Regent University Theatre Presents Singin' in the Rain!

The Regent University Theatre Department will close its 2008-09 season with the musical, Singin' in the Rain, based on the MGM film.

The show opens Friday, April 24, in the Communications & Performing Arts Center Main Theater. The tumultuous transition from silent movies to "talkies" comes alive in this musical stage adaptation of one of America's most celebrated films.

Performances take place at 8 p.m. on April 24, 25 and May 1 and 2, and at 3 p.m. on April 26 and May 3. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and children 5-18, $9 for Regent employees and $7 for Regent students. To purchase tickets or obtain more information, contact the Regent University Box Office online at www.regent.edu/theatre or by phone at 757.352.4245. Box office hours are 1 p.m.-5 p.m.

by Judy Baker, Public Relations

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Singin in the Rain was also featured in the Virginia Pilot this week! Check out the article that explains the process of making it rain onstage:

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/04/regent-theater-forecast-calls-rain

The Regent University Theatre Department Announces

New York Showcase
featuring the Graduating MFA in Acting Class of 2009

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 1:00 PM and 7:00 PM

Producers’ Club Theatre, Grand Theatre,
358 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036.
http://www.producersclubtheaters.com/

RSVP: Mark Paladini csa (818) 613-3982 or mpaladini@regent.edu

The Showcase, featuring songs, monologues, and scenes from the graduating class of MFA actors, will also be performed at Regent on May 8th, 2009, joining with the Regent V.I.P.s (Varsity Improv Players) for a benefit performance. The show will be held in Regent’s Studio Theatre at 8pm.

Come support our graduating MFAs as they take the next steps toward continuing their career!

Student News

Kelly Levander, graduating this May with her MFA in Acting, was recently offered a job by Theater of the American South in Wilson, North Carolina. Most of the actors and actresses employed by the theater are professionals based in New York City. Kelly will be playing the role of Elaine Rutledge in The Miss Firecracker Contest by Beth Henley.

“THEATER OF THE AMERICAN SOUTH presents top-quality plays featuring professional directors, actors, and designers... It is a celebration of the culture of the South that spotlights fine Southern plays... All performances are in the Boykin Cultural Center, a showpiece vaudeville theater built in 1919 and beautifully restored in the 1990s.” Read more at http://www.theateroftheamericansouth.org/

Brandy Caldwell, also a 3rd year MFA student, was offered an equity contract by Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, MA, where she interned last summer. Upon graduating from Regent, she will play the role of Clara Immerwahr in The Einstein Project at BTF this summer.

“Founded in 1928, Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional regional theatres in the United States and the longest-running cultural organization in the Berkshires. Now under the helm of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, BTF presents theatre that matters—world premieres, contemporary works, and classics that speak to who we are in our world today.” Read more at http://www.berkshiretheatre.org/

Congratulations to Brandy and Kelly!

Announcing the 2009-2010 Regent Theatre Season!

We have an incredibly rich and diverse line up of shows for next year:

The Boys Next Door, by Tom Griffin
Take an endearing look at the lives of four mentally challenged men striving to function in the mainstream world. A hilarious comedy the New York Daily News declares “hits squarely on the truth of life with its constant interplays and shadings of triumphs and tears.” Shows: September 18-20 and 24-27.

Dancing at Lughnasa by Brian Friel
The five maiden Mundy sisters escape their provincial existence on the plains of Ireland through colorful bursts of music from their radio, their only link to the romance of the world at large. The Tony Award-winning play the New York Post heralds as “simply wondrous.” Shows: October 23-25 and 29-Nov 1.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare
Through mistaken identities and misunderstandings, Shakespeare tells the tale of court exiles and forest natives searching for love and meaning in the Forest of Arden. This beloved comedy reminds us that “all the world’s a stage and all the mend and women merely players.” Shows: November 20-22 and December 4-6.

The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance
When a young Victorian surgeon stumbles upon the hideously deformed Elephant Man in a London freak show, he determines he must be normalized—whatever the cost. This Tony Award-winning play examines the price one must pay for being “different.” Shows: January 22-24 and 28-31.

You Can’t Take It With You by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart
Fireworks fly, quite literally, when Tony’s straight-laced parents meet his fiancés wildly unconventional family—a cheerful gang of wacky eccentrics. This Pulitzer-Prize winning play turned Jimmy-Stewart-film-classic is not to be missed! Shows: March 12-14 and 18-21.

Godspell by Stephen Schwartz
As the words of St. Matthew’s Gospel unite with the soaring chords of Stephen Schwartz, the life and parables of Jesus Christ unfold anew in the off-Broadway musical the New York Post calls “a hit, a big, big hit. Godspell believes in God and people and possibility.” Shows: April 23-25 and 30-May 2.

Special Christmas Show: Little Women
Louisa May Alcott’s touching story comes to life in the stage adaptation of her novel about four sisters who mature through sorrow and joy. Shows: December 10-13.

Follow this link to our season brochure: http://www.regent.edu/theatre/2009TheatreBrochure.pdf

We hope to see you at the theatre!

A few more recent Regent grad updates!

Adam Hurst and Priscilla Hummel are both MFA grads of '07. Priscilla has been very busy directing and choreographing many shows for CYT (Christian Youth Theatre) in Chicago. Her husband, Adam Hurst, played the lead in a Chicago premiere of In the Flesh, produced by Elicia Zimmerman and directed by James Frizzel, also both Regent grads from former years. Adam recently graduated from the improv training program at iO (formerly known as Improv Olympic).

Dan Roberts has been in L.A. since his graduation in ‘07. He’s acted in some short films, including two that appeared in last year's 168 Film Festival, Happy New Year and King’s Vengeance. He also had a part in the direct-to-DVD feature Sunday School Musical. He is a member of Actors Co-op in Hollywood, and has acted in their productions of As You Like It, Leading Ladies, and The Night Before The Night Before Christmas. He was recently in their world premiere musical Makin’ Hay and is currently in rehearsals for their production of The Crucible, which opens in May. He’s also appeared in Twelfth Night and the new musical Wild About Harry with the Crown City Theatre in North Hollywood. Keep up with him at his website: www.danieljroberts.net

Christopher Ryan, another ’07 MFA grad, moved to Orlando, FL after graduating, working as a Fight Director for a production of The Scarlet Pimpernel. While living in Orlando, Christopher worked for the Orlando Repertory Theatre as an actor and fight director, playing Squire Trelawney in Treasure Island and Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. He also taugh at two colleges in Orlando, teaching Introduction to Theatre and Costume Design, and he was the Resident Costume Designer for one of the colleges, designing their season of Little Shop of Horrors and The Misanthrope. He started a Musical Theatre program for a private arts school called The Pop Shop, and directed their productions of Honk jr. and Annie jr. In 2008, Christopher and his wife moved to Hamburg, Germany for her studies, and he has worked for the Hamburg University Players as a Choreographer and Fight Director for their production of Into the Woods. He is also working as a private voice teacher and is currently directing for one of the two professional English language theatres in Hamburg, The Rover Rep Theatre, directing The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), which opened in March.

Following the process. . .

Of Singin in the Rain, our upcoming musical, which opens the last weekend in April. Check out these photos from our film shoots--making the motion pictures around which the musical revolves! Above: Lina Lamont and her ladies in waiting, while shooting the film "The Dueling Cavalier"

Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont in their silent picture glory!

The drop design for the famous song and dance number, "Beautiful Girls.Don fighting off the villains in 'Monumental Pictures' "The Royal Rascals."

And of course, the classic Singin in the Rain image, with our own Don Lockwood, 3rd year MFA Derek Martin.

For tickets, visit http://www.regent.edu/theatre/ or call 757. 352. 4245