Northwestern Season Includes Tommy, Zacek, Ace, Galati, Revised Mass and More

By Kenneth Jones
22 Sep 2009

Details of Northwestern University's 2009-10 Theatre and Interpretation Center (TIC) season have been announced in Evanston, IL. New works, full productions and staged readings are in the mix.

Tony Award-winning director Frank Galati will direct the classic Joseph Kesselring farce-comedy Arsenic and Old Lace (opening the season Oct. 24-Nov. 8, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater) featuring guest artists Dennis Zacek and John Mohrlein, with award-winning Northwestern acting faculty Cindy Gold and Mary Poole as the sinister sisters.

The production will feature costume design by Jeff Award winner Virgil C. Johnson.

The season will also feature Leonard Bernstein's Mass with new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, a world-premiere adaptation of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," a revival of The Who's Tommy and a new play by David Greig, among other projects.

"Our 2009-10 season will feature an eclectic and electrifying exploration of new works and the revitalization of classic gems," stated TIC artistic director Henry Godinez. "This season represents our commitment to providing students with an extraordinary opportunity to collaborate with professional guest artists and faculty in the creation of a powerful spectrum of great stories that is sure to move and entertain all of our audiences."

TIC performs in five spaces on the Northwestern University Evanston campus: its 450-seat venue in the Ethel M. Barber Theater, its 375-seat venue in the Josephine Louis Theater, its 115-seat venue in the Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater, its 115-seat venue in the Mussetter-Struble Theater and the 1,000-seat venue in Cahn Auditorium.

Here's the Northwestern TIC season at a glance:

  • Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers, composed by Leonard Bernstein, featuring new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz in consultation with Jamie Bernstein, directed by Dominic Missimi, Nov. 12-15, at Cahn Auditorium. "Originally commissioned by Jacqueline Kennedy for the 1971 opening of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Mass was composed by Leonard Bernstein based on the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. Featuring an eclectic mix of genres that includes rock, jazz, Broadway, blues, opera and hymns, Mass uses this large-scale musical canvas to examine one celebrant's crisis of faith." Presented in partnership through TIC and the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music and conducted by Northwestern faculty member Ryan T. Nelson.

  • The American Pilot by David Greig, directed by Brant Russell, Jan. 29-Feb. 7, 2010, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater. "After crashing in the hills of a war-torn foreign country, an injured American bomber pilot finds shelter in a farmer's barn. Unable to speak the local language, he is left with only the music on his iPod to communicate, and his fate — ransom, death or freedom — to be determined by the conflicting agendas of the farmer, his family and the local militia." Presented as part of TIC’s Masters-in-the-Making series.

  • The Who's Tommy, music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff, directed by Geoff Button, Feb. 18-March 7, 2010, at the Josephine Louis Theater. "A rock-and-roll adventure explodes. Released in 1969, the rock-opera Tommy became the first concept album of its kind, chronicling the story of a young man whose life is forever altered and defined by a terrible act of violence, all amidst a backdrop of gritty power chords." Presented as part of TIC's Masters-in-the-Making series.

  • The Handmaid's Tale, adapted and directed by Catherine Miller Hardy, based on the book by Margaret Atwood, March 5-14, 2010, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater. "What happens when the revolution is over? The story of one woman's life in the Republic of Gilead, an authoritarian regime in what was, until recently, the United States of America. Offred is a handmaid, one of the few remaining fertile women, given to a wealthy and powerful couple to bear 'their' children. As weeks stretch into months and this strange new world becomes the norm, Offred must turn to us: to preserve the life she knew, to hold fast to her dreams of escape and to face her own complicity." Part of TIC's Masters-in-the-Making series.

  • Air Guitar High, adapted and directed by Laura Schellhardt, April 9-18, 2010, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater. "Nothing ever happens in Scrug, Iowa, until the U.S. Regional Air Guitar Championships come through town. Inspired by real air guitar competitions and the unstoppable draw of games like 'Guitar Hero,' 'Air Guitar High' is the story of a group of teenagers determined to take their futures into their own hands." Presented through the TIC Children's Theatre Tour.

  • Danceworks 2010, with artistic direction by Susan A. Lee, April 23-May 2, 2010, at the Josephine Louis Theater. "Featuring the original works of Northwestern's nationally and internationally renowned faculty and celebrated guest artists, Danceworks 2010 is an electric celebration of tap, Jump Rhythm Jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary forms. Northwestern University's Dance Program celebrates its 30th anniversary this season."

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare, directed by David H. Bell, May 21-30, 2010, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater. "Shakespeare's boisterous fantasy of ardent lovers, bumbling actors and the conjuring fairy kingdom is one of the most beloved comedies of all time. With sleight-of-hand that subverts the line between dreams and reality, Laurence Olivier Award-nominated and Jeff Award-winning director David H. Bell creates a modern world at once musical and magical, raucous and outrageous, where reveries threaten to become a darkly sensual nightmare."

    2009-10 SPECIAL EVENTS

  • Ace by Richard Oberacker and Robert Taylor, directed by David H. Bell, Sept. 25-27, at the Hal and Martha Hyer Wallis Theater. Part of the American Music Theatre Project OutLOUD Reading series, Ace "is the epic story of one young boy’s search to come to terms with his past, find his place in the present and unlock his future. An exploration of the heroic men and women from our greatest generations…" Performed by students from the Northwestern Music Theatre Certificate Program. All three performances of this complimentary event are sold out.

  • Holiday Divas!, directed by David H. Bell, Dec. 7-8, at the Ethel M. Barber Theater. "Sing in the holiday season! This exclusive, two-night-only cabaret event will feature Chicago's leading music theatre divas and divos — including Hollis Resnik, Ross Lehman and friends — performing beloved holiday classics."

  • Palmer Park by Joanna McClelland Glass, directed by Rives Collins, Jan. 17-18, 2010, at the Mussetter-Struble Theater. "In 1967, the worst of the race riots in the United States occurred in Detroit, resulting in the flight of more than 100,000 white city residents. But not every white resident left. In Palmer Park, Tony Award-nominated playwright Joanna McClelland Glass tells the story of one neighborhood that struggled to uphold the ideal of integration." A staged reading that is part of the Big Ten university theatre initiative. Admission is free and open to the public, with advance reservations required through the TIC box office.

    Subscriptions are available through the TIC box office at (847) 491-7282 or www.tic.northwestern.edu. Single ticket prices are listed below and will go on sale Oct. 1 also through the box office or www.tic.northwestern.edu.