Everything Nac

Dr. Yalma Vargas, research fellow from the National Council of Science and Technology at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, will be the guest speaker for the SFA Gardens’ monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series slated for 7 p.m. Nov. 10 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center.

Vargas is a research fellow from the National Council of Science and Technology based at the University of Guadalajara, Mexico. Her research interests include phylogeography, molecular systematics, and plant ecology and conservation.

After earning her Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Guadalajara, Vargas moved to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree in ecology from Louisiana State University. While working on her graduate degree, she concentrated on the ecology and conservation of cloud forests with sugar maples in Mexico and Central America. Later, her doctoral research integrated the evolutionary history of sugar maple populations along the Eastern U.S. and Central America.

As part of her graduate research, Vargas wrote a natural area proposal and management plan to protect one of the sugar maple populations in Western Mexico, which resulted in a legal decree under the state park category.

After graduating with her doctoral degree, Vargas served as assistant curator in the LSU herbarium and as a research associate in the university’s School of Renewable Natural Resources conservation genetics lab. She began her research fellow position in 2014, and her most recently funded project will test different hypotheses of plant demographic change in relation to quaternary geological events. She will use the genome of white oak populations along their distribution in Mexico and Central America.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare-plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed, one-act play “Why Do We Laugh?” by Stephen Gregg at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

Directed by Houston junior Jason Trevino, “Why Do We Laugh?” is “an endearing one-act play about a lifelong love story and what it means to grow old together,” according to Trevino.

“Eight actors play two characters at four different times in the characters’ lives in this fast-paced comedy,” he said.

The cast features McAllen senior Pedro Dominguez as Andrew, age 5; Porter freshman Delaney Brittingham as Meredith, age 6; Wataugh freshman Nathan Young as Andrew, age 15; Plano junior Cecily Maucieri as Meredith, age 16; Kempton Park, South Africa, senior Hanro Janse van Rensburg as Andrew, age 44; Baytown senior Chelsea Denard as Meredith, age 45; Angleton senior Bobby Britton as Andrew, age 66; and Lufkin senior Amy Miller-Martin as Meredith, age 67.

The production staff includes Maddie Collins, Sunnyvale sophomore, stage manager; Travis Brasher, Wichita Falls junior, scenic designer; Alexa Wicks, Mathis senior, and Danika Pettyjohn, Fort Worth senior, co-costume designers; Brittany Tennis, Hutto junior, lighting designer; Bruce Moran, Lake Jackson senior, sound designer; Brooke McPherson, Leander senior, makeup designer; and Victoria Medrano, Edinburg junior, properties designer.

Stephanie Murphy is faculty production advisor.

Trevino is a Bachelor of Fine Arts candidate with an emphasis in acting and directing. Although he hopes to work as a professional actor and director, his end goal is to work in higher education.

Tickets are $4. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu. The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

SFA’s Contemporary Ensemble will perform the music of pop icon Michael Jackson in a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

The ensemble’s purpose is to allow SFA music majors to “experience the many different functions of their instruments,” according to Andrew J. Sperandeo, SRT instructor and director/arranger for the ensemble.

Jackson’s music was selected as the theme of the program because he is considered the “King of Pop” who has influenced many modern day pop artists, Sperandeo said. Additionally, each of Sperandeo’s ensembles is studying only 1980s music this semester.

“I like to choose artists that incorporate different timbres and styles in order to expose younger students to different arranging possibilities as well expose them to an artist they would not normally even listen to on their own,” he said.

Most people recognize “Billie Jean,” written and co-produced by Jackson, as soon as the four-bar drum beat kicks in followed by the iconic repetitive bass line, Sperandeo said.

“It was interesting to find out that co-producer Quincy Jones had issues with this tune,” he said. “So much so, that it almost did not make it on the ‘Thriller’ album or at least not in its present form. Obviously, the issues were resolved, and it became one of Jackson’s most famous songs.”

“Human Nature,” written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, was selected for the program because of its timbres, styles and half-time groove ballad, Sperandeo said. “Personally, when hearing it or playing it, I think the progression and grove allows the piece to have a lot of space to be creative and very musical,” he added.

The logical high-energy closer for the concert is Rod Temperton’s “Thriller.”

“I still remember the day this video hit MTV and how cool it was,” Sperandeo said. “One thing that is obvious about the late, great Michael Jackson is that he was a true innovator. This video, specifically, was groundbreaking. It was essentially a 13-minute mini horror flick with a long, ghoulish dance breakdown in the middle. At the time, I was more into the heavy rock scene, but I still thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

“Hopefully some audience members will polish up their zombie ‘Thriller’ dance moves and show them off at the concert,” he added. “This concert will feature fun music, great times and dancing in the aisles. Come join the fun and sing along.”

The concert is a presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Music.

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. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building.

Trenton Littleton of Nacogdoches and Kaitlyn Tanner of Pasadena, Texas, will serve as the 2016 Stephen F. Austin State University Homecoming Children of the Court during the annual celebration Nov. 4 and 5.

Trenton Lee Littleton is the 8-year-old son of Tracy and Maury Littleton, both graduates of SFA and lifetime Alumni Association members. He is in the third grade at Regents Academy. Trenton has a brother, Ryan Ihrig, who also is a graduate of SFA and lives in The Woodlands. Trenton plans on following the family’s Lumberjack tradition and enrolling as a freshman in 2026.

Trenton loves attending SFA sporting events and camps. He said he is excited about the new Ed and Gwen Cole STEM Building and hopes to one day become a robotics engineer. He also enjoys spending time with his mom and dad, who own Party ’N Things.

Kaitlyn Ruth Tanner is the 9-year-old daughter of Chase and Tiffany Tanner. Chase works at a construction-testing lab, and Tiffany is the general manager of a pizza restaurant. Kaitlyn is the granddaughter of 1979 SFA alumnus Robert Wheeler and his wife, Terri, and the late Rita Sacra, all of Pasadena.

Kaitlyn is in the fourth grade at Pomeroy Elementary School. She has two older brothers: Collin, 16, and CJ, 11; and another sibling due to arrive in June. Kaitlyn is an honor-roll student and enjoys reading and assisting her teachers, as well as volunteering in the safety patrol.

Trenton and Kaitlyn will ride in the Homecoming parade and participate in the crowning ceremony of the SFA Homecoming queen and king during halftime of the SFA vs. University of Central Arkansas football game, which begins at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, at Homer Bryce Stadium.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Alive Inside” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Written, produced and directed by Michael Rossato-Bennett, “Alive Inside” is a cinematic exploration of “music’s capacity to reawaken our souls and uncover the deepest parts of our humanity,” according to information at aliveinside.us.

Rossato-Bennett chronicles the astonishing experiences of individuals around the country who have been revitalized through the simple experience of listening to music. His camera reveals the uniquely human connection found in music and how its healing power can triumph where prescription medication falls short. The film follows social worker Dan Cohen as he fights against a broken healthcare system to demonstrate music’s ability to combat memory loss and restore a deep sense of self to those suffering from dementia, the website said.

“Alive Inside” earned audience awards at numerous film festivals after its release in 2014, including at the Sundance, Provincetown, Calgary Underground and Berkshire film festivals. It was named best documentary at the Fort Myers Beach Film Festival and earned the 2015 Ageless Dignity Award for National Elder Abuse Day. The film runs 78 minutes.

Before the screening, Grant Howarth, MT-BC, with the Music Memory program at Heart to Heart Hospice, will speak for a few minutes about how the power of music can help a person “bypass tangled parts of the brain.” He will remain after the screening to answer questions informally.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Film Series and is sponsored in part by William Arscott, Nacogdoches Film Festival, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, David Kulhavy, Brad Maule, John and Kristen Heath, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens, Jim and Mary Neal, Richard Orton, Main Street Nacogdoches and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.