Award, William Saroyan’s thoughtful masterpiece runs Feb. 6 (preview) – 10 at CCM.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) proudly presents a sprawling, elegant production of American playwright William Saroyan’s award-winning five-act play THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE, running Feb. 6 (preview) – 10 in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater.

Set in a run-down waterfront dive bar on the docks of San Francisco (“Nick’s Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace”) in October of 1939, THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE is filled with colorful characters, love and the follies of humanity. CCM Associate Professor of Drama Diane Kvapil directs.

With the second World War looming on the horizon, Saroyan faced the suffering of mankind and presented that suffering with a choice. “I want to restore man to himself,” Saroyan once explained. “I want to restore man to his natural dignity and gentleness.” Out of this playwright’s need to express his idea of the human condition came what the New York Post calls a “tender and hilarious, probing and elusive” portrait of life.

“People everywhere needed respite from fear,” Kvapil explains. “Hope was hard to find. … the whole world was at war or in fear of invasion.” In this climate, the run-down waterfront saloon of Saroyan’s play serves as a refuge, a place of peace and camaraderie.

Scenic Designer Mark Halpin elaborates, “Because Saroyan’s original audience would have seen this play during the Great Depression, we felt we needed to give our contemporary audience some visual sense of the world outside of Nick’s Saloon. Thus, we get a look at an abstract and impersonal, harsh exterior world, as well as the quirky, warm and cozy interior. The saloon is definitely a safe haven for the characters in the play, and we wanted to emphasize that by giving a glimpse of the world it’s a haven from.”

A Colorful Cast of Characters
Kvapil’s goal with this production was simply “to serve the playwright.” She coached the students into their colorful characters, encouraging the eccentricities of Nick’s Pacific Street Saloon’s patrons to blossom. This approach led to a magnificent array of unexpected delights throughout the show, including some casting surprises.

A senior from Pickerington, Ohio, Daniel Martens plays the role of starving artist Wesley. Not necessarily a familiar face in the Drama department, Martens is actually a piano student, studying under CCM Professor of Jazz Piano Phil DeGreg. According to Martens, he was actively recruited for The Time of Your Life. “I’m a Resident Advisor, and some of my residents from a few years back contacted me to play background music for one of their shows. I was involved in some of the student-led productions last spring,” Martens explains. “Thus, I was readily thought of when a character was needed who could play the piano [on stage].” A majority of Martens’ music for the show is improvised, so the audience can expect different and unique “musical scores” at each performance.

According to Martens, audience members can look forward to “a great mix of humor and serious issues, which makes for a good time.” It could even be the time of your life.

The Time of Your Life Cast List
In order of appearance:

• William Saroyan – William Brown (Junior from Asheville, North Carolina)
• Joe – Will Kiley (Senior from Cincinnati, Ohio)
• Nick – Clifford Nunley (Senior from Houston, Texas)
• Arab – Christian Carey (Junior from Cincinnati, Ohio)
• Sam – Trey Wright (Sophomore from Louisville, Kentucky)
• Sailor – Spencer House (Sophomore from Plano, Texas)
• Newsboy – Jonah Sorscher (Fifth-grade CCM Prep student at Indian Hill Elementary)
• Willie – Joey Dippel (Senior from San Jose, California)
• Drunk – Joe Markesbery (Junior from Villa Hills, Kentucky)
• Tom – Nathan Wallace (Sophomore from Tupelo, Mississippi)
• Kitty Duval – Ellie Jameson (Senior from Olympia, Washington)
• Harry – Kevin Brown (Senior from Simi Valley, California)
• Dudley R. Bostwick – Connor Lawrence (Sophomore from Bowling Green, Kentucky)
• Wesley – Daniel Martens (Senior from Pickerington, Ohio)
• Lorene – Jaclyn Chantel (Junior from Youngstown, Ohio)
• Blick – Alex Escher (Sophomore from Dorset, Vermont)
• Mary L. – Mary Malloy (Junior from Atlanta, Georgia)
• McCarthy – Jack Conroy (Senior from Burlington, Vermont)
• Krupp – Ty Olwin (Senior from Boulder, Colorado)
• Kit Carson – John Patrick Maddock (Junior from Arlington, Texas)
• Ma – Fabiola Rodriguez (Sophomore from Dallas, Texas)
• Hotel Whore – Cait Penson (Sophomore from Richardson, Texas)
• Anna – Anna Carroll Horton (Sophomore from Memphis, Tennessee)
• Elsie Mandelspiegel – Anna Stapleton (Sophomore from Portland, Oregon)
• Streetwalker – Megan Marshall (Junior from Cincinnati, Ohio)
• Side Kick – Colleen Ladrick (Sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio)
• Society Gentleman – Zach Crowley (Junior from Batavia, Ohio)
• Society Lady – Madeline McKenzie (Junior from Fort Collins, Colorado)
• Cop – John Odom (Junior from Annandale, Virginia) 

Performance Times

• 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6 (preview)
• 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7
• 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8
• 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9
• 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 10 

Location
Patricia Corbett Theater, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE are $30 for adults, $19 for non-UC students, $17 for UC students, with $12 student rush tickets available for the Saturday matinee beginning at 1 p.m. on Feb. 9. Tickets for the Feb. 6 preview are $12.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation
Community Partner: ArtsWave
Mainstage Season Production Sponsor: Macy’s

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the leading conservatories for the performing and electronic media arts, composition, scholarship and pedagogy.

CCM is the largest single source of performing arts events in Ohio with an annual calendar of nearly 1,000 performances and presentations, ranging from solo recitals to full-scale opera and musical theatre performances.

All event dates and programs are subject to change. For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2012-2013 season brochure visit our website at http://ccm.uc.edu.

UC’s College-Conservatory of Music – The Sound of Synergy