Everything Nac

    East Texans can be among the first to hear the newest works by three acclaimed playwrights during the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s 2012 Festival of New American Plays Tuesday, April 24, through Saturday, April 28.

    “Every two years, we invite some of the best playwrights in the nation to participate in our biennial event,” said Scott Shattuck, director of the SFA School of Theatre.

    “This year we are honored to have with us John Cariani, author of ‘Almost, Maine,’ one of the most frequently produced plays in the United States; Constance Congdon, who has had more than 200 productions world-wide; and Jack Heifner, our own playwright-in-residence and author of ‘Vanities,’” Shattuck continued.

    Nacogdoches audiences have been exposed recently to the work of all three artists. “Almost, Maine” was produced in the SFA School of Theatre’s 2010 Mainstage Series, and Congdon’s version of “Beauty and the Beast” set box office records in SFA’s 2010 Summer Repertory Season. Heifner most recently directed the SFA production of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

    During the course of the five-day festival, each playwright’s work will be presented twice, as a staged reading by SFA theatre students.

    The festival will open at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, with two one-acts by Heifner. The story line of “Brilliants” centers on the writer and director of the longest-running show off-Broadway who comes to SFA to try to present a new play, and “Hate Mail” tells the story of a 50-year-old exchange between two people who can’t stop writing viscious things to one another.

    Heifner’s plays will be presented for the second time at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 27.

    Cariani’s “Love/Sick” is a series of eight short plays that closely examine life, love, relationships and mental health in suburbia, said Heifner. “Each presents a slightly twisted love story and asks the questions, ‘How sick are we?’ ‘How well are we?’ ‘Are we better off alone or coupled’ and ‘Who’s to say?’”

    Cariani’s work will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, and again at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

    Congdon’s “Take me to the River” explores the devastating impact on a small farming community in Colorado when water rights are lost to the government.

    “Congdon makes a global issue both intimate and personal, as two families struggle to survive the ordeal with humor, anger and wisdom,” Heifner said.

    The play will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 26, and at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 28.

    Following the 5 p.m. Saturday performance, all three playwrights will participate in a talk-back session.

    All performances of the festival will be in the Downstage Theatre of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2210 Alumni Drive. Due to adult language and themes, all plays are recommended for mature audiences.

    The festival is sponsored in part by Tipton Ford-Lincoln of Nacogdoches.

    Tickets for each performance are $12 for adults and $6 for students. For tickets or more information, please go to www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

    The Stephen F. Austin State University Schools of Music and Theatre’s upcoming production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata” provides the perfect opportunity for audience members to experience the emotion and excitement of live opera, according to Dr. Deborah Dalton, SFA associate professor of voice and the production’s stage director.

SFA Associate Professor of Costume Design Angela Bacarisse shows Houston junior Megan Thomas how to equally space the buttons on one of nearly 60 costumes to be used in the SFA production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata.” The opera will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, through Saturday, April 21, in W.M. Turner Auditorium.

    “The elements of love, duty, sacrifice, death and redemption are all found in the story line, and SFA’s finest student vocalists will be singing the glorious score in English. Additionally, supertitles will be projected above the stage for the audience members who would like to read the libretto as it is being sung,” Dalton continued. “It’s a perfect opportunity for experienced opera goers as well as first-time attendees.”

    The cast of over 40 vocal students and a 30-member student orchestra will present the opera at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, through Saturday, April 21, in W.M. Turner Auditorium.

    Based on “La dame aux Camélias,” a play adapted from a novel by Alexandre Dumas, the opera revolves around Violetta, a Parisian courtesan who is stricken with consumption, and her suitor Alfredo, whose father is opposed to the union.

    Dalton said she is pleased with all elements of the production. “The voices and the singing are among the finest you will hear anywhere, and the set designed by SFA Assistant Professor of Theatre Dana Gloege provides a unique look for each scene with Art Nouveau opulent colors and patterns.”

    “Because the cast is so large, we rented most of the costumes,” Dalton explained. “But costume professor Angela Bacarisse, along with shop manager Barbara Blackwell and the costume crew have built several of the ladies’ gowns. If it ‘takes a village’ to raise a child, then putting an opera on its feet surely takes a small country!”

    The opera, which is a part of the 2011-2012 University Series, is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts, School of Music and School of Theatre.

    Prior to the April 19 performance, Dalton will give an informative talk at 7 p.m. in Griffith Gallery, directly across the hall from Turner Auditorium. The audience is invited back to the gallery after the performance for a reception honoring the event’s corporate sponsor, Point A Media, and to meet the cast.

    Griffith Gallery and Turner Auditorium are located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive on the SFA campus.

    Tickets are $18 for adults, $12 for seniors and $6 for students. For tickets or more information, please go to www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS.

    The SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in the Agriculture Building, Room 110, at 1924 Wilson Drive. Horticulturist Steven Chamblee will present “Garden Harmony 101.”

    All too often, the garden master becomes a slave to the demands of her or his own creation, according to Chamblee. By properly honoring time, space, place, form and function, gardens that evolve naturally can be developed. Lecture attendees will learn how to re-establish priorities, alter traditional views of garden composition, utilize alternative resources and, ultimately, create the vision that was once just a dream.

    Chamblee has been active in horticulture for more than 30 years. He developed his love for plants by transplanting trees with his father in the late 1970s and eventually formed Southern Lawn Care, a landscape maintenance company. In 1986, Chamblee joined the Fort Worth Botanic Garden as a gardener. He later enrolled in Tarrant County Junior College, where he earned his associate degree in horticulture. While working full-time at the Botanic Garden, he earned his bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Tarleton State University. He then received a fellowship in the prestigious Longwood Graduate Program and earned a master’s degree in public horticulture administration from the University of Delaware.

    After graduate school, Chamblee served as the native plant horticulturist for the Heard Natural Science Museum in McKinney before returning to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden as grounds manager. As the education director for the Botanic Garden, he focused on developing a variety of self-sustaining educational programs. Currently the chief horticulturist for Chandor Gardens in Weatherford, he uses his collective experiences to bring vibrant artistic expression to the garden and inspired educational opportunities to the community.

    Chamblee has studied public and private gardens in England, Denmark, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii and across the continental United States. He designs custom landscapes, serves as consulting editor and writer for Neil Sperry’s GARDENS magazine, authors a monthly e-newsletter column titled “Native Son” and is an adjunct instructor for Tarrant County College and Texas Christian University Extended Education.

    Ann Phillips of Llano Grande Plantation in Nacogdoches will be honored before the lecture for her many years of support of and dedication to the lecture series and its speakers.

    The Theresa and Les Reeves Garden Lecture Series is normally held the third Thursday of each month at the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture’s SFA Mast Arboretum. A rare plant raffle is held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves lecture series fund always are appreciated.

    For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or e-mail grantdamon@sfasu.edu.

    World-renowned art critic Dave Hickey will present a lecture presentation from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday, April 13, in the Stephen F. Austin State University Wright Music Building. The lecture is free and open to the public.

    The following day, Hickey will announce his choice of winners of “TEXAS NATIONAL 2012” during the exhibition’s opening reception from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches. As the exhibition/competition’s juror, Hickey chose from the 1,600 entries received works by 84 artists from 23 states.

    “We are honored that Dave agreed to juror our 18th ‘TEXAS NATIONAL,’” said Charlene Rathburn, the university’s director of galleries. “His involvement helps maintain the stature this annual competition has reached over the years, and we are pleased to provide an opportunity on April 13 for him to share his thoughts with the East Texas art community.”

    Considered one of the preeminent art critics in the world, Hickey’s writings have appeared in numerous publications, including “Rolling Stone,” “Art News,” “Art in America,” “Artforum,” “Harper’s Magazine,” “Vanity Fair” and “The New York Times.”

    In addition, Hickey has been an executive director of “Art in America” and contributing editor at “The Village Voice.”

    In 1994, Hickey received the Frank Jewett Mather Award for art criticism from the College Art Association. He was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship “genius grant” in 2001 and was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2003. He was awarded a Peabody Award in 2005 for his work on Ric Burns’ PBS biographical documentary “Andy Warhol.”

    Hickey’s lecture and “TEXAS NATIONAL 2012” are joint presentations of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art and are sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

    The Friday night lecture will be held in the Music Recital Hall, Room 160 of the Music Building, located at 2210 Alumni Drive. The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St.

    For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.