Theater Performances

Majors and Programs | Instructors

2008 - 2009 THEATER SEASON   Russell Tripp Performance Center
 See us on Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.                                      the former Takena Theater
Fall
The Water Engine
by David Mamet (author of Glengarry Glen Ross, Speed the Plow, American Buffalo, Boston Marriage, The Verdict, Wag the Dog and many others).
Directed by Brian Newberg

Celebrated playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet's brilliant play works on several levels. The audience is watching the actors, announcer and sound effects man present a radio play in the 1930s with unerring authenticity, then the show spills out from the studio into bustling Chicago. The play itself is about a young inventor who's found a way to run an engine on distilled water. At first he's ridiculed; then crooked lawyers attempt to buy the invention from him on behalf of certain business interests. He refuses and is threatened. He attempts to tell his story to a newspaper reporter but is waylaid. The inventor has mailed the blueprint to the young scientific minded son of a candy store proprietor. This simple melodrama is a symbolic portrayal of human innocence struggling with a corrupt and violent society dominated by big business; or is it simply paranoid fantasy?
          "Extraordinary ... verbal brilliance." N.Y. Times.
          "A vivid theatrical experience." N.Y. Daily News.

Performances: November 21, 22, 28, & 29 @ 7:30 pm;
November 23 & *30 @ 3:00 pm
The Russell Tripp Performance Center

Admission:  $10  Adults,  $7  for Seniors & Students
       ! November 21 is STUDENT NIGHT - $3 with any valid Student ID!
       ! November 22 is 3 for 2 NIGHT -  purchase 2 tickets & get 1 free!
* ASL interpreted performance and is also the benefit performance for the Performing Arts Foundation Scholarships.

Tickets on sale November 4, 2008:

The Russell Tripp Performance Center Box Office
Business Hours: T-F, 9:00 a.m - noon, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. & 2 hours prior to curtain
We accept cash, check, Mastercard, Visa or Discover. 
Cast

 

WINTER
 34th Annual Children's Play Production
Charlotte’s Web
Adapted by Joseph Robinette. Based on the book by E.B. White.  Directed by Brian Newberg

34th Annual The Children's Literature Association named Charlotte’s Web "the best American children's book of the past two hundred years," and Joseph Robinette, working with the advice of E.B. White, has created a play that captures this work in a thrilling presentation.  This is the same author and play adapter as our highly successful Stuart Little last year.    Our production, which is produced by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock Illinois, has a target audience of preschool through 6th grade.

All the enchanting characters are here:  Wilbur, the irresistible young  pig who desperately wants to avoid the butcher; Fern, a girl who understands what animals say to each other; Templeton, the gluttonous rat who can occasionally be talked into a good deed; the Zuckerman family; the Arables; and, most of all, the extraordinary spider, Charlotte, who proves to be "a true friend and a good writer."  Determined to save Wilbur, Charlotte begins her campaign with the "miracle" of her web in which she writes, "Some pig." It's the beginning of a victorious campaign which ultimately ends with the now-safe Wilbur doing what is most important to Charlotte. This is a beautiful, knowing play about friendship that will give your students an experience of enchantment.

Auditions:       December 7, 8 & 10, 2008  @ 7:00 - 9:00 PM ~ The Russell Tripp Performance Center
School Performances: There are 16 additional private matinee performances for schools beginning on February 10th
Public Performances: Sundays, February 22 & March 1*, 2009, at 3:00 PM,
                       The Russell Tripp Performance Center
Admission:  $9  Adults,  $6  for Children under age 18
* ASL interpreted performance and is also the benefit performance for the Performing Arts Foundation Scholarships.

Tickets on sale February 3, 2009 at:

The Russell Tripp Performance Center Box Office
Business Hours: T-F, 9:00 a.m - noon, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. & 2 hours prior to curtain
We accept cash, check, Mastercard, Visa or Discover.

Cast Info

SPRING
 A View From the Bridge
by Arthur Miller (the legendary author of Death of A Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons, After the Fall, The Price and many others).
Directed by Brian Newberg

This classic American tragedy concerns Eddie Carbone, an Italian American longshoreman, who lives with his wife Beatrice and orphaned niece Catherine. His feelings for Catherine, however, develop from protective and paternal into something more than filial as the play develops. These feelings are brought into perspective by the arrival from Italy of Beatrice's two cousins, Marco and Rodolfo. They have entered the country illegally, hoping to leave behind hunger and unemployment for a better life in America, and to help build a better life for those they've left behind. Rodolfo is young, good-looking, blond, and single -- he sings, dances and is charming; Catherine instantly falls for him.

Predictably Eddie sets about pointing out all of Rodolfo's flaws and persistently complains that Rodolfo is "not right". He uses Rodolfo's effeminate qualities, such as dress-making, cooking and singing, to back up his argument.

When Catherine decides to marry Rodolfo, Eddie is driven to inform the Immigration Bureau of the presence of the two illegal immigrants. He takes this action regardless of his earlier assertion that "It's an honour" to give the men refuge. His betrayal of the two men causes Eddie to lose the respect of his neighbours, his friends and his family, and leads to a powerful conclusion. One of Miller’s greatest plays, A View from the Bridge represents the finest of American playwriting.

Auditions:    March 15, 16 & 17, 2009   @ 7:00 – 9:00 pm   - The Russell Tripp Performance Center
Performances: May 22, 23, 28, 29, & 30 @ 7:30 pm; May 31* @ 3:00 pm  
                   The Russell Tripp Performance Center
Admission:  $10  Adults,  $7  for Seniors & Students

* ASL interpreted performance and is also the benefit performance for the Performing Arts Foundation Scholarships.

Tickets on sale May 5, 2009 at: 

  • Online, in connection with Box Office Avenue  NO FEE!
  • At the Russell Tripp Performance Center Box Office
  • By phone: 917-4531
  • At the door, beginning 2 hours prior to performance

    • The Russell Tripp Performance Center Box Office
    Business Hours: T-F, 9:00 a.m - noon, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. & 2 hours prior to curtain
    We accept cash, check, Mastercard, Visa or Discover.

    Cast Info