Last modified: Monday, September 19, 2011
IU Theatre joins Themester with the American tribal love-rock musical 'Hair'
WHAT:
Hair. Music by Galt MacDermot. Book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni. Directed by Patti Wilcox with musical direction by Jay Ivey.
WHEN: Opens Friday, Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m. Additional performances are Oct. 8, Oct. 11-14 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: All performances take place at the Ruth N. Halls Theatre, Lee Norvelle Theatre & Drama Center at 275 N. Jordan Ave. No photography or recording of any kind is permitted during performances.
TICKETS: Regular admission is $25 for adults, $15 for students, $20 for senior citizens; Student Rush Tickets: $10 cash with a valid IU Bloomington student ID on the day of each performance.
OTHER: Hair includes mature content and nudity.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 19, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University Theatre's 2011-2012 season opens with American love-rock musical Hair Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Hair is presented as part of the College of Arts and Sciences' 2011 Themester, "Making War, Making Peace."
Berger (senior BFA student), Claude (senior BFA student CJ Pawlikowski), and Hud (third-year MFA student in acting Jaysen Wright) celebrate their freedom in the IU Theatre production of "Hair" opening Oct. 7.
Directed by visiting artist Patricia Wilcox with musical direction by Jay Ivey, adjunct instructor of musical theater in the Department of Theatre and Drama, Hair follows the paths of a group of friends who surround central character Claude, among them his friend Berger and their roommate Sheila. The friends struggle to balance their bohemian lifestyle with their anti-war activism and conservative upbringings. In the end, Claude must decide between dodging the draft like his friends -- or giving in to his parents' conservative American lifestyle, entering the army and serving in Vietnam -- in the process destroying his principles, and perhaps his life.
While Rent (performed last year by IU Theatre) was said to bring musical theater to the MTV generation, Hair established the genre of rock musicals that laid the groundwork for musicals like Rent.
Hair provides insight into the anti-war "flower child" movement of the 1960s and is considered a seminal work of American theater, a position that earned it the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for Best Revival of a Musical and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album in 2009.
Wilcox has directed world premieres for the Kennedy Center, Houston Symphony and Minnesota Pops as well as New York City's Lyrics and Lyricists and regional credits that include Rent, Aida and Little Shop of Horrors. Her choreographic credits include Children's Letters to God at Lamb's Theatre; Bowfire, current national tour and PBS special; and A Marvelous Party (which she also co-created) which has been produced across the country, garnering a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, an Elliott Norton Award and Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award. Other credits include the New York revival of Blues in the Night as well as the London production filmed for Thames Television, and with national and international companies (Drama Logue Award and NAACP Image Award nomination). Wilcox studied with Theatre and Drama faculty member George Pinney, later rooming together in New York. "I have the utmost respect for George and his work," Wilcox said. "So when he called and asked me to direct Hair, it was a resounding yes."
A doctoral candidate in vocal performance in the IU Jacobs School of Music, Ivey has served as musical director for the IU Theatre productions of Nine, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and The Day Boy and the Night Girl. He will music direct Cabaret in the spring. His vocal performances include Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Gianni Schicchi and the recent world premiere of the new edition of The Ghosts of Versailles.
The Hair cast includes senior CJ Pawlikowski as Claude, junior Chloe Williamson as Sheila, senior Ethan Michael Carpenter as Berger, third-year M.F.A. acting student Jaysen Wright as Hud, freshman Kelsey Shaw as Jeannie, senior Charnette Batey as Dionne, senior Francesca Arostegui as Chrissy, senior William Reilly as Woof, senior Jamie Anderson as Mom and senior Nathan Mittleman as Dad/Margaret Mead. Other tribe members include senior Stephanie Mieko Cohen, junior Erica Evans Johnson, sophomore Lexi Lessaris, sophomore Patrick Mars, sophomore Kiotta Coriana Marshall, junior Evan Mayer, sophomore Julian Ramos, freshman Colin Schreier, junior Landon Scott, sophomore Hannah Slabaugh, junior Carrie Van Doren and freshman Nat Zegree. Joining director Wilcox and musical director Ivey, the design team includes: third-year M.F.A. scenic design student Nicholas Graves (Marat/Sade, Language of Angels), M.F.A. lighting design student second-year Amanda Wray (Language of Angels; Ah, Wilderness!), third-year M.F.A. costume design student Colleen Metzger (Language of Angels, Hay Fever), junior recording arts major Suli Stuepnagel (The Winter's Tale), and M.F.A. technical directing student Sean Dumm (The Comedy of Errors; Ah, Wilderness!).
To see information about the entire cast and production team, and the rest of the 2011-2012 season of engaging plays, visit theatre.indiana.edu.
Interview requests should be directed to John Kinzer, 812-855-0514 or jkinzer@indiana.edu.
