VSU Presents Emerging Artists Showcase April 17-20

VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University Theatre and Dance will present its fourth annual Emerging Artists Showcase April 17-20 in Sawyer Theatre. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens, $8 for children and non-VSU students, free for all VSU students with valid identification, and $7 for groups of 10 or more people at a single performance.

The 2014 Emerging Artists Showcase will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, with the VSU Interpreters’ Radio Theatre Project, featuring performances by Richell Hart, April Coleman, Ryan Stillings, Cassandra Stowe, Tyrell Ruffin, Jong Soo Park, Allyssa K. Blair, Vaughn Stevens, James Burch, and Kara Harrison in 1950’s “Life of Riley: The Rileys’ First Date” and 1947’s “Suspense: Always Room at the Top,” both directed by Karl B. Wildman, assistant professor of theatre. 

“One evening, as a young boy, I turned the dial on the clock radio in my bedroom and discovered Old Time Radio,” Wildman shared. “The vivid stories, well-drawn characters, comic timing, and dramatic tension the episodes created captured my imagination. My listening went on for years. My bedtime stories included ‘The Jack Benny Program,’ ‘Fibber McGee and Molly,’ ‘Burns and Allen,’ ‘The Lone Ranger,’ ‘The Fred Allen Show,’ ‘Lux Radio Theatre,’ ‘Life of Riley,’ ‘Suspense,’ and many others. The skills displayed by the dramatic voice-actors and the seasoned comedic vaudevillians made a lasting impression on me and still inform me as an actor. For this reason, I felt it appropriate to explore the challenges and skills required to successfully voice the Old Time Radio genre with our theatre students.”

VSU Theatre and Dance fans who miss the opening night performance will have a second chance to catch the VSU Interpreters’ Radio Theatre Project at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 19.

The 2014 Emerging Artists Showcase will gain momentum with the opening of the Musical Theatre Showcase at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 18. Rebecca Morris, Kelsey Russo, Tess Buis, Emmanuel Davis, and Sarah Beth Moseley will perform a series of musical numbers, including “Summertime” from the opera “Porgy and Bess,” “Easy Street” from the musical “Annie,” and Sonny Bono’s “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).”

“I could not have asked for a better group of seniors to work with in my first year at Valdosta State University,” said Michael Hadary, Musical Theatre Showcase director and temporary instructor of theatre, particularly musical theatre-voice. “These five young performers are well on their way to a career in the performing arts, and I will miss them. Tess, Emmanuel, Sarah Beth, Rebecca, and Kelsey are smart, resourceful, hard working, easy to work with, and, of course, talented. … we have worked hard to show all of the various, specific talents they possess.” 

The Musical Theatre Showcase features piano accompaniment by Ethan Parker and Angela Duncan and choreography by Sarah Arnett, assistant professor of dance, and Catherine Schaeffer, professor dance.

VSU Theatre and Dance fans who miss the opening night performance will have a second chance to catch the Musical Theatre Showcase at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 20.

Sawyer Theatre is located on the first floor of VSU’s Fine Arts Building, at the corner of Brookwood Drive and Oak Street.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the VSU Theatre and Dance Box Office at (229) 333-5973 between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

On the Web

https://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts/communication-arts/theatre-and-dance/

2014 Emerging Artists Showcase Production Staff

• Stage Manager for the Musical Theatre Showcase — Matthew Hogan

• Stage Manager for the VSU Interpreters’ Radio Theatre Project and Sound Designer / Operator — Allison Stephenson

• Light Board Operator — DeAnna Keys

• House Managers — Travis Hunnewell and Chela North

• Box Office Manager — Blake Fountain