August 15, 2014
Theater department presents 2014-15 lineup
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The Department of Theater at Southern Illinois University Carbondale announces the lineup for the 2014-2015 season. Auditions for three of the productions, open to students and community members, are set for next week.
The season includes a four-show subscription series at McLeod Theater, along with additional special productions. The subscription series includes:
• “Curtains” -- Oct. 2-5. A murder mystery that is wrapped in the cloak of a show-biz musical with comedic overtones.
• “Clybourne Park” -- Nov. 20-24. A feisty and funny look at race relations and real estate in a changing America; this play is a reverse “A Raisin in the Sun,” with a black neighborhood distressed at the prospect of a white family moving into its midst.
• “The Whipping Man” -- Feb. 19-22. A serious play set on the ruins of a Southern plantation at the end of the Civil War, exploring the struggles of two freed Jewish black slaves and their former master, a wounded Confederate soldier.
• “The Children’s House” -- April 23-26. This theater classic set in a private, all-girls boarding school, tells the story of two school headmistresses whose lives are destroyed by a young student’s lie.
Three special productions are also on the season’s calendar.
• “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” – Oct. 23-26, C.H. Moe Theater. A smart, steamy and suspenseful take on the classic novella by Robert Louis Stevenson, this tale examines the struggle of good and evil within each person and plays just in time for Halloween.
• “Chamber Opera Double Bill” – Feb. 6-8, Shryock Auditorium. Comprised of two one-act comic operas, “Captain Lovelock” and “The Music Shop” are co-produced with the SIU School of Music. The first act tells of two daughters who conspire to prevent their widowed mother from wedding a young army officer; the latter centers on music shop clerks who try to help a fearful and bumbling husband.
• “Big Muddy New Play Festival” – March 26-29. The festival will feature the premiere of “Last Seen Alice,” written by graduate playwriting student Jaclyn Grogan, in addition to staged readings of several new works.
All subscription series productions perform Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $56 for adults and $24 for students. Individual tickets are $16 for adults and $6 for students.
Tickets to the three special productions are $16 for adults and $6 for students. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., except as noted.
All tickets are available in person from noon to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the McLeod Theater or at the SIU Arena box offices. Tickets are also available by phone at 618/453-6000 or online at theater.siu.edu.
If sitting in the audience will not satisfy your theatrical desires, open auditions are set for three shows. Audition information on additional performances will be announced later.
• “Curtains” -- Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 20-21; 7 p.m. in Altgeld Hall, Room 116. Prepare a 90-second performance with a comic monologue and a cutting from a musical theater style song. A cappella singing is not accepted; an accompanist will be available. Those auditioning must attend a dance/movement call the beginning of the auditions. Dance wear is required. Callbacks are at 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 22, in Altgeld Hall, Room 116. Second callbacks, if needed, are at 10 a.m. Aug. 23.
• “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and “Clybourne Park’ -- 7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 22, and 1 p.m. Aug. 23, in McLeod Theater. Prepare a 60-second serious, contemporary monologue (monologues provided for non-theater majors). Callback times to be announced later.
Actors may sign up for an audition appointment in the Department of Theater office by calling 618/453-5741, or at the audition location one hour before audition time. Auditions are on a next available, first come-first served basis. Actors who sign up at the location will audition after those who have appointments.
Complete information is available on the Department of Theater’s web page at http://cola.siu.edu/theater/. "Curtains" and "Chamber Opera Double Bill" are produced in cooperation with the Department of Theater and the School of Music.