Everything Nac

Seventy members of the newly re-established Lumberjack Band Alumni Association, including generations of Lumberjack Marching Band musicians and twirlers, are scheduled to perform during halftime of the SFA versus Tarleton State University football game, and with registration still open, more are expected to join in the festivities.

After initially forming in the 1970s before disbanding about a decade ago, this new group organized last year.

“The first Lumberjack alumni band was created by Jim Hagood in the 1970s,” said Paige Pattillo-Brown, LBAA organizer and former SFA feature twirler. “Unfortunately, that organization ceased to exist more than a decade ago. I drafted the bylaws and created the new Lumberjack Band Alumni Association last year. In 2017, we had 71 members and, this year, 37 more members have joined.”

In 2016, a reunion was held to celebrate the band’s 90th anniversary and the Twirl-O-Jacks’ 60th anniversary, but an official alumni organization did not exist at that time. Brown, along with Kristen Badders Conklin, assist each year in judging SFA twirling tryouts, and following the 2016 tryouts, the two volunteered to help plan another reunion for 2017. They soon found themselves creating a new organization.

The purpose of the LBAA is centered on financial and other support of current Lumberjack Marching Band members.

“Former band members have always expressed what a wonderful time they had in the band, and we want current students to have an exceptional experience, as well,” Brown said. “We raised more than $2,000 our first year. With that money, we were able to provide small scholarships for the section leaders, give commemorative SFA band blankets to the graduating seniors and feed the entire band pizza during a summer band practice. Our goals are still the same; we just want to give more money each year to assist the current band.”

Former SFA twirler Mary Jo Morris of New Braunfuls also will return for a second year to perform during halftime. The 88-year-old alumna twirled for SFA 70 years ago in 1948 and 1949.

The SFA football game against Tarleton State University will begin at 6 p.m. Sept. 8, at Homer Bryce Stadium.

The second annual LBAA halftime performance will take place as part of the 2018 Lumberjack Marching Band and Twirl-O-Jacks Reunion, which is slated for the same day. Registration and a tentative schedule of events can be found online at sfaalumni.com/event/LMBTOJ18, or call the SFA Alumni Association at (936) 468-3407 for additional information. LBAA annual membership is $45; lifetime membership is $250.

The College of Fine Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University will open its 2018-19 University Series with a hilarious performance of the Reduced Shakespeare Company in “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised].”

This riotous romp through each of the Bard’s plays is at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the SFA campus.

The show features Reduced Shakespeare’s madcap men in tights as they weave their wicked way through all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays in one 97-minute wild and memorable ride. The show has left audiences from Los Angeles to London helpless with laughter, according to Scott Shattuck, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and director of the University Series.

“As a host of “The Today Show” said, ‘if you like Shakespeare, you’ll like this show; if you hate Shakespeare, you’ll love this show,'” Shattuck said. “Anyone that has ever slogged through hours of reading to finish a Shakespeare play for school will get joyful revenge in their laughter at this irreverent performance. But Shakespeare fans will not be disappointed either,” he added.

Written by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, with additional material by Reed Martin, and directed by Martin and Austin Tichenor, the play became London’s longest-running comedy and also enjoyed a successful New York run. The Nacogdoches performance is the first stop on a national tour that will take the RSC from California to Massachusetts, with several other major universities, including UT-Austin and Texas Tech, along the way.

Prior to the performance, Dr. Elizabeth Tasker Davis, associate professor and coordinator of graduate studies in SFA’s Department of English and Creative Writing, will present an informative talk on “Shakespeare’s Women” 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. The audience is invited back to the gallery for a post-performance reception to meet the company’s performers.

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. The play is recommended for mature audiences.

Other upcoming University Series performances include the dynamic new SYBARITE5 string ensemble on Oct. 18; the widely popular Dailey & Vincent bluegrass duo presenting “A Springer Mountain Farms Christmas” on Dec. 11; the high-energy dance ensemble Step Afrika! on Jan. 25; and the contemporary Mexican music trio the Villalobos Brothers on May 9.

Two special Encore Events this year will include “An Evening with Branford Marsalis” on Oct. 10 and The Purple Xperience, a Prince tribute, on Nov. 30. Encore Event tickets are $45 for Section A seating; $36 for Section B seating; and $27 for Section C seating. Discounts are available for seniors, students, children and SFA faculty and staff members.

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