Everything Nac

Collaboration among theatre, music and dance programs at Stephen F. Austin State University will bring the beloved musical “Oklahoma!” to life Nov. 6 though 10 in SFA’s W.M. Turner Auditorium.

The innovative musical, based on Lynn Riggs’ 1931 play, “Green Grow the Lilacs,” is the first musical written by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The original Broadway production opened in 1943, and the musical earned Rodgers and Hammerstein the Pulitzer Prize in 1944.

Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, it was a logical choice for theatre professor Angela Bacarisse to direct as the biennial musical for the School of Theatre’s Mainstage Series.

“I was looking for a classical musical with equally strong parts for women as for men,” said Bacarisse, who also recently directed the musicals “Spamalot” and “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson,” which were somewhat lacking in female roles. “I have always thought that ‘Oklahoma!’ would be a good family friendly choice for our local audiences. Now that it is the 75th anniversary, this was a great year to do it.”

With all the recent attention surrounding “Hamilton: An American Musical” by Lin-Manuel Miranda, entertainment reviews and articles have compared the two musicals, Bacarisse said.

“There have been articles written about how ‘Oklahoma!’ was the ‘Hamilton’ of 1943,” she said. “‘Oklahoma!’ was the breakthrough musical of its time, and it was just as popular then as ‘Hamilton’ is now.”

With the 75th anniversary observance, recent publicity has highlighted what “Oklahoma!” meant to Americans in 1943, Bacarisse said.

“Our young men and women were fighting overseas, not unlike now, and this play is about what makes America worth fighting for,” she said.

The musical is about two headstrong romantics’ bumpy road to true love and the high-spirited rivalry between farmers and cowboys at the turn of the 20th century. Set in Plains farm country outside the town of Claremore, Oklahoma Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and farmhand Jud Fry.

It’s a big production with a large cast, which makes directing it a big challenge, even for a seasoned director like Bacarisse, who is not only directing, but also designing the costumes, making this show Bacarisse’s first one in which she’s tackled both jobs.

“It is big! The cast is huge, the set is huge, there is music and orchestra and dancers and flying/rolling scenery,” she said. “There is a lot to keep organized.”

With only three weeks set aside to rehearse as a full cast, those involved in music-dance scenes started those separate rehearsals a few weeks early.

“It is a very tight schedule,” Bacarisse said. “I still have a lot of musical numbers to stage as well as doing on-scene work with the actors.”

Working through the intricacies of the musical’s famous dream ballet scene takes even more rehearsal time to guarantee the vision of original choreographer Agnes de Mille.

“I am really excited that we will be doing the entire dream ballet,” Bacarisse said. “We are collaborating with the dance program from the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. They have cast students who are studying dance. And we are all working with videos of Agnes de Mille describing her process and style so that we can better serve the story.”

Working with Dr. Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities at SFA, Nita Hudson, voice instructor, and collaborative pianist Dr. Thomas Nixon is adding to the rewards of directing this particular show, Bacarisse said.

“They are doing a great job with the music,” she said. “We recently had a sing-through with the cast, accompanied by only a piano, and it was great. I am so excited to work with them and will honestly probably start crying when we add the orchestra.

“To do a show this big, it takes a village,” she added. “We have faculty from theatre, music and dance as well as students who study in all of those areas involved. It is great that we get to move out of our ‘silos’ and collaborate on such an exciting production.”

Between the music, the story, the dancing and the fight scenes that define “Oklahoma!,” Bacarisse guarantees that the show will have something for every audience member.

“They are going to love it,” she said. “Really!”

“Oklahoma!” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 6 through 10, in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive, on the SFA campus. A matinee performance is at 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8.

Single tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for youth. Tickets for SFA students are $5. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.theatre.sfasu.edu.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Sylvans, Stephen F. Austin State University’s timbersports team, won the collegiate portion of the Arkansas State Lumberjack Competition held during the 35th annual Timberfest festival in Sheridan, Arkansas.

“It was by far the Sylvans’ most dominant victory during the past four years of Timberfest competitions,” said Dr. Jeremy Stovall, associate professor of forestry and faculty advisor for the Sylvans.

SFA students placed first in the Jack and Jill crosscut, single buck crosscut, double buck crosscut, women’s bowsaw, men’s bowsaw and underhand chop. The Sylvans narrowly missed a first-place win in the axe throw competition, losing by only one point to the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

For the second year in a row, the Jack and Jill crosscut team of Katie Adams and Brody Capps, both forestry majors in SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, executed the fastest crosscut time of the competition, besting the time of the all-male crosscut teams.

Arkansas House of Representatives member Ken Bragg, an SFA alumnus and past Sylvans president, officiated the competition, which was organized by fellow SFA alumnus Karl Hansen, among others.

The first concert for the Women’s and Men’s Choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University will feature the theme of “Mars and Venus” when the two choirs perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Dr. Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities for the SFA School of Music, chose the theme “because it is the inaugural concert for the Women’s and Men’s Choirs as completely separate entities,” he said.

“Our choral area decided to dissolve the long-time mixed choir, the SFA Choral Union, and create a new ensemble, the SFA Men’s Choir,” Fish explained. “This decision has bolstered the identities and morale of both ensembles. We are pleased with the progress and productivity of both groups.”

Performing with the choirs will be faculty members Dr. Jennifer Dalmas, violin; Dr. Charles Gavin, horn; and Dr. Nathan Nabb, saxophone.

The Women’s Choir will perform “Gloria Kajoniensis” by Hungarian composer Gyöngyösi Levente.

“It is a high-powered setting of an unorthodox setting of the ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’ text from a collection of Transylvanian Catholic songs entitled ‘Cantionale Catholicum,'” Fish said. “You will hear a great deal of Hungarian influence, particularly that of Levente’s teacher, Györgi Orbàn.” Dalmas will join the choir for this selection.

The Women’s Choir will also perform Franz Schubert’s ethereal setting of “Der 23. Psalm.”

“‘Psalm 23’ is one of only seven settings for women’s choir from Schubert’s compositional output,” Fish said. “It is a lovely setting of Moses Mendelssohn’s (Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn’s grandfather) translation of the text.”

Paul Basler’s “Alleluia” will close out the Women’s Choir’s performance. Basler is a professor of horn and composition at the University of Florida.

“His setting of ‘Alleluia’ enjoys international popularity and is especially popular with All-State and festival choruses,” Fish said. “This selection is taken from a large-scale, multi-movement work entitled ‘Songs of Faith.’ ‘Alleluia,’ like many of Basler’s choral works, displays an equal partnership between the piano, horn and chorus.” Collaborative pianist Hyun Ji Oh and Gavin will perform with the choir on this work.

The SFA Men’s Choir is singing a varied program, Fish said.

“We are pairing two contrasting settings of the traditional ‘Ave Maria’ text by Renaissance composer Jacques Arcadelt and contemporary composer Joshua Himes,” he said. “The Arcadelt is a lovely homophonic setting that was arranged by my very dear friend, Michael Ware, past TMEA president and member of the Sam Houston State University choral faculty. Himes’ setting is lovely and contains many of the lyrical and harmonic elements associated with 21st century choral compositions. It is also a 2019 Texas All-State Tenor-Bass Choir selection.”

The Men’s Choir will also perform Howard Helvey’s setting of the traditional spiritual, “Steal Away.” Nabb will join the choir for this performance.

The concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building, 2210 Alumni Drive.

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.

Refined, a biennial exhibition of jewelry and metalwork hosted by the art metals program in the School of Art at Stephen F. Austin State University, will open with a reception at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in Reavley Gallery in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

Juror for Refined Art Metals/Jewelry Competition and Exhibition is Perry A. Price, executive director of the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston. Price will give a lecture at 5:15 p.m. prior to the reception.

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Refined will follow a theme of its namesake, according to John Handley, director of art galleries at SFA. Based on Webster’s definition, refined means free from impurities, fastidious, cultivated, precise and exact.

“Each of these broad definitions could be considered through design, narrative content, social/political work, and other various representations,” Handley said.

Entries may include work that honors “refined” in the broadest sense while embracing the diverse field of metalworking and jewelry, he explained. Jewelry, vessels, utensils, installation and sculpture are considered.

“We encourage the use of a wide variety of materials and techniques,” Handley said.

Refined has been a continuous presence in Texas allowing for talented jurors and participants to cross paths.

“With an average of 60 works from all over the country (including international presence), this exhibition offers a diverse view of the field in an educational contemporary environment,” Handley said. “Regional support as well as a short journey from Houston or Dallas ensures foot traffic through this unique exhibition.”

Price received a B.A. in the History of Art from the Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies, State University of New York at Oneonta, and the New York State Historical Association. Prior to joining the HCCC, he served as director of education for the American Craft Council in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was responsible for developing and presenting programming and outreach providing thought leadership and cultivating critical thinking in the field of contemporary craft. He previously served as curator of exhibitions and collections for Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts, where he developed and oversaw all aspects of the New England craft museum’s exhibitions and collections initiatives. He is a scholar of contemporary studio craft, material culture, decorative arts and design.

The reception is sponsored by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, The Flower Shop, Bill Arscott and the Nacogdoches Junior Forum. Admission to the exhibition and reception is free.

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