Thursday, September 4, 2008

"Wonderful World" Opens.

At 7:30 PM tonight, the Fine Arts University Student Theatre Organization's production of Richard Dresser's Wonderful World opened in the Weber Fine Arts building, room 006.

Under the direction of Maria VachaPittack, the cast (comprised of Charles Fisher, Kelsey Carey, Rachel Samson, Caleb Eigsti, and Rachael Miller) has been rehearsing for eight weeks and tonight the cast and crew were happy to present the show to the public.

The play displays a family searching to find itself. Maria and the cast have molded a world in which each of the characters is forced to reevaluate him or herself and to take an in-depth look at how they interact with one another in their continual search for balance, goodness, and, ultimately, truth.

The costumes, designed by Christa Hilmer, assist in giving further insight into the individual personalities of the characters.

The set (designed by Brent Froning), soundscape (designed by Krystal Kelly), and the lighting (designed by Andy Shaw) take you into the sometimes joyous, sometimes morose, and sometimes isolated world of the play.

Wonderful World will have additional performances tomorrow (Friday, Sep. 5th) and Saturday, Sep. 6th.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

UNO Theatre's Centennial Season: Week 1.

This week has been very busy for the UNO Theatre Department!

The Halls of the Weber Fine Arts building were fillied with the sounds of monologues and feedback as students prepared their audition packages on Monday.

Auditions were held for Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Women of Troy on Tuesday. Between 5:00 PM and 8:30 PM, around forty hopeful actors auditioned for Picasso's director, Amy Lane, and Women of Troy's director, Maire Creegan. After an hour of negotiations over supper, the directors and stage managers compiled the list of actors they wanted to see again at Thursday's callbacks.










(Krystal Kelly and Raydell Cordell III auditioning for the directors)

On Wednesday, the students were able to bring their resumes and portfolios for the faculty to review. Technical interviews are an opportunity for the students to talk about their longterm goals and the upcoming opportunities for the lighting, sound, stage management and other personnel who work to produce the UNO Theatre season.

On Thursday evening, it was time for callbacks. Starting at 5:00 PM, actors read scenes and worked on movement in the callbacks for Women of Troy. The actors all worked very hard and said that they had a lot of fun.
Directly following this, it was time to jump right into callbacks for Picasso at the Lapin Agile. The halls were full of actors working on scenes.


(Preparing scenes for Picasso callbacks)

(Movement work for Women of Troy)


At the end of the evening, the directors and stage management will meet to discuss casting. Once the directors hash out casting the faculty will sit down and hash out the technical crew for the first half of the season.

We've had a busy and exciting first week and have more excitement to come.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

The students and faculty of the UNO department of theatre gearing up for the new semester.

The day started off with Theatre 101, a chance for incoming students and those transferring into the department of theatre to get a crash course in surviving life as a Theatre Major from current students and faculty members.

After a round of introductions, the incoming and current students created groups for an icebreaker.


Given only ten minutes to rehearse, the students created scenes to the laughter, fascination, and sometimes confusion of their onlookers.



Following the performances and a question and answer session, it was time to meet the rest of the department at the Kickoff party. The group moved to the UNO Blackbox where an excited and boisterous department of theatre majors was waiting to greet them.

More introductions and information about the season and department ensued and then it was time for pizza and mingling!


(FAUST's biggest loser, Raydell Cordell, and the Faculty's
own incredible shrinking Sharon show off their new buff bods)

If the Kickoff activities are any indication, we can all look forward to a great semester and a very exciting season! Welcome back UNO Theatre Department.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Fine Arts University Student Theatre Production


The UNO student theatre organization, FAUST, is putting on a production of Wonderful World by Richard Dresser, directed by Maria VachaPittack.

Rehearsals for Wonderful World started on July 14th. In its fifth week of production, the show is coming along well.

As part of FAUST's mission, the production is entirely student driven. The production staff includes graduate students: Maria VachaPittack and Wesley Houston, and undergraduate students: Brent Froning, Andy Shaw, Christa Hillmer, Krystal Kelly, and Liz Murphy.

The cast consists of Juniors: Charles Fisher, Caleb Eigsti, and Rachael Miller, Senior: Rachel Samson, and transfer student, Kelsey Carey, who makes her UNO theatre premier.

After another week of rehearsals, a week off to accommodate UNO theatre's mainstage auditions, and another week of technical rehearsals, the cast and crew will be excited to share their work with an audience.

The FAUST show performs September 4-6th in the Weber Fine Arts building in room 006. Tickets will be $5 at the door and all performances will be at 7:30 PM. Look for posters to be hung around town shortly!

UNO Theatre Department's 2008-2009 Season.

This year, our season starts with Steve Martin's first full length play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, with performances on October 9-11 and 15-18 in the UNO Theatre. Picasso will be directed by Dr. Amy Lane, who most recently coordinated UNO's New Ways/New Works Festival.

Our second production is The Women of Troy, by Euripides and translated by Kenneth Cavander. The Women of Troy will be directed by Maire Creegan as part of her graduate thesis work and has performances November 20-22 and December 3-6.

The third production of the season is Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot. The show runs February 26-28 and March 1, 4-7 and is being directed by Dr. Douglas Patersen.

Our fourth and final production of this season is William Shakespeare's classic, A Midsummer Night's Dream. Directed by Dr. Cindy Melby Phaneuf, A Midsummer Night's Dream runs April 16-18 and 22-25th. The role of Puck will be played by Maria VachaPittack as an aspect of her graduate thesis.

Auditions for Picasso and The Women of Troy will be held on August 26th. Auditions for Waiting for Godot and A Midsummer Night's Dream will be held on January 13th. All performances and auditions will be held in the UNO blackbox theatre in the Weber Fine Arts Building on UNO campus.

Regular ticket prices are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors. This season is very exciting and we hope to have a lot of people joining us at our performances.