THE THREEPENNY OPERA OPENS AT HAMMAN HALL NOVEMBER 13
Directed by Leslie Swackhamer
Musical Director and Conductor: Cristi Macelaru, Rice Shepherd School of Music
 
The Rice Theatre Program opens its production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's critically acclaimed musical, The Threepenny Opera, November 13 at Hamman Hall.
 

Public debt is ballooning, banks are going bust, a depression is right around the corner, and Mack the Knife is leaving a trail of broken hearts and cut throats in his wake. In this masterful musical satire, love, sex, murder, and theft all become tactics for survival in a society spinning out of control. The play challenges conventional notions of property as well as theater. It asks the central rhetorical question, "Who is the bigger criminal: he who robs a bank or he who founds one?"

Winner of three Tony Awards, The Threepenny Opera revolutionized musical theater by overcoming superficiality and mere story telling in favor of presenting ideas.  Written by Bertolt Brecht (Book and Lyrics) and Kurt Weill (Music), The Threepenny Opera was inspired by John Gay’s 18th-century The Beggar’s Opera. Brecht and Weill’s creation is a savage, biting commentary on capitalism and modern morality. Set in London, The Threepenny Opera is a bitter tale told of the outlaw known as Mack the Knife. He secretly marries the daughter of Soho’s underworld boss but is soon betrayed by his sinister in-laws and sent to prison. After being freed by the police chief’s daughter, he is again betrayed – this time by a prostitute – and sentenced to death. At the final hour he manages a reprieve, thus providing a menacing finale of ferocious irony. Weill’s acidic harmonies and Brecht’s piercing texts create a revolutionary musical that inspired such subsequent hits as Cabaret, Chicago and Urinetown.

LESLIE SWACKHAMER directs theatre and opera throughout the country.  Most recently she directed the acclaimed production of Rabbit Hole at Stages Repertory Theatre.  Also at Stages, she has directed Lady and Amy’s View (Houston Chronicle “Top Ten Theatrical Production for 2007”).   Leslie has served as associate artistic director of ACT Theatre and artistic associate at The Cleveland Play House.  She has directed many world premieres by prominent playwrights, including Lee Blessing, Wendy Kesselman, Jeffrey Hatcher, and Steven Dietz.  She directed the American premiere of Mrs. Klein.  She won the Seattle Times “Bravura Performance” and “Best Shakespeare” awards. Her production of Fefu and Her Friends for the UT (Austin) garnered 8 B. Iden Payne Nominations, as well as the Austin Critics Table Award for Ensemble Performance.  Leslie has directed over 50 workshops and productions of new plays.  She also directs opera, most recently a new production of Madama Butterfly.
 
Performances are Friday November 13^th - 14^th at 8pm, Sunday November 15^th at 2pm; Thursday November 19^th – 21^st  at 8pm. Tickets: Students $5, Rice Faculty, Staff & Senior Citizens $10, General Audience $12.  Performances are at Hamman Hall. Tickets are available in advance by calling 713-348-PLAY or visiting http://arts.rice.edu. 
 
Visit the Rice Threepenny Opera blog >> 

RICE'S CHRISTINA KEEFE JOINS 100 THEATRE COMPANIES IN READING
The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, by Peter Cummins, addresses hate crime
 
Rice University's Theatre Program director, Christina Keefe, will join 100 theatre companies around the nation tonight to read "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later, An Epilogue," at the University of Houston Wortham Theatre.
 
Ten years ago, a New York-based theater company created "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later," a production based on interviews with residents of the town where Matthew Shepard was killed in 1998. Shepard was a gay man beaten to death by his townsfolk. Time has not lessened the crime's impact on America's consciousness, nor its symbolic reminder of the violence often targeted toward the gay community.

Shepard's death was the catalyst for the "The Laramie Project," a play developed and produced by the Tectonic Theatre Project. Written by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti and Andy Paris, the play was drawn from interviews with Laramie residents, news reports and journal entries. Audiences will revisit the Wyoming town when "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" premieres on Oct. 12, the date of Shepard's death.
 
The University of Houston's Wortham Theatre joins more than 100 theaters around the world that will host readings of this play. Presented by the UH School of Theatre & Dance, "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" will begin at 7 p.m., Oct. 12 in the Wortham Theatre. Admission is free.

More information on this performance >> 

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Rice Players Fall 2009 Production

Rice Players presents Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, a wittylove story with mistaken identity, young lovers, and brilliant dialogue.  The Importance of Being Earnest enchants its viewers as they watch a series of animated personalities discover the vital importance of being earnest.

October 1-3, 8:00 pm
October 8-10, 8:00 pm
Visual & Dramatic Arts Theatre
Hamman Hall
 
General admission, $10; Rice alumni, faculty, staff, & senior citizens, $8; Students, $5. For tickets call: 713-348-PLAY

KEEFE RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE KURT WEILL FOUNDATION
Kurt Weill Foundation supports Rice Theatre production of The Threepenny Opera
 
Christina Keefe, Director of the Rice Theatre Program, recently received a foundation grant from the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music to support the Rice Theatre fall production of The Threepenny Opera.
 
The Kurt Weill Foundation for Music was founded by Lotte Lenya in 1962 and is a private, non-profit foundation dedicated chartered to preserve and perpetuate the legacies of composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and actress-singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981). Based in New York City, it administers the Weill-Lenya Research Center, a grant program, the Kurt Weill Book Prize and Lotte Lenya Competition, and publishes the Kurt Weill Edition and the Kurt Weill Newsletter.
 
Each year, the Foundation's Grant Program gives financial support to individuals and not-for-profit organizations for projects related to Weill or Lenya. Applications are accepted in the following categories: Research and Travel; Kurt Weill Dissertation Fellowships; Publication Assistance; Educational Outreach; College/University Performance; Professional Performance; and Broadcasts.
 
Weill was born on 2 March 1900 in Dessau, Germany. The son of a cantor, Weill displayed musical talent early on. By the time he was twelve, he was composing and mounting concerts and dramatic works in the hall above his family's quarters in the Gemeindehaus. During the First World War, the teenage Weill was conscripted as a substitute accompanist at the Dessau Court Theater. After studying theory and composition with Albert Bing, Kapellmeister of the Theater, Weill enrolled at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, but found the conservative training and the infrequent lessons with Engelbert Humperdinck too stifling. After a season as conductor of the newly formed municipal theater in Lüdenscheid, he returned to Berlin and was accepted into Ferruccio Busoni's master class in composition. He supported himself through a wide range of musical occupations, from playing organ in a synagogue to piano in a Bierkeller, by tutoring students (including Claudio Arrau and Maurice Abravanel) in music theory, and, later, by contributing music criticism to Der deutsche Rundfunk, the weekly program journal of the German radio.
 
 
Lotte Lenya, née Karoline Wilhelmine Blamauer, was born in 1898 in Vienna to working-class parents. An early ambition to become a dancer led her in 1914 to Zurich, where she studied classical dance and the Dalcroze method and gained experience in the opera and ballet at the Stadttheater. As the acting student of Richard Révy, she then worked in repertory at the Schauspielhaus, where she appeared in dozens of productions and encountered artists of the stature of Elisabeth Bergner and Frank Wedekind. In 1921 she set out for Berlin with the hope of making a career as a dancer. During her audition for Zaubernacht in 1922, she was introduced to its composer, Kurt Weill, but couldn't see him at his position at the piano in the pit. (She was cast, but out of loyalty to her teacher, who was not, she declined the offer.)
 
More information on the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music >> 

THEATRE DIRECTOR AND LECTURER CHRISTINA KEEFE RECEIVES RICE FACULTY INITIATIVE FUND GRANT FOR THREEPENNY OPERA PROJECT
 
Rice University Theatre Program Director/Lecturer Christina Keefe received funding from the Rice University Faculty Initiative Fund for the multidisciplinary Threepenny Opera production project this fall. 
 
Vice Provost for Research James Coleman said that competition for this  year's awards was fierce.  Nine grants totalling $374,180 were awarded out of forty-one proposals.
 
“We had 41 proposals competing this year. Each of them proposed creative and exciting scholarly, education and/or outreach activities across the spectrum of disciplines at Rice, and with many different partners ranging from local to international, that could propel the Vision for the Second Century forward," he said. "The review team of national academic leaders had a very difficult time selecting the winners and commented to me on how excellent the proposals were.”

The project will include six performances of Threepenny Opera in Hamman Hall November 13-15 and 19-21, and will be directed by Ms. Leslie Swackhamer, the program's visiting artistic director for the fall semester.  Ms. Swackhamer is a nationally renown theatrical director, producing such plays as Madame Butterfly, Don Giovanni, and Fefu and Her Friends--which garnered eight B. Iden Payne nominations as well as the Austin Critics Table Award for ensemble performance. 
 
This production project also notes the first opportunity for Rice Theatre to work with faculty from Shepherd School of Music.  Cristi Macelaru, staff conductor at Shepherd School of Music, will direct and conduct the Threepenny project.
 
This project is receiving additional funding from the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts Jerome Segal Endowment, the Dean of Humanities, and the Kurt Weill Foundation.
 
For tickets, call 713-348-PLAY.

LAST CALL FOR AUDITIONS
The Threepenny Opera
 
Last auditions for the Rice Theatre Program's fall 2009 production of The Threepenny Opera will be September 1, 2009, 7:00-10:00 p.m., in Hamman Hall.  Call backs will be September 2, 7:00-10:00 p.m., also in Hamman Hall.
 
The Threepenny Opera, a musical tale of cut throats, love, sex, murder, and theft received three Tony Awards. The production will be directed by Leslie Swackhamer, the fall 2009 visiting guest artistic director and nationally-noted theatrical director.  Music will be directed and conducted by Christi Macelaru of the Rice University Shepherd School of Music. 
 
The musical will run November 13-14, 8:00 p.m.; November 15, 2:00 p.m.; and November 19-21, 8:00 p.m.
 
Everyone, both inside and outside Rice, is welcome to audition. Please prepare two contrasting songs, musical theatre, or operetta.  Accompanist will be available. Rice students who are selected for the production may receive DI academic credit by enrolling in THEA 331. 
 
Financial support for The Threepenny Opera is being generously made by the Rice University President's Faculty Initiative Fund, The Kurt Weill Foundation, the Office of the Dean in the School of Humanities, and the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts Jerome Segal Endowment. 
 
For more information, please contact Christina Keefe, Rice Theatre Director, at 713-348-4668 (or email ck1@rice.edu).

RICE THEATRE PROGRAM TO PRODUCE THE THREEPENNY OPERA
Directed by Leslie Swackhammer
Musical Director & Conductor: Cristi Macelaru, Rice Shepherd School of Music

Public debt is ballooning, banks are going bust, a depression is right around the corner, and Mack the Knife is leaving a trail of broken hearts and cut throats in his wake. In this masterful musical satire, love, sex, murder, and theft all become tactics for survival in a society spinning out of control. The play challenges conventional notions of property as well as theater. It asks the central rhetorical question, "Who is the bigger criminal: he who robs a bank or he who founds one?"

Winner of three Tony Awards, The Threepenny Opera revolutionized musical theater by overcoming superficiality and mere story telling in favor of presenting ideas.  Written by Bertolt Brecht (book and lyrics) and Kurt Weill (music), The Threepenny Opera was inspired by John Gay’s 18th-century The Beggar’s Opera. Brecht and Weill’s creation is a savage, biting commentary on capitalism and modern morality. Set in London, The Threepenny Opera is a bitter tale told of the outlaw known as Mack the Knife. He secretly marries the daughter of Soho’s underworld boss but is soon betrayed by his sinister in-laws and sent to prison. After being freed by the police chief’s daughter, he is again betrayed – this time by a prostitute – and sentenced to death. At the final hour he manages a reprieve, thus providing a menacing finale of ferocious irony. Weill’s acidic harmonies and Brecht’s piercing texts create a revolutionary musical that inspired such subsequent hits as Cabaret, Chicago and Urinetown.

LESLIE SWACKHAMER directs theatre and opera throughout the country.  Most recently she directed the acclaimed production of Rabbit Hole at Stages Repertory Theatre.  Also at Stages, she has directed Lady and Amy’s View (Houston Chronicle “Top Ten Theatrical Production for 2007”).   Leslie has served as associate artistic director of ACT Theatre and artistic associate at The Cleveland Play House.  She has directed many world premieres by prominent playwrights, including Lee Blessing, Wendy Kesselman, Jeffrey Hatcher, and Steven Dietz.  She directed the American premiere of Mrs. Klein.  She won the Seattle Times “Bravura Performance” and “Best Shakespeare” awards. Her production of Fefu and Her Friends for the UT (Austin) garnered 8 B. Iden Payne Nominations, as well as the Austin Critics Table Award for Ensemble Performance.  Leslie has directed over 50 workshops and productions of new plays.  She also directs opera, most recently a new production of Madama Butterfly.

Performances are Friday November 13th - 14th at 8pm, Sunday November 15th at 2pm; Thursday November 19th – 21st  at 8pm. Tickets: Students $5, Rice Faculty, Staff & Senior Citizens $10, General Audience $12.  Performances are at Hamman Hall. Tickets are available in advance by calling 713-348-PLAY.
 
This production is being partially  funded by the Rice University Faculty Initiative Fund, The Dean of the School of Humanities, The Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts Jerome Segal Endowment, and the Kurt Weill Foundation.

LESLIE SWACKHAMER JOINS RICE THEATRE PROGRAM
Swackhamer joins Rice Theatre Program as visiting artistic director for The Threepenny Opera, fall 2009

Leslie Swackhamer will join Rice Theatre Program as visiting artistic director this fall to produce The Threepenny Opera.  Leslie is based in Houston and works in theatre and opera throughout the country.  Most recently she directed the highly acclaimed production of Rabbit Hole at Stages Repertory Theatre.  Also at Stages, she has directed Lady and Amy’s View (Houston Chronicle “Top Ten Theatrical Production for 2007”).  She is also the Executive Director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, awarded annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre.

Prior to moving to Houston, Leslie served as associate artistic director of Seattle’s ACT Theatre, where she founded the Women Playwrights Festival. She has also served as artistic associate at The Cleveland Play House.  She has directed many world premieres by prominent playwrights, including Lee Blessing (Going to St. Ives), Jeffrey Hatcher (What Corbin Knew), and Steven Dietz.  She directed the American premiere of Nicholas Wright’s Mrs. Klein.  Her production of Amy Freed’s The Psychic Life of Savages garnered the “Best Bravura Performance Award” and Much Ado About Nothing won “Best Shakespeare” from the Seattle Times.   Her 2007 production of Fefu and Her Friends for the University of Austin garnered 8 B. Iden Payne Nominations, as well as Austin Critics Table Award for Ensemble Performance.

A passionate advocate for the development of new scripts, Leslie has been a TCG Observer in new play development and has directed over 50 workshops and productions of new plays for theatres across the country, including Southcoast Rep, Madison Rep, The Cherry Lane, ACT, Intiman, Seattle Rep, The Cleveland Play House, American Stage, Cleveland Public Theatre, Intiman, Brave New Works, and The Playwrights Center.

Leslie also directs opera, most recently a highly acclaimed new production of Madama Butterfly (performing in opera companies throughout North America) in collaboration with noted contemporary artist Jun Kaneko.   In Houston, she has directed Macbeth and Don Giovanni for Opera in the Heights.

Ms. Swackhamer has also served as adjunct faculty in acting and directing at the University of Washington, Case Western Reserve University and the USC.  She is a founder and past president of Theatre Puget Sound, the regional service organization for theatres and theatre artists, and a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. Leslie holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Washington School of Drama, a J.D. from George Washington University and a B.A. in History from Emory University.

READY, SET, 'STOP KISS'
Rice Theatre's play features set design by architecture student
By Jessica Stark, Rice News Staff

 As a student in the prestigious Rice School of Architecture, senior Gloria Chang has designed and constructed a vast array of projects, but she faced a whole new set of challenges when she took to the stage for Rice Theatre's upcoming production, "Stop Kiss." The production will run March 20-21 and 26-28 at 8 p.m. A special performance will be given at 2 p.m. March 22.

Chang was selected as the scenic designer for the play set in Manhattan. She was asked to create a stage that emphasized the dynamic, harsh and sometimes comedic undertones of the story in which two young women form an unexpected friendship that leads to a shy, mutual attraction. That wasn't a great challenge for Chang, already a thoughtful designer.
 
Her challenge proved to be the dimensional differences between what the audience sees and what the actors experience.

"Scenic design is a very specific and specialized architectural problem," Chang said. "It is different from architecture in that it has an already-restricted view and does not have to function past the façade. It's interesting because it must be constructed in three dimensions for the actors, but each audience member is viewing it from one angle only."

"Gloria began drawing shapes of what the play means from the very first design meeting and then presented us with three different designs," said Matt Schlief, the production manager and lecturer of visual and dramatic arts. "What she created is a flexible space that makes an excellent stage to morph from an apartment to a detective's office to a hospital room."

Also new to Chang was the one-to-one construction scale of the design. In most of her architecture coursework, she has worked with models that are appropriately scaled down to manageable and cost-effective dimensions.

"I’ve never had anyone else build something I’ve designed, so that in itself was an experience," Chang said.

Schlief supervised the design and construction of the set. He was very pleased to work with Chang, whom he said has a unique ability to humanize what she designs.

"A lot of architects focus on the lines and the structure and the function," Schlief said. "What sets Gloria apart -- and what can help her in the future -- is the way she looks at how those things resonate with people."

That desire for detail-oriented design proved frustrating to execute.

"During the construction process, there was a tremendous emphasis on only designing and providing a finish for what can be seen," Chang said. "As accustomed as I am to a more holistic approach to spatial design, I had to deliberately cut out portions that, while nice, would never be seen."

Schlief said that despite Chang having to cut out some original design ideas, the set is a wonderful and creative rendering of what the playwright, Diana Son, wrote.

Her architecture education came in handy when she laid out her design ideas, but she had to brush up on theater techniques and building materials. She also had to work within a tight budget.

"It’s a simple set, and a lot of experimentation went into it," Chang said. "A lot of the textures were abstracted or have a twist built in, which, hopefully, you’ll see on completion."

She hopes to be able to incorporate the new techniques and knowledge into her future designs. Currently, she's planning to go on to Rice's Preceptorship Program, which gives fourth-year students a full year of practical experience at leading architectural firms. Then, she plans to return to Rice for her professional degree and become an architect.

"I hope that scenic design can be a part of what I do, so that I can be involved in theater again," she said. "Until then, I’ll have to remain a patron rather than a participant."

Tickets for "Stop Kiss" are $5 for opening night. Other performances are $5 for students; $8 for Rice alumni, faculty, staff and senior citizens; and $10 for general admission. To purchase tickets, call 713-348-PLAY.

(See the OUTSMART Magazine article on Stop Kiss.)
(See STOP KISS Press Release )

Matt Huff is delighted to be visiting artistic director in Rice University's Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts.

Mr. Huff will direct Stop Kiss, the spring theatre program production. Mr. Huff will also teach the spring semester's THEA 102, Introduction to Acting and team-teach THEA 331, Theatre Production, with Matthew Schlief.

Mr. Huff has recently directed Tallest Girl in the Class (new play workshop) at the Horizon Theatre and Born Guilty at the Jewish Theatre of the South--both in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, he has directed productions at Theatre Emory, ActorÕs Express, and the Aurora Theatre.

 Mr. Huff has performed in MEDS (ensemble created work) at the Out of Hand Theatre; Another Dead Soldier (world premier) at the University of Texas New Works Festival; and Moon for the Missbegotten at the Alliance Theatre. In addition to his acting and directing credits, he has held teaching appointments at the University of Texas School of Fine Arts in Austin, Texas.

Mr. Huff was awarded The Sunday Paper's Top 10 Atlanta Directors, 2007; The Sunday Paper's top 10 Best Shows of the 2006 Season (The Skin of our Teeth); and the Lincoln Center Director's Lab Director, 2000.

Mr. Huff received his MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Texas, Austin, in 2004 and a dual BA degree in Theatre Studies and Religion (magna cum laude) from Emory University in 1977.

RICE THEATRE AND RICE PLAYERS COLLABORATE TO PRODUCE PRIVATE EYES

Private Eyes is a comedy of suspicion in which nothing is ever quite what it seems. Who is really having an affair with whom? Or is it all part of the play that’s being rehearsed? Or, is it, for that matter, an elaborate therapy session? The audience itself plays the role of detective in this hilarious “relationship thriller” about love, lust and the power of deception.

The Rice Players, Rice’s oldest collegiate theatre troupe, has teamed up with the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts Theatre Program for our first collaboration. The completely student run company has teamed up with other groups in the past, but this is the first co-production with the new Theatre Program, uniting two of the biggest theater groups with the most resources on Rice campus for the first time.

The director, Julia Traber has just been named the Associate Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre Company. Ms. Traber has worked as an actor, assistant director, director, and teaching artist for various local and regional professional theatres and educational institutions including: Alley Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Children’s Theatre Festival, Main Street Youth Theatre, The Texas Repertory Theatre Co., Unhinged Productions, Unity Theatre, and the University of Houston. She created and directed the Alley Theatre’s Young Performers Studio for several seasons and is currently a drama specialist for the International Baccalaureate program in the Aldine Independent School District and an adjunct faculty member of the Drama Department at San Jacinto College, South Campus.

Performances are Friday November 7th - 8th at 8pm, Sunday November 9th at 2pm; Thursday November 13th - 15th at 8pm. Tickets: Students $5, Rice Faculty, Staff & Senior Citizens $8, General Audience $10. Performances
are at Hamman Hall. Tickets are available in advance by calling 713-348-PLAY or visiting http://arts.rice.edu. For Rice Players info: http://players.rice.edu.

(Read the Private Eyes Press Release )
(Read about Private Eyes in Rice Thresher )
(Read about Private Eyes in Rice News)

JULIA TRABER JOINS RICE THEATRE PRORAM
AS VISITING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, FALL 2008

Julia Traber, Associate Artist Director of the Classical Theatre Company, is delighted to be a guest lecturer and visiting artistic director for Rice University's Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts.

Ms. Traber will direct Private Eyes, a collaborative production between Rice Theatre Program in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts and Rice Players. Ms. Traber will also teach the fall semester's Introduction to Theatre.

Ms. Traber has worked as an actor, assistant director, director, and teaching artist for various local and regional professional theatres and educational institutions including: Alley Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Children's Theatre Festival, Main Street Youth Theatre, The Texas Repertory Theatre Co., Unhinged Productions, Unity Theatre, and the University of Houston.

Her most recent directing credits include: The Importance of Being Earnest; Enchanted April; and Cyrano at Unity Theatre; Wit; and The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare Abridged, for the Texas Repertory Theatre Company. Ms. Traber served as a teaching artist and resident director for Wynn Seale Academy of Fine Arts in Corpus Christi, Texas.

She created and directed the Alley Theatre's Young Performers Studio for several seasons and is currently a drama specialist for the International Baccalaureate program in Aldine ISD and an adjunct faculty member of the drama department at San Jacinto College, South Campus.

Ms. Traber was recently named the Associate Artistic Director of the Classical Theatre Company. She earned an MFA in directing from the University of Houston.

MATTHEW SCHLIEF'S FUSION OF LIGHT & SOUND
SYNESTHESIA APPEARS AT HAMMAN HALL,
RICE UNIVERSITY, AUGUST 14-16

HOUSTON, TX - The Department of Visual & Dramatic Arts at Rice University is proud to present an inspired night of live music, sound, lighting and visual performance free to the public. Synesthesia, the first production of the 2008-2009 Rice Theatre Program season, is a fusion of light and sound directed and designed by Matthew Schlief, featuring original music compositions performed by Two-Star Symphony, Houston's most unusual string ensemble will be performed August 14, 15, and 16 at 8:00 in Hamman Hall at Rice University. Admission is free. First come seating begins each evening at 7:30 pm. 

The production designed and directed by Matthew Schlief, is a uniquely created visual and audio performance of aesthetically merged sound and light. The original music by Two-Star Symphony will include two never before heard compositions inspired by visual imagery provided by designer Matthew Schlief. The production will also feature 

Genevieve Durham, Assistant Professor of Dance at Texas Tech University, who will perform her original choreography accompanying one of the pieces new music compositions.

Two Star Symphony is Jerry Ochoa (violin), Debra Brown (violin), Jo Bird (viola/toy piano), and Margaret Lejeune (cello/harp). The extended Orchestra includes (Chris Bakos (bass), Cathy Power (marimba/percussion), Kirk Suddreath (percussion) and John Duboise (clarinet). Each member's unique background brings together an eclectic variety of music styles, including gypsy, rock, hip-hop, metal, classical and electronic. Their hunger to experiment has captured the imaginations of the young and old, despite whatever previously held notions they may have had about classical music.

Matthew Schlief is the Production Manager and Scenic & Lighting Design faculty for the Rice Theatre Program. Before his return to Houston in 2004, Matt was an Assistant Professor of Communications and served as the Scenic, Lighting, and Sound Designer at Augusta State University in Augusta, GA. He received his BFA in Theatre from Southwestern University in Georgetown, and his MFA in Scenic and Lighting Design from the University of Houston. Matt's design credits include: All in the Timing, Dreamgirls, Forever Plaid, West Side Story, Urban Cowboy, True West, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Aida, Full Monty, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Hecuba, No Exit, Cats, Odd Couple, Evita, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Dr. Faustus, Harvey, Geurnica, The Music Man, Arcadia, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Oklahoma, Guys and Dolls, The Robber Bridegroom, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Chorus Line, Funny Girl, Ramona Quimby, Hello Dolly, Sweet Charity, Box Office of the Damned Part II, Top Girls, Chi, Steel Magnolias, Reckless, and various other performances and events. His most recent project (besides Synesthesia) was the lighting design for West Virginia Public Theatre's Summer Season where he designed Dreamgirls, Forever Plaid, West Side Story, & Urban Cowboy.

Genevieve Durham DeCesaro is a Texas-based choreographer, teacher, and performer. Her choreography has been commissioned by Spelman College, Stephen F. Austin State University, Tarrant County College, Texas Woman's University, Atlanta's Poetics Dance Company, and Oklahoma City's Perpetual Motion. Genevieve has performed professionally at numerous regional and national venues, including The Beam Theatre in Atlanta, The Continental Club in Austin, and The Bathhouse in Dallas. Her dance works have recently been featured at the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Genevieve holds a BFA in Theatre from Southwestern University in Georgetown, and an MA and MFA in Dance from Texas Woman's University. She is currently the Head of Dance in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where she was selected by the Student Government Association as the recipient of the 2008 Outstanding Professor Award, and where she received the 2005 Alumni Association's New Faculty Award. Genevieve is an elected representative to the National Board of the American College Dance Festival, sits on the Advisory Board of Ballet Lubbock, and is a former Panel Chair for the Texas Commission on the Arts. She and her family reside in Lubbock.

This production features new technologies in lighting and is co-sponsored by Stagelight Inc. Equipment for the event is being generously provided by Rosco Laboratories Inc., VARI*LITE, Clay Paky, and Selador.

Admission: Free. First come seating will begin at 7:30 pm

Location and Parking:

Please note that parking for the event is not free. Hamman Hall is located on the campus of Rice University at entrance 20 & 21 off of Rice Blvd. The most convenient parking lot for Hamman Hall is the North located at entrance 20 or 21 off Rice Blvd. Entrance to the North Parking lot is by credit card only and the cost usually averages $7.00. Additional parking information is available at

http://www.rice.edu/maps/

or by phone at 713-348-5223 or 5996.

CHRISTINA KEEFE NAMED NEW THEATRE DIRECTOR & LECTURER

Christina Keefe, currently a theatre lecturer in the Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts at Rice, was appointed to the position of director and lecturer of Rice Theatre Program beginning January 1, 2008. Christina will assume the position currently held by Trish Rigdon, who will be leaving Rice after six years as director of the Rice Theatre Program and former facutly sponsor of the Rice Players.

Christina comes to Rice after teaching in the Lehigh University Department of Performing Arts, where she was the Wolfston Visiting Professor. There she taught introduction to acting, characterization, and voice and diction. Her teaching career also includes appointments at Muhlenberg College, DeSales University, and Duke University.

Christina's professional career includes artistic associate/vocal coach at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Center Valley, PA (2001-03), artistic associate at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC (1992-2001), and head of the theatre program at The Fine Arts Center (South Carolina's first secondary school for the literary, visual, and performing arts). Christina has taught private classes in acting, voice, speech, and movement for professionals in the theatrical arts and she has presented a multitude of workshops exploring "Improv," "Voice Exploration," and "Acting for High School Teachers."

Beyond her academic career, Christina has appeared in film, television, off-Broadway, and regional Stock. Some of her credits for television include Getting In (Disney Productions), Spenser: For Hire (Thrill Kill), and the lead role in Nightmare. She has also appeared in the off-Broadway productions of Couple of White Chicks (as Hannah Mae) at the West Side Arts Theatre in New York and On Fire (as Miranda) at the Nat Horne Theatre in New York.

Christine received a Master of Fine Arts degree in acting from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting from the New York University, School of the Arts, Adler Conservatory. She also holds a certificate from the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in association with the Yale School of Drama (summer course held at Oxford University, England).

SCRIPT TO SCREEN

A script to screen reading of filmmaker and guest artist Kim Henkel's script, Exurbia will be held Monday, October 29, 7:00 p.m., at Rice Media Center. Exurbia: A first date gone horribly wrong--a black comedy about a ludicrously dysfunctional exurban family.