On September 21 and 22, a group of Broadway stars, Michigan State University Theatre students, and local high school students will present the results of an intense three-week workshop of a brand-new musical, Dr. Fox and the Impossible Cure for Death, as part of the ĭmáGen collaboration. These performances will mark the first time the show has ever been seen on stage anywhere in the world.
The Michigan State University Department of Theatre announces its 2019-2020 Season, which focuses on invention and reinvention, adaptations of classics alongside new works. “One of the greatest opportunities in theatre is discovering how an old story is newly relevant. In selecting our latest season, we asked ‘What is it about this particular story that has a direct connection with the world we live in today?’ The MSU Department of Theatre thrives by reinventing…
Only four short years after graduating from Michigan State University, Mark Schenfisch has been invited to join New York City’s prestigious Advanced BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theatre Writing Workshop.
Since 1960, the Michigan State University Department of Theatre has heralded the unofficial start of summer with its Summer Circle Theatre (SCT) program by using the talents of MSU students, professional artists, and community members to offer free theatre to mid-Michigan audiences. This year’s theme, Laughing Matters, is devoted to comedy in its many forms including spoof, comedy of manners, and commedia dell’arte. The season begins…
The Michigan State Univeristy Friends of Theatre invite the public to attend the Friends of Theatre Gala on Tuesday, May 7, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Wharton Center for Performing Arts. This annual event, now in its 10th year, supports the programs and activities of MSU Theatre students such as scholarships, artist/educator fellowships, and scholar residencies. Guests will be invited onto the…
The MSU Department of Theatre will present The Bacchae by Euripides in Paul Woodruff’s translation. Directed by David Furumoto, this production, which runs April 12-21 at the Pasant Theatre, explores ancient Greek tragedy fused with classical Asian theatre aesthetics. The Bacchae tells a story of Dionysus, the god of wine. Supported by a Chorus of his followers (the Bacchae), Dionysus takes revenge on his mortal relatives in the…
A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle has endeared itself in the hearts of readers for generations. Using Tracy Young’s truthful and supremely theatrical adaptation, MSU’s Department of Theatre takes impossible feats of fiction and brings them to life in bold, imaginative, and thrilling fashion in this theatrical version of the classic novel. The story thrusts three children into peril beyond their years…
Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre presents Oklahoma! February 15-17 and 19-24 at the Fairchild Theater. An American classic and Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration, Oklahoma! boasts a 25-person cast, the Orchesis dance company, and a 16-piece orchestra. In many ways, Oklahoma! is Rodgers & Hammerstein’s most innovative collaboration, having set the standards and established the rules of musical theatre still being followed today. Set in a Western Indian…
Join the Department of Theatre’s freshmen class as they take audience suggestions to improvise a new show every time in this year’s Freshman Showcase, which runs Thursday, November 29, to Sunday, December 2, at the MSU Auditorium’s Studio 60 Theatre. For each performance, the characters, setting, dialogue, music, and lyrics all will be made up on the spot. The performers will improvise short-form…
MSU’s Department of Theatre will perform Jaclyn Backhaus’ Men on Boats November 9-11 and November 13-18 in the Studio 60 Theatre at the MSU Auditorium. Directed by Associate Professor Ann Folino White, Men on Boats is a story of Major John Wesley Powell and his crew who set off to chart the Green and Colorado Rivers on the first official government-sponsored expedition of the Grand Canyon.…