As the end of the school year approaches, the Department of Visual and Theatre Arts has several final performances in theatre, art and dance.
The first event is currently ongoing. It is the VTA Student Art Exhibition, which opened Tuesday, April 1. The exhibition will be on display until April 25 in the Art Gallery.
Later this week, the UTM Dance Ensemble will be performing their spring dance concert, entitled ESCAPÉ. The show will run Thursday, April 10 and Friday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Harriet Fulton Theatre in the Fine Arts Building.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and children. Tickets will be sold only at the door each night beginning at 7 p.m. The house will open at 7:30.
Sarah McCormick, Director of the UTM Dance Ensemble, is excited about the visitors who will be performing in the show on April 11.
“[The] Collage Dance Collective from Memphis, TN will be performing in our show. They are a professionally recognized and upcoming company from Memphis who have performed all over, including New York and Chicago…I am very excited about this,” said McCormick.
The graduating theatre majors are required to complete a project of their choice in order to complete their degree. Three seniors have chosen to direct one-act plays, all of which will occur on Friday, April 25 beginning at 8 p.m.
The requirements for the project, according to the syllabus, are that a senior much choose a “specific theatre project where they have made a meaningful contribution to the success of that project.” The students this year decided to complete a director’s showcase.
Each had to choose a play and analyze it, hold auditions to select cast members and conduct rehearsals.
Stephanie Klink, one of the seniors, is excited to direct this as her final project and believes that the final product will be well worth the effort.
“It’s sometimes a difficult process and at times I just want to pull my hair out because of the stress, but it’s extremely rewarding as well. I get to see a play go from just words on the paper and a vision in my head to seeing people portraying these characters and bringing life to the play,” said Klink.
Klink is directing “’Dentity Crisis” by Christopher Durang.
One of the other senior student directors is Matt Caldwell. He will be directing Arthur Miller’s “The Last Yankee.”
“I’m really excited for this production and I know everyone is going to do their best to put on a great performance,” said Caldwell.
All of the events that are prepared by those in the Fine Arts are practiced and rehearsed to near perfection. All performers are excited to have an audience see what they have accomplished.
