From a benefit concert to a controversial play, the Meadows School of the Arts is hosting a variety of events this week for students, faculty and staff to attend.
Victoria Winkelman, public information officer for Meadows School of the Arts, said attending Meadows productions are a great way to support fellow students and see a wide range of events.
“They’re fun and entertaining as well as eye-opening, and students who haven’t been before will be amazed at the incredible talent at the Meadows School,” Winkelman said.
The 2007 Meadows at the Meyerson, now in its 14th year, is an annual benefit concert that will feature the Meadows Symphony Orchestra and additionally honor a community leader. This year’s honoree is Linda Gibbons, an arts and civic leader.
Gibbons has been a part of the SMU community since she was an undergraduate of the university. She has served as a trustee of SMU and president of the SMU Alumni Association. In 1998 she received SMU’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
“This year, we are honoring Linda Gibbons’ extraordinary service to the community by dedicating the event’s proceeds to support internships, community outreach, and undergraduate research projects,” said Jose Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts.
Bowen says the event supports the Meadows School of the Arts’ mission to prepare students for the real world.
“Over the past decade and a half, the event also has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars that have supported our best and brightest students,” Bowen said.
The concert will feature new Meadows music faculty member and world-renowned cellist Andres Diaz, who will join the orchestra for a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Cello Concerto No. 1.” Diaz is a winner of multiple international awards.
The Meadows Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by Paul Phillips and will include works by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev.
Tickets range from $5 to $20 for SMU students, faculty and staff. The event will be at 7:30 p.m. tonight at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.
Additionally, Wednesday night was the opening of the controversial play “Spring Awakening.” The play, directed by Michael Connolly, associate professor of theatre and head of acting at the Meadows School, features themes surrounding adolescent sexuality.
It was written in 1981 and was one of the most censored plays of the early 20th century. Today it is considered groundbreaking, and a musical version is currently on Broadway. The play’s themes include abortion, homosexuality, rape and suicide as well as significant sexual content and is recommended only for mature audiences.
Winkelman said it is critical to choose plays that will help educate and train theater students as well as audiences by providing experiences that range in dramatic genres, periods and styles.
“This often means incorporating difficult works into the season that challenge both our student artists and our audience,” Winkelman said.
The play will continue with shows Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. and at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the Greer Garson Theatre of the Owen Arts Center.
Also at the Owen Arts Center is the graduate thesis concert presented by the Division of Dance in the Bob Hope Theatre. Four Master of Fine Arts candidates, Jason Coosner, Erin Mallar, Chantel Marrow-Adams and Garfield Lemonius, will be featured through their original choreography and the restaging of other works.
The show will be at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets for both “Spring Awakening” and the dance concert are $12 for adults, $9 for seniors and $6 for SMU students, faculty and staff.
Other Meadows events for this week include:
– “The Crucifixion,” by Sir John Stainer, performed by the Meadows Chorale and Concert Choir in Caruth Auditorium at 3 p.m. on April 29.
– The Master of Fine Arts qualifying exhibition is open from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays at Mockingbird Station.
– Through May 1, Mrs. Baird’s will host a free stone carving exhibition featuring artist-in-resident Hiednori Oi.
– The Meadows Museum and Division of Art History has two events today, a lecture, “Fabric, Fashion, and the Fold in Architecture,” at 5:30 p.m. in the Meadows Museum auditorium and a free guided tour of the “Balenciaga and His Legacy Exhibition” at 6 p.m.
For any more information on any of these events visit www.meadows.smu.edu
