Everything Nac

In 2018, America and the world will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The College of Fine Arts and the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with L.A. Theatre Works, will anticipate the anniversary with a touring presentation of the internationally acclaimed play “The Mountaintop,” written by Katori Hall and directed by multiple award-winner Shirley Jo Finney.

The performance is part of the College of Fine Arts’ University Series and will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

“This play takes us back, not to the idealism of ‘I have a dream,’ but to the contentious racial and class issues, the questions of conflict and social justice that led to Dr. King’s murder, and that still haunt America,” said Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the University Series. “It does so in fanciful and even shocking ways that no audience member would anticipate.

“We are grateful to present this controversial play in association with SFA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs under the leadership of Veronica Beavers,” Shattuck continued. “As Black History Month begins, we hope that this performance will stimulate important dialogue among students and other audience members that may not have attended University Series events in the past.”

On the evening of April 4, 1968, less than 24 hours after his famed “I’ve been to the mountaintop” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered outside Room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. In “The Mountaintop,” Hall fantasizes an unexpected conversation inside that room on the night before the assassination.

Recipient of London’s 2010 Olivier Award for Best New Play, Hall’s gripping re-imagining of events is “rife with humanity and humor as the great civil rights leader reveals his hopes, regrets and fears to a motel housekeeper that seems inconsequential, at first, to his destiny,” according to Shattuck.

“It was really important for me to show the human side of King,” playwright Hall said. “During this time, he was dealing with the heightened threat of violence, he was tackling issues beyond civil rights – economic issues – and was denouncing the Vietnam War. So I wanted to explore the emotional toll and the stress of that. King changed the world, but he was not a deity. He was a man, a human being, like me and you. So it was important to show him as such: vulnerable.”

“The Mountaintop” stars Gilbert Glenn Brown (CBS TV’s “The Inspectors,” upcoming feature film “The Best of Enemies”) and Karen Malina White (“The Cosby Show,” “A Different World,” “Malcolm and Eddie”). The production will travel to 38 cities across the United States. “The Mountaintop” contains mature language and controversial themes.

For three decades, L.A. Theatre Works has been the leading radio theater company in the United States, committed to using innovative technologies to preserve and promote significant works of dramatic literature and bringing live theater into the homes of millions. The company’s public radio series, featuring stage plays performed by America’s top actors augmented by interviews with the artists and others, can be heard on public radio stations across the U.S. The producing director is Susan Albert Loewenberg.

L.A. Theatre Works’ national touring program brings audiences at venues across the country the experience of a “live-in-performance” radio drama. Since 2005, L.A. Theatre Works has visited over 300 civic, performing arts and university venues. They last visited the SFA campus with “Dracula” in 2016.

Prior to the performance, Cleo House, director of the SFA School of Theatre, will present an informative talk at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery. The gallery is located across the hall from Turner Auditorium, which is inside the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

Single event ticket prices for the University Series are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and $10 for non-SFA students/youth. Tickets for SFA students are $3.

For more information, visit finearts.sfasu.edu, stop by the Fine Arts Box Office in Room 211 of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

A faculty recital by Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies at Stephen F. Austin State University, has been rescheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Originally scheduled for Tuesday night, Jan. 16, Meyer’s recital was canceled because of the university’s closure due to inclement weather.

Meyer will perform “Mourning Dove Sonnet” by Christopher Deane, “Stop Speaking” by Andy Akiho and “Intersection Lines” from Meyer’s own composition, “Seven Images for Solo Concert Snare Drum.” Other selections to be performed include “Roar” from John Luther Adams’ “Mathematics of Resonant Bodies” and “Madera Viento y Metal” by Alejandro Viñao.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Music the Stephen F. Austin State University Wind Ensemble will perform at this year’s Texas Music Educators Association convention will be presented in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 30, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

“This concert is a preview of pieces we will perform at the TMEA convention in San Antonio in February,” said Fred J. Allen, director of bands.

“The SFA Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the convention following a competitive round of adjudicated recordings last April,” Allen said. “We are proud to represent SFA before this large gathering of music educators.”

There are two main works in the program, according to Allen. “Angel of Mercy” by David Maslanka fuses three chorales harmonized by Johann Sebastian Bach 400 years ago.

“The performance will also be a tribute to Maslanka, who died in August 2017,” Allen said.

Another large-scale work is the first movement of the “Symphony No. 2” by the American composer Howard Hanson.

“I received permission from the Eastman School of Music to transcribe this movement for concert band,” Allen said. “It is a beautiful work from 1930 by one of this country’s most romantic composers.”

David Campo, associate director of bands, will conduct “American Salute” by Morton Gould, and Tamey Anglley, assistant director of bands, will conduct “Saisei Fanfare” by Brett William Dietz. The band will also play a march by Franz von Blon.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The School of Theatre at Stephen F. Austin State University will join hundreds of other theatre communities across the nation – from Broadway to regional theaters to high schools and colleges and community theaters – on Friday, Jan. 19, by participating in The Ghostlight Project.

Inspired by the tradition of leaving a “ghost light” on in a darkened theatre, artists and communities will make or renew a pledge to stand for and protect the values of inclusion, participation and compassion for everyone – regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, gender identity or sexual orientation, according to information at theghostlightproject.com.

Gathering at 5:30 p.m. on and around the veranda of Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus, participants will join in a collective, simultaneous action, literally and figuratively bringing light to the darkness, according to Dr. Rick Jones, professor of theatre.

Jones explains that, “This is about respecting and valuing those who are different from us in terms of demographic profile, but it’s also about extending that same concern for those who disagree with us philosophically or politically.

“As theatre people, we understand that you don’t have to be a monarchist to appreciate Racine, or a Communist to appreciate Brecht, or a Hindu to appreciate Kalidasa,” he said. “But sometimes it’s harder to translate that into our everyday lives.”

The public, especially but not exclusively members of the arts community, is invited to attend. Attendees should bring a light that can be readily turned on and off – a cell phone flashlight, regular flashlight, glow stick, etc. Promptly at 5:30, all will light their lights together in a show of solidarity, Jones said.

Started last year, the national project aims to continue creating brave spaces that will serve as lights in the coming years, and to build a network of people across the country working to support vulnerable communities.

Visit theghostlightproject.com for more information. Locally, contact the School of Theatre at (936) 468-4003.