Stage Set for Upcoming Theatre NDSU Season

Abigail Gilbert January 23, 2017 No Comments
Theatre NDSU PHOTO COURTESY | In a suspenseful online video, Theatre NDSU revealed the 2017 – 2018 season, starting with “Urinetown.”

The wait is over.

Theatre NDSU finally announced their 2017 – 2018 season on Dec. 12 in a video posted to their Facebook page. Producing one musical and three plays, the upcoming season has the potential to be their most entertaining and magical yet. Sold out performances characterized the 2016 – 2017 season, and next year’s season promises to continue to impress.

Next year’s productions include: “Urinetown,” “How I Learned to Drive,” “Tartuffe” and “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells Batman Smells.”

“Urinetown” is a hilarious, satirical musical commenting on politics, society, capitalism and corporations.

When a city-wide drought leads to a water shortage and the corporation “Urine Good Company” assumes control of all public toilets, community members are forced to pay to use the restroom.

“Urinetown” will be directed by professor Nick Albrecht, Theatre NDSU’s newest professor of musical theatre. According to Albrecht,”It’s about politics. It’s about people. It’s about love. It’s about society in general and what happens when certain things don’t go certain ways.”

“Urinetown” is a show Theatre NDSU has been hoping to produce for a long time because “we could do it in a unique way and do it very well.”

“How I Learned to Drive” is a play by Paula Vogel that brings audiences on a journey through the life of a young woman struggling to find her place within her family and the world around her. This show brings forth a wonderful opportunity for Theatre NDSU — their first ever main-stage student director.

Theatre NDSU artistic director and professor of directing Jess Jung states, “For the past three years, Theatre NDSU has been thoughtfully expanding our directing program. This season we have our first student co-directing ‘The Odyssey’ (premiering this spring) on the main-stage. We also added another advanced directing class to our curriculum. Next year will be our most exciting development: we will have a student directing ‘How I Learned to Drive’ solo.”

The next show of the 2016 – 2017 season is “Tartuffe.” One of the most famous comedies by French playwright Moliere, this comedy follows the antics of Tartuffe, the Imposter.
Director Chelsea Pace, Theatre NDSU’s professor of movement, specializes in stage combat and has a talent for directing high energy movement inspired pieces such as “Tartuffe.” The excitement does not end there: the actors in this performance will be wearing traditional Commedia dell’Arte masks during the performance.
Jung will be directing the final show of the season: “Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells Batman Smells.”
“This is a story about a sassy elementary schooler learning about giving,” Jung said. “It’s holiday time and Junie B. gets to buy present for her family at school. She finds that she doesn’t want to spend the money on her family — but instead wants to buy the best toy (a burping machine) for herself.”
This show will be part of Theatre NDSU’s Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) series.
“Junie B. Jones is going to be a great show for young audience members, as well as the young at heart. We are going to decorate our lobby and theatre for holiday time (in April) and hold a food drive for the community,” Jung said.
For more information on Theatre NDSU, to become involved in these productions or for ticketing information, like Theatre NDSU’s page on Facebook or visit www.ndsu.edu/performingarts/theatre/.
The next show in Theatre NDSU’s current season, “Songs for a New World,” begins performances on Feb. 23. For more information or to buy tickets, call (701) 231 – 7969 or visit their website.

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