Theatre UCF, part of the UCF School of Performing Arts, introduces an annual arts festival to its 2014-15 season, in addition to its regular schedule of plays and musicals.
Larry Shue’s The Foreigner, running June 12-29, is directed by Mark Brotherton (The Music Man, Shipwrecked!An Entertainment). The play centers on two British friends who visit a Southern fishing lodge. Since one of the gentlemen is shy and not keen on talking about his recent divorce, the pair tells the local residents that he doesn’t speak English. Believing them, the residents openly share some of their secrets, causing “The Foreigner” to have to “learn” English in a very short period of time.
The Foreigner will take place in the Black Box. Patrons familiar with the UCF Black Box will be pleased to learn that new seats have been installed in the theater, thanks to a donation from the Greene Family Fund.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is directed by Be Boyd (The Fantasticks, Stop Kiss). The light-hearted musical about six spelling champions and their mentors will run on the Main Stage July 10-20 and again Aug. 21-24 to kick off the fall semester. The production includes optional participation from audience members. Patrons should arrive early in order to apply to be part of the show (no “speshal” spelling skills are needed!)
Both summer productions will begin evening performances at 7 p.m. The regular start time of 8 p.m. will resume in August. The matinees will continue to start at 2 p.m.
Julia Listengarten (Eurydice, Gem of the Ocean) will direct Baltimore Waltz, which runs Sept. 18-Oct. 4 in the Black Box. Written by Paula Vogel, the play tells the story of a sibling pair who are traveling through Europe to find a cure for the sister’s fatal illness, Acquired Toilet Disease. Vogel wrote the play as a method of healing from the loss of her brother to AIDS.
The fall musical, Kiss of the Spider Woman, shines a spotlight on the men in the Theatre department. Set in a South American prison, two cellmates share their fantasies in order to escape the horrors they encounter in the prison. One of the fantasies focuses on a famous diva, Aurora, who kills with her kiss. The musical will be directed by Mark Brotherton and runs Oct. 16-26 on the Main Stage.
Nick Jones’ Trevor is directed by Christopher Niess (Love, Sex, and the IRS; No Sex Please, We’re British) and runs Nov. 13-23 in the Black Box. Trevor is a chimpanzee that was a childhood star. His career is now at a standstill and his owner just doesn’t understand him. The story was inspired by the true story of a woman who was attacked by her pet chimpanzee.
The spring semester opens with Arcadia by Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Shakespeare in Love). Director Kate Ingram (The Underpants, Spike Heels) directed the play at the New Paltz Theatre in New York in 2000 and has long wanted to bring the science-and-math-themed play to UCF. Arcadia runs from Jan. 22-Feb.1 on the Main Stage.
Mark Routhier (Leveling Up) brings to the Black Box a new play from the 2013 Playfest! Part of Harriett’s New Play Series from Feb. 19-March 1. (a love story) looks at love through the eyes of three couples—and a few plants. It was written by Kelly Lusk.
To complement the male-heavy Kiss of the Spider Woman, the cast of the spring musical comprises mostly women. Nine is directed by Earl D. Weaver (The Drowsy Chaperone, Side Show). Nine takes the audience through one man’s journey with life choices and how those choices affected his relationships with women. The musical is an homage to Frederico Fellini’s film, ‘8½,’ and deals with adult themes and situations.
On April 10-12, the School of Performing Arts and School of Visual Arts and Design will join forces for the inaugural Pegasus Arts Festival, to be held at the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts. The three-day festival will consist of many mostly free events and one large, ticketed celebratory interdisciplinary event.
Two productions are planned for summer 2015, which will be included in the 2015-16 season.
Season at a glance:
The Foreigner
by Larry Shue
A comedic chain of events is set into action at a Georgia fishing lodge when two friends tell a small fib about one’s inability to speak English.
June 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7 pm
June 15, 22, 29 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Music and lyrics by William Finn
Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
Additional material by Jay Reiss
Directed by Be Boyd
Six spelling champs vie for ultimate glory in this spirited musical. Audience participation encouraged.
July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 at 7 pm
August 21, 22, 23 at 8 pm
July 13, 20, August 24 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Main Stage
Baltimore Waltz
by Paula Vogel
Directed by Julia Listengarten
With Baltimore Waltz, playwright Paula Vogel pens a love note to her brother who recently passed away from AIDS-related complications. Anna and her brother embark upon a fantastical trip to Europe in order to flee the diagnosis of Acquired Toilet Disease, a fatal disease contracted by the sister from a school bathroom. Will they find an escape before reality sets in?
Sept 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, Oct 2, 3, 4 at 8 pm
Sept 21, 28, Oct 4 at 2 pm (Note: October 4 is a Saturday)
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Black Box
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
music by John Kander and Fred Ebb; book by Terrence McNally
Directed by Mark Brotherton
Cell mates in a Latin American prison, Valentin is a tough revolutionary undergoing torture and Molina is an unabashed homosexual serving eight years for deviant behavior. Molina shares his fantasies about an actress who portrays a deadly Spider Woman who kills with a kiss in order to distract himself and his new friend from the horrors they encounter in the prison.
Kiss of the Spider Woman won the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score when it debuted on Broadway.
October 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25 at 8 pm
October 19, 26 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Main Stage
Trevor
by Nick Jones
Directed by Christopher Niess
Trevor is a chimpanzee who once performed with the likes of Morgan Fairchild. Now, he’s approaching puberty and can’t even get a callback. Is it because he’s big and strong and potentially dangerous? Or does he just need better costumes? Trevor lives alone with a Sandra, a middle-aged widow. Sandra knows Trevor would never hurt anyone, at least not on purpose. And just because he’s not “cute” like he used to be, she won’t send him to some dirty sanctuary, at least not to appease her paranoid neighbor Ashley and her precious newborn baby.
November 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22 at 8 pm
November 16, 23 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Black Box
Arcadia
by Tom Stoppard
Directed by Kate Ingram
1809, on an elegant English estate, 13-year-old Thomasina makes a startling scientific discovery that will change the way people understand the world. Around her, the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are preoccupied with secret desires, illicit passions, and intense rivalries.
Two hundred years later, academic adversaries Hannah and Bernard, under the scrutinizing eye of a young mathematician, are piecing together puzzling clues, uncovering the past scandals of the estate, in their quest for an increasingly elusive truth.
January 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31 at 8 pm
January 25, February 1 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Main Stage
(a love story)
by Kelly Lusk
Directed by Mark Routhier
Love. We’ve killed over it. We’ve fought wars over it. Books dissect and explore it. We’ve been told by The Beatles that it’s all we need. But what is it? (a love story) tells the tale of three couples who set out to answer this eternal question.
February 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 8 pm
February 22, March 1 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Black Box
Nine
book by Arthur Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston
Directed by Earl D. Weaver
Inspired by the Fellini film 8½, Nine was the winner of the 2003 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Celebrated film director Guido Contini is in the midst of a midlife crisis and stuck for ideas for his next project. As he is pursued by beautiful women who are all clamoring to be his only love, flashbacks reveal the substance of his life which will become the material for his next film: a musical version of the Casanova story.
March 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 8 pm
March 22, 29 at 2 pm
$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student
Main Stage
For more information about Theatre UCF, visit http://theatre.ucf.edu.