Stardust at Clarice Smith, Jan 31-Feb 1

David Roussève/Reality presents the World Premiere of Stardust at Clarice Smith, Jan 31-Feb 1

January 31 & February 1, 2014 . 8PM

Presented By:
Clarice Smith Center
Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Kogood Theatre. Reserved Seating.

Click Here to Buy Tickets:
Regular: $35
Subscriber: $28
Senior Citizen: $30
UMD Alumni Association: $30
UMD Faculty & Staff: $28
Students & Youth: $10

Fri, Jan 31, 2014 . 8:00PM
Sat, Feb 1, 2014 . 8:00PM

Description:

Choreographed, written and directed by David Roussève, Stardust follows an African American gay urban teenager’s dreams, misgivings and challenges.

Never seen onstage, the protagonist is present only by the emotion-laden tweets and text messages he sends, which are projected onto multiple surfaces by Roussève’s long-time collaborator Cari Ann Shim Sham.

Stardust juxtaposes fluidity and freneticism, in both its movement and musical score. Lush, jazz-inflected dancing is leavened by frenetic, angular representations of the teenager’s anxious states of mind, in movement performed by a mixed-age company of dancers.

The soundscape pairs the intimate romanticism of Nat King Cole standards with rough-edged, hip-hop inflected original music by d. Sabela Grimes. Designer Christopher Kuhl’s lighting will support both the emotional textures and surreal quality of the work.

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center co-commissioned Stardust, which will receive its world premiere at the Center. As part of his engagement at the Clarice Smith Center, Roussève will be in residency in several visits during fall 2013, working with local ministries on issues of homosexuality and acceptance in the African American community.

This tour of David Roussève is made possible by a grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts. The presentation of Stardust was made possible by the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project. Major support of NDP is also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The Inner Landscape at Clarice Smith, Dec 5 at 2pm

The Inner Landscape at Clarice Smith, Dec 5 at 2pm

December 5, 2013, 2pm

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Cafritz Foundation Theatre.

Free admission, no tickets required.

Description:

The staged reading will feature excerpts of plays by Gao Xingjian, and will be performed by students of THET 489G (Globalization and Theatre).

The playwright Gao Xingjian will be present at the reading, and Dr. Claire Conceison of Duke University will facilitate the discussion. Gao Xingjian won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2000 and is a renowned writer, painter, and filmmaker. His paintings and films are exhibited at the Art Gallery at UMD until December 20.

The exhibition has been organized by The Art Gallery, curated by Professor Jason C. Kuo (Art History and Archaeology) with the support of the Department of Art History and Archaeology, the Center for East Asian Studies, the Wang Fangyu Endowment for Calligraphy Education, the Program in Chinese, the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, the Program in French, the Department of French and Italian, the Program in Asian American Studies, the Program in Film Studies, the Graduate Field Committee in Film Studies, and the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, all at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Born in 1940, in Jiangxi province in eastern China, Gao Xingjian is the first Chinese recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Mr. Gao’s interest in theatre, writing, and all things creative was instilled at an early age by his mother, an amateur actress. He began painting at age ten after his uncle gave him a notebook for his birthday. Mr. Gao describes it as “just white papers, no grid and no lines,” and it was in this where he first began writing and drawing simultaneously. Throughout the course of Gao Xingjian’s prolific career, he has had nearly thirty international exhibitions of his ink paintings and, also, illustrates all of the covers of his books.

Maryland Opera Studio presents Albert Herring at Clarice Smith, Nov 22-26

Maryland Opera Studio presents Albert Herring at Clarice Smith, Nov 22-26

November 22-26, 2013

Music: Benjamin Britten
Libretto: Eric Crozier
Conductor: Craig Kier
Director: Kasi Campbell
Based on Le Rosier de Madame Husson by Guy de Maupassant

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Kay Theatre. Reserved Admission.

Click Here to Buy Tickets.

Regular: $25
Subscriber: $20
Senior Citizen: $20
UMD Alumni Association: $20
UMD Faculty & Staff: $20
Students & Youth: $10

Fri, Nov 22, 2013 . 7:30PM
Sun, Nov 24, 2013 . 3:00PM
Mon, Nov 25, 2013 . 7:30PM
Tue, Nov 26, 2013 . 7:30PM

Description: In honor of the centennial of Benjamin Britten’s birth, the Maryland Opera Studio proudly presents his rollicking 1947 comedy. In an English village, the imperious Lady Billows strikes a blow against the immorality of the local girls by breaking with tradition and crowning a King of the May. Albert Herring, the hapless lad selected, unfortunately chooses this moment to change his “good boy” image.

Blind Summit Theatre presents The Table at Clarice Smith, Nov 20-22

Blind Summit Theatre presents The Table at Clarice Smith, Nov 20-22

November 20-22, 2013 . 8PM

Location: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Kogood Theatre. General Admission.

PARENTAL ADVISORY: Recommended for audiences over the age of 12 due to strong language.

Click Here to Buy Tickets:
Regular: $35
Subscriber: $28
Senior Citizen: $30
UMD Alumni Association: $30
UMD Faculty & Staff: $28
Students & Youth: $10

Wed, Nov 20, 2013 . 8:00PM
Thu, Nov 21, 2013 . 8:00PM
Fri, Nov 22, 2013 . 8:00PM

Description:

The Center continues its tradition of innovative puppet presentations with Blind Summit Theatre in The Table.

Intended to be a theatrical interpretation of the story of Moses — in real time — The Table is performed by a grizzled, crotchety old man. But the grumpy puppet narrator strays far from the planned storyline and winds up playing out his own comedic, existential crisis as the puppeteers improvise and interact with each other and the audience.

The show is done in the Bunraku style, with multiple puppeteers visible to the audience, and is performed completely on the table top. Blind Summit’s puppeteers breathe poignant life into their characters and using humor and improvisation, show us something of ourselves in the cardboard, wood and fabric creations onstage.

This performance is supported, in part, by the Henson Endowment for Performing Arts.

Blind Summit most recently appeared at the Center in the 2007–2008 season with its production Low Life.

Molière Impromptu at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Nov 8-16

Molière Impromptu at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, Nov 8-16

Translated and adapted by Rinne Groff

Venue: Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center Kogood Theatre. General Admission.

November 8-16, 2013

Director Matthew R. Wilson

Presented By:
University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Click Here to Buy Tickets:
Regular: $25
Subscriber: $20
Senior Citizen: $20
UMD Alumni Association: $20
UMD Faculty & Staff: $20
Students & Youth: $10

Fri, Nov 8, 2013 . 7:30PM
Sun, Nov 10, 2013 . 2:00PM
Sun, Nov 10, 2013 . 7:30PM
Wed, Nov 13, 2013 . 7:30PM
Thu, Nov 14, 2013 . 7:30PM
Fri, Nov 15, 2013 . 7:30PM
Sat, Nov 16, 2013 . 2:00PM
Sat, Nov 16, 2013 . 7:30PM

Description:

Based on three short plays by Molière, Molière Impromptu is a wickedly funny look at the magic of theatre.

Set in 1665 Versailles, the play presents a director’s nightmare as the members of Molière’s Illustre Theatre gather to rehearse a new play commissioned by the King for a performance that very night. The script is in horrible shape, the straight man wants to leave the troupe, marital spats are ripping the company apart, the intern is lobbying for a bigger part and the lead actress can never remember her lines.

First performed by Trinity Repertory Company in 2005, the play is a contemporary take on the works of one of the great masters of Western comedy.

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.