Theatre--Performance

The UL Lafayette School of Music and Performing Arts invites you to An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe. Enter the wonderfully creepy world of Edgar Allan Poe with six faithful adaptations of some of his most haunting works. This collection of short plays represents Poe at his most horrifying: The Purloined Letter, The Oblong Box, The System of Dr.Tarr and Professor Fether, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Cask of Amontillado. The production will also tour to Lake Charles for the Kennedy Center Louisiana State American College Theater Festival.


The performances will be held at Burke Hawthorne Theater at UL-Lafayette from Wednesday, October 26th through Saturday, October 29th.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night performances are at 7:30 pm and the Saturday matinee is at 2 pm.  


There will also be a special school performance on Thursday, October 27th at 10:30 am.  Tickets for the school performance are $7.


For more information, or to reserve tickets (in particular for the school performance), please call 482-6357.

Theatre--Performance

Theatre--Performance (Musical Theatre)

The UL Lafayette Opera Theater, under the direction of Shawn Roy, will present a fall production entitled Some Enchanted Evening: The Songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The production will take place in Burke Theatre on the UL Lafayette campus on November 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30PM and November 6 at 3:00PM. Admission for the musical is $10 for the general public and free for UL Lafayette Students, Faculty and Staff. There is also a reduced price of $5 for other students with appropriate I.D. The show features songs by one of the greatest songwriting team of the American Musical Theatre, but placed in a contemporary setting. It gives the performers and the audience a chance to listen to these songs with a fresh ear and opens up a new world for younger audiences who may not know these treasures from the Golden Age of Broadway.

The show boasts a small cast of seven young talented UL Lafayette voice students and the musical director for the show is David Boudreaux, an alumnus of the School of Music who recently received his Masters Degree from New York University. Set design is by Duncan Thislethwaite and Lighting Design is by
Ken Harrelson.

Tickets are available at the door only and for more information about the show, please call the School of Music and Performing Arts at 337-482-6012.

Dance--Review (UL-Lafayette Department of Music and Performing Arts)

UL’s School of Music and Performing Arts presents its fall State of La Danse November 11th through the 14th. The show consists of seven dance pieces, plus a tribute to UL alumnus “Pi” Keohavong. Every one of them was a winner.

As “theater”, the show was excellent. There was a flow, an excitement, and a movement that grabbed one’s attention from the very beginning to the very end, even though the numbers were unrelated. The show opened with a big “theatrical number” (“Sequins and Glitter”) and then progressed to a grand finale (“Risk of Return”). In between there was drama, humor, and tons of great dancing. “Sparrow (Part I and II)” was an amazing pair of pieces which could compete with the choreography in The Lion King! Without elaborate costumes, or set, or movie-preview, the audience was transferred to Africa. Did the dance represent a hunt, a nature observation, a political statement? That’s for talking about over coffee or in the quad! What’s not open to question is that it was a stunning number! “A Wetland’s Journal” was a three-part traditional ballet … danced to Cajun flavored music (BeauSoleil and Michael Doucet). What a surprising “turn of events”there was in the plot of this dance drama! “Spirit Shelter,” an evocative piece which was a large ensemble number brought to mind religious experiences, emotions, and perhaps a Jungian recollection or two.

To this reviewer, the most moving number was “As We Lay”, a duet featuring Gracey Domingue and Wesley Mata, and choreographed by Jennifer Birou Lakampt. Stunning! With but simple props (two mattresses) a story was developed: two people sleep, they wake up individually, dance separately. Only at one point do they noticeably touch, that being a moment in which they rise from the floor held up only by their backs touching as though against a wall. Strangely, after that there is a “change” in the feel of the piece though they continue the dance separately. The number concluded with an extended dance after the actual score ended, but the piece was so entrancing the music seemed to continue in the mind. What was this dance about? Was it a “double dream,” was it a statement about human separation, was it a celebration of spring (after all the musical selection was Einaudi’s Primavera) … guess I’ll have a caffeine high from talking about that one! Whatever, it was riveting. I wanted to stand and give the number a standing ovation … but figured if I did that on the SECOND piece of the evening, I’d be exhausted by the end!

“Tech” is an important element of any show. State of La Danse had it all. Maestro Travis Johnson’s lighting added to the show, and was ever changing. I personally get caught up by lighting effects and there were many in this show: silhouetted dancers against background washes, beautifully changing colors on a background or on the dancers themselves, “rooms” created on stage with nothing but light. This lighting was dramatic! Costumes go with dance, and  the ones in this show fitted each of the numbers (no pun intended). They had a loose, free flowing feel that somehow unified the seven dances. To be sure the Music and Performing Arts Department at UL has a limited and maybe shrinking budget (as does all of UL--but that is another matter for discussion over coffee or in the quad). These costumes, though, were beautifully done despite the budget. As tribute to departed UL alumnus “Pi” Keohavong was nice addition to the show, and Michael Cato’s video montage was excellent.

Those in the community interested in Dance, or just in “theater,” should take the time to get down to Angelle Hall this weekend to see the performance:  Evening performances at 7:30 Friday and Saturday, and the Sunday Matinee is at 2:00. You won’t soon forget it. Kudos to all involved in State of La Danse 2010.

---Donald Voorhies