Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University bands will present the annual “Concert in the Park” at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 3, on the lawn in front of the Wright Music Building.

Performing will be the University Band, directed by graduate students Lucas Halley and Dwight Watson; the Symphonic Band, directed by Dr. Tamey Anglley assistant director of bands at SFA; and the Wind Symphony, directed by Dr. David W. Campo, associate director of bands. The Wind Ensemble, directed by Fred J. Allen, director of bands at SFA, will perform later that day at 5 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

The University Band will perform “Kirkpatrick Fanfare” by Andrew Boysen Jr., as well as other selections, while the Symphonic Band will play “Overture for Winds” by Charles Carter, “The Liberty Bell” by John Philip Sousa and “Feuerfest” by Josef Strauss, son of famed Viennese composer Johann Strauss. The Wind Symphony will close the concert with “Army of the Nile” by Kenneth Alford and selected movements from “Suite of Old American Dances” by Robert Russell Bennett.

The “Concert in the Park” setting was created by SFA Director of Bands Emeritus Melvin B. Montgomery. Admission is free. Beginning at 1 p.m., Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, honorary band service fraternity and sorority, will sell $5 hamburger plates that include a burger, chips and drink.

For more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Rockin’ Axes at Stephen F. Austin State University will present “The Fathers of Rock and Roll” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The Rockin’ Axes, a product of the Sound Recording Technology program at SFA, will perform the music of rock and roll legends Elvis Presley, Ray Charles and Ritchie Valens, among others.

“The Fathers of Rock and Roll” was selected as this semester’s concert theme so that students could learn about the origins of rock, specifically in terms of stylistic traits, forms and arranging ideas typically used in the 1950s and ’60s, according to Andrew Sperandeo, SRT instructor and director of the Rockin’ Axes.

Among the tunes to be performed are Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock,” Charles’ “What’d I Say” and Valens’ “La Bamba.”

“This semester’s concert will have a wonderful blend of styles, genres and timbres stemming from the original, recorded versions of these tunes with the integration of modern sounds to show the relationship between the two,” Sperandeo said. “There is truly something for everyone from young to not so young.”

In studying “Jailhouse Rock,” it was important for students to be exposed to Presley’s sound, “especially since most have never listened to his music before performing in this ensemble,” Sperandeo said.

“Elvis was one of the first cross genre artists of his time,” he added, “encompassing blues, rock, gospel, bluegrass and country, and his music has influenced many artists over the past 60 years.”

The students studied how race and the turbulent times of the 1950s and ’60s influenced the music of that era.

“Focusing on primarily the positive side, we looked at how artists like Ray Charles were able to cross racial boundaries through their music,” Sperandeo said.

For similar reasons, Sperandeo wanted students to be aware of the cross cultural influence of Latin artists and their songs, such as in Valens’ “La Bamba.”

“This song topped all the charts, yet the original was sung in Spanish,” he said. “You do not even really see that happening today. This is another prime example of how music can truly be colorblind.”

This 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.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Finding Vivian Maier” at 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“Finding Vivian Maier” is the critically acclaimed 2013 documentary about a mysterious nanny who secretly took more than 100,000 photographs that were hidden in storage lockers and discovered decades later. Maier is now considered to be among the 20th century’s greatest photographers, according to information at findingvivianmaier.com. Her strange, riveting life and art are revealed through never before seen photographs, films and interviews with dozens who thought they knew her in this film directed by John Maloof and Charlie Siskel.

The film, which runs 83 minutes, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 87th Academy Awards.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Night Film Series and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Junior Forum, The Liberty Bell, Main Street Nacogdoches, Bill Arscott, Jill Carrington, Karon Gillespie, John Heath, David Kulhavy and Brad Maule.

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

It’s not surprising that SFA student actors are learning from their veteran counterparts performing in the upcoming play “August: Osage County.” But what has been refreshing for Brad Maule and Rhonda Plymate Simmons is what they are learning from the theatre students.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present Tracy Letts’ rollicking tale at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, April 28 through May 2, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus. A 2 p.m. Saturday matinee is also scheduled.

“I truly enjoy working with the students,” said Maule, who is probably best known for his role as Dr. Tony Jones on “General Hospital.” “In fact, they tease me because I always show up early to rehearsal, but I’m learning, or remembering I guess, a lot about the incredible discipline it takes to get a show up and running. These students have the same high standards as I’ve witnessed in many professional theatre companies.”

Directed by Scott Shattuck, director of the SFA School of Theatre, “August: Osage County” focuses on what happens to the Weston family when their patriarch, Beverly Weston, played by Maule, disappears and they hurriedly assemble at the rural Oklahoma home of his hilariously caustic, pill-popping wife, Violet, played by Simmons. Their outrageous conflicts and lies collide to launch the corrosive comedy that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and became the basis for the hit movie starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts.

“It’s a great big play,” Shattuck said. “Not only is the set enormous, but there are 11 scenes, two meals served onstage, three physical altercations among the characters, countless props, dozens of costumes, evocative lighting, classic blues-rock music and a hideaway bed. But helping the actors explore the authenticity in the script at the same time they make the story clear, vivid and fast-paced for the audience is probably the biggest challenge.”

But the actors – younger and older – quickly formed bonds that allowed them to rely on each other to rise to these challenges.

“Brad and Rhonda are great to work with,” said Heather Abbot, assistant director and dramaturg for the play. “Brad is eager to explore the script. He is always excited to come to rehearsal and focus on the work. You never know what to expect from his performance, but it is always engaging and truthful.

“Rhonda brings an exciting presence to the room,” Abbott said. “She is never afraid to jump in at full force, even in some of the more challenging scenes. By the time the lights go down in the final scene, I am always moved by her fearlessness and phenomenal portrayal of a tempestuous woman. They are both very professional, and I learn a lot just by watching them work.”

Student Anais Saenz plays the role of Johnna, the housekeeper, and acts alongside Maule on stage. She describes the experience as “great, because he is so easy-going and personable.”

“The connection he has with his role seems so intimate, which makes reacting to and caring for Beverly that much easier and brings me closer to Johnna,” she said.

Acting alongside Maule and Simmons “raises the bar” for student performers, said Allison Day, who plays the character Barbara Fordham, the Westons’ daughter.

“Rhonda has this energy to which you can’t help but react,” Day said. “I was a little apprehensive about working so closely with someone I didn’t know, but working with Rhonda feels so natural for me. I think this must be attributed to how well she is playing the role.”

Having made a living in theatre for more than 25 years before moving to Nacogdoches to raise a family, Simmons said she jumped at the chance to play the role of Violet Weston and return to the Turner Stage where she was cast in a number of memorable roles, including that of Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” when she was a theatre graduate student at SFA.

Simmons said she was excited to be a part of the process of teaching today’s theatre students what to expect in the real world of professional theatre. “These kids are being given a realistic idea,” she said.

Simmons said she faced her own challenges in this role and production.

“Because of the depth of the writing, it is challenging to give the playwright his due,” she said of Letts’ writing. “I would like to think if Tracy Letts saw this production, he would be proud of us capturing the essence of what he was trying to do because we were respectful of the text.”

Through her interaction with the students, Simmons said she is reminded of the value of innocence and a fresh approach to material. Using words like “fabulous” and “exhilarating,” Simmons said she is being reminded of “that youthful spirit of finding a character.”

“I never tire of sitting on the sidelines watching the students discover that,” she said. “What I am enjoying most internally is being given the chance to develop a character that is memorable.”

Even though she and Maule differ in age from the rest of the cast, there is a “spirit of ensemble,” Simmons said.

“That’s not always a given,” she said. “You can be in a cast where there is no ensemble feeling. It’s just a bunch of egos. But from day one, I have felt a tremendous sense of ensemble here. I have felt welcomed and very much a part of it.”

Despite a perception by some that today’s college student is out of touch and somewhat cynical, Maule said he has found the theatre students to be “courteous, kind, funny and, most of all, dedicated to their craft. Maybe it’s unique to the fine arts, but I prefer to think that through these unique experiences, SFA is creating a more hopeful generation.”

Since coming to Nacogdoches, Maule has continued to act in films, television, commercials, and some local theatrical productions. But the main difference between those experiences and the production of “August” is the amount of material that must be studied and memorized, he said.

“This is big play full of challenging ideas and equally challenging dialogue; it rests somewhere between a Greek tragedy and a full-blown southern soap opera,” he said.
“My days of learning lots of lines of dialogue are long gone, and I had some trepidation about doing another role with lots of words. But after I read the part, there was no way I wasn’t going to do the play. The role of Beverly (played by Sam Shepard in the Oscar-nominated film) is complex, smart, tragic, funny and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Who wouldn’t want this?”

Maule said today’s theatre students remind him “of a time long ago when I was a student here at SFA on the exact same stage with my own dreams. I hope they know how talented they are and how much I respect them.”

“August: Osage County” is sponsored in part by Tipton Ford Lincoln. The play is recommended for mature audiences.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Wind Symphony will perform Andrew Boysen’s monumental Symphony No. 6 at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

Commissioned by Andrew Mast, director of bands at Lawrence University, the 2010 composition “is indeed grand in scale and scope,” said Dr. David Campo, associate director of bands at SFA and the symphony’s conductor.

Boysen and Mast are long-time close acquaintances, and when Mast asked his friend to write a piece for the Lawrence University Wind Ensemble, Boysen said he knew he was trusted to “write whatever I wanted without expectation or pressure.”

“The symphony is presented in one continuous structure that includes the traditional four movements of a symphony, connected by three transition sections,” Boysen writes. “Each time the tonal center shifts, it is treated as a mode change rather than a key change, allowing each of the sections of the symphony to have their own character.

“The symphony is really about transformation and emergence from darkness into light,” he said. “The opening notes of the introduction begin mysteriously at the very bottom of the ensemble in the contrabassoon and ascend in a sort of primal scream, eventually leading into a threatening, angry and aggressive first movement.”

He describes the final movement as “triumphant, but not in an overtly happy way; instead, it is a triumph of strength and celebration that brings the symphony to a powerful close.”

Boysen is a professor in the music department at the University of New Hampshire where he conducts the wind symphony and teaches conducting and composition. Under his leadership, the UNH wind symphony has released six recordings and has been invited to perform at regional conventions of the College Band Directors National Association and National Association for Music Education. He maintains an active schedule as a composer, receiving commissions from festival, university and high school concert bands across the United States.

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.