Arcadia University’s National Award Winning Theater Opens Season with Vanities, Oct. 21
GLENSIDE, PA.—Sept. 14, 2010—Arcadia University’s national award winning theater program opens its 2010-11 season on Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. on Arcadia’s MainStage with Vanities, a comedy-drama play by Jack Heifner. Arcadia’s MainStage Theater is located at the Spruance Fine Arts Center, 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside, Pa.
Vanities
Oct. 21–31
MainStage
Three women’s lives intertwine and diverge in surprising ways from the day they met on the cheerleading squad of a small town Texan high school in the early 1960’s. Come laugh and maybe even shed a tear as time tests the “ties that bind” among three sworn friends. Vanities will be directed by Paul Meshejian, longtime company member of People’s Light and Theatre and founder of the PlayPenn Conference for New Plays.
Performance dates and times:
- Oct. 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30 at 8 p.m.
- Oct. 23, 24, 30, 31 at 2 p.m.
Other performances scheduled for the 2010-2011 theater season are:
Doubt
By John Patrick Shanley
Nov. 12–Nov. 14
The Chat Performance Area
A priest is suspected of impropriety with a boy. Did he? Or didn’t he? Lots of suspicion - nothing is clear. A searching look at the potential for abuse for those in positions of authority. Doubt will be directed by senior Theater Arts major Ellen Podolsky.
Performance dates and times:
- Nov. 12-14 at 8 p.m.
- Nov. 13 and 14 at 2 p.m.
The Glass Menagerie
By Tennessee Williams
Dec. 2-12
MainStage
This masterpiece invites us to peer into the Wingfield home in 1930’s St. Louis for what might be taken (70 years after it was written) as a prophetic look at the coming strains on America’s idea of the “nuclear” family. This play wrestles with the high cost of avoiding family conflict in favor of coddling fantasy. It is directed by Rebecca Wright, literary director and resident dramaturge for InterAct Theatre Company and artistic director of Applied Mechanics.
Performance dates and times:
- Dec. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 8 p.m.
- Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12 at 2 p.m.
Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare
Feb. 24-March 6
MainStage
Directed by Mark Wade, artistic director of the Arcadia University Theater Program, this spell-binding tale wrestles with the tension between personal gain and public good. An all-female cast will include faculty member, Kathryn Petersen, in the role of Brutus. Witness the fierce struggle among the conflicting demands of honor, patriotism and friendship, where everything you’ve ever feared about potential “back-stabbers” turns out to be true.
Performance dates and times:
- Feb. 24, 25, 26, March 3, 4, 5 at 8 p.m.
- Feb. 26, 27, March 5, 6 at 2 p.m.
July 7, 1994
By Donald Margulies
April 1-3
The Chat Performance Area
A haunting look at a day in a doctor's life as she lives and works in the inner city. Her patients’ troubled lives challenge her efforts to navigate the line between professional and personal compassion making tending to their medical needs “child’s play” by comparison. July 7, 1994 is directed by Curio Theater founder Jared Reed.
Performance dates and times:
- April 1-3 at 8 p.m.
- April 2, 3 at 2 p.m.
Club California
Music & Lyrics by Craig Safan
Book by Darrah Cloud
April 28-May 8
MainStage
Sick of her job and convinced there’s no future in her boring hometown in Moldavia, Liv becomes enthralled with the idea of becoming an au pair in America. Duped into leaving home, she becomes trapped as an “employee” in the “world’s oldest profession”. Is a UN official her get-out–of-hell-free card or just another horny CIA operative? Dancing, rock music, this workshop of a brand new musical would not be your grandma’s idea of a night at the theater. Rocky Horror Show director and Azuka Theatre artistic director, Kevin Glaccum, will direct. This musical deals with adult situations and themes.
Performance dates and times:
- April 28, 29, 30, and May 5, 6, 7 at 8 p.m.
- April 30, and May 1, 7, 8 at 2 p.m.
For more information and ticket reservations, call 215-572-2112 or e-mail arcadiatheatre@arcadia.edu.
About Arcadia University: Arcadia University is a top-ranked private university in metropolitan Philadelphia and a national leader in study abroad, ranked #1 in undergraduate participation in study abroad (Open Doors 2009). Arcadia University promises a distinctively global, integrative and personal learning experience that prepares students to contribute and prosper in a diverse and dynamic world. U.S. News & World Report ranks Arcadia University among the top master’s universities in the North, as one of the top study abroad programs in the nation, and as a “top up-and-coming school.” The Physical Therapy program is ranked 7th in the nation.
