The Chancellor’s Honors Program
and the Department of Sociology host

Marx in Soho — A Howard Zinn Play

Performed by Bob Weick, 7:30 pm TONIGHT, April 25,

in the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre.
Free and open to the public.

As some of you may know the Actors Co-op is closing out our 2006 – 2007 main stage season with the regional premiere of landscape with stick figures.  This poignant play deals with a community’s struggle following a deadly school shooting.  As the events of Virginia Tech continue to hover around us, I feel it is even more important to get the message of this play out and into our community. 

We will have two shows this Saturday, April 28th at 2pm and 8pm.  The 2pm show is our final outreach show for students, faculty, staff, etc. It is free of charge for reservations or half price ($6 students/$8 adults) for walk ups.  I would like to invite all of you to attend this performance as guests of myself and the Co-op.  We will also have a show that night at 8pm if anyone is interested.

What makes this show even more important to the UTK theatre community is the fact that half of the cast and crew are UTK students-staff.  Amy Sinnott, CBT’s wonderful props assistant served as our set designer.  Graduate student, Leigh Brown took on the daunting task of designing lights for our little theatre and undergraduate, Mike Margle was our assistant director (he did a fabulous job with all of our technical elements).

As for casting, we have five undergraduates playing some really important roles in this production.  Emma Wiseman plays the sympathetic defense attorney, Jarrod Hawn plays the abusive and unaffected older brother, Seth Crowe plays the distraught best friend, Chip Morris is the ambitious news reporter, and Ashley Shelton plays the widow of the slain coach.  All of these students have taken on some complex roles and run with them.  While they may not be the most seasoned actors, they have shown great potential (mainly in part due to the wonderful training they get at UTK) and I think you’ll enjoy watching your students in action.

If you are interested in attending either show, please let me know.  I can be reached at the office at 909-9300 or you can email me back.

On a final note, for all of the parents out there – our apprentice company is working on their final showcase which will be a production of Casey Sams’ Tale of Jumping Mouse.  It’s roughly a 45minute touring children’s show that opens May 11th and will run Friday/Saturday at 7pm and Saturday/Sunday at 2pm (with the exception of the 28th).  I encourage you to bring out the youngsters in your family to see this cute tale of adventure and friendship.  Our apprentices are doing everything in this show from acting, to directing, to designing.  Eric Abele and I are serving as mentors on this project and it’s proven to be a challenge, but something that kids will really enjoy.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope to see you all soon
Lesley

The Clarence Brown Theatre’s Reading Series
presents a staged reading of the play

INSIGNIFICANCE
By Terry Johnson

Directed by DAVID KEITH

What happens when Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joe McCarthy all have a chance meeting one night? Don’t miss the reading of this interesting and entertaining play!

Starring:
Cal MacLean as Albert Einstein
Jessica Culaciati as Marilyn Monroe
Shane Chuvalas as Joe DiMaggio
Ash Edwards as Senator Joe McCarthy

Everyone is invited to the play reading in the Carousel Theatre at 7 p.m., Sunday, April 29, 2007. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. TICKETS NOT NECESSARY. 

Marco Institute guest lecture
5 pm Thu, April 26,
Black Cultural Center.

Speaker: Carol Symes, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Topic: Toward a New History of Medieval Theatre — Plays and Public Life in Thirteenth-Century Arras.

For more info call 974-1859.http://web.utk.edu/~marco/