The renowned Core Ensemble will present a performance of its nationally acclaimed touring production of "Ain't I A Woman!" at Auburn University's Telfair Peet Theatre on Wednesday evening, February 27th at 7:30 P.M. The production is being jointly sponsored by the Auburn University Departments of Africana Studies, Women's Studies, Music, Theatre, and the A.U. Vice President for Outreach.

"Ain't I a Woman!" celebrates the life and times of four powerful African American women: renowned novelist and anthropologist Zora Neale Hurston, ex- slave and fiery abolitionist Sojourner Truth, exuberant folk artist Clementine Hunter, and fervent civil rights worker Fannie Lou Hamer. The musical score is drawn from the heartfelt spirituals and blues of the Deep South, the urban vitality of the Jazz Age, and contemporary concert music by African Americans. "Ain't I a Woman!" is a joyful exploration of the trials and triumphs of four passionate and accomplished women.

The performance features an extraordinary melding of theatre and chamber music performed by Tahirah Whittington, cello, Hugh Hinton, piano, and Michael Parola, percussion, with actress Taylore Mahogany Scott, who has performed in theatre, film, and television, including the nationally televised PBS show African American Lives with Oprah Winfrey. The work is the latest in a series of multicultural and feminist performance pieces produced by the ensemble over the past ten years.

The Core Ensemble has toured in Australia, England, Russia, Ukraine, the Caribbean, and in every region of the U.S. The Core Ensemble receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Palm Beach County Cultural Council.

The show tours throughout the U.S. during Black History Month and

Women’s History Month.

For tickets call 334- 844- 4154

Admission is Free for Auburn University Students w/a valid ID.

General Admission $20.00

Senior Citizens $15.00

AU Faculty and Staff $15.00

Visa and MasterCard accepted.

Make check or money order to:

Auburn University Theatre

Send to:

Auburn University Theatre

211 Telfair Peet Theatre

Auburn University, Auburn

36849- 5422

Barbara Lebow's drama, "A Shayna Maidel," literally "a pretty girl," will be staged Feb. 19-23 by the Auburn University Department of Theatre in its intimate theatre upstairs.

Meaning literally "a pretty girl," "A Shayna Maidel" concerns a Jewish family torn apart by the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland during World War II.

The play examines the relationship between two sisters reunited one year after the end of World War II. One sister had escaped the Holocaust by moving to America 18 years before, while the other sister remained behind with their mother to recover from scarlet fever. Those left behind fail to make it out in time and suffer through the Holocaust, while the father and sister are safe in America. The mother becomes a victim of the Nazis, but the sister in Poland survives and is eventually reunited with her father and sister in New York. The sisters are strangers who must reestablish their childhood bonds while approaching the trauma of separation and persecution from separate perspectives.

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. There will be no 2:30 p.m. matinee performances for this production. Seating is extremely limited. Admission is free for Auburn University students with a valid identification card. General admission is $15, senior citizens $10, and AU faculty and staff $10. Liberal Arts Dean Anne-Katrin Gramberg will host an opening night reception following the performance Feb. 19. The Department of Theatre will also host a body of Jewish American Life Visuals in the Telfair Peet Theatre art gallery during the run of the production. For tickets and more information, call 844-4154.

Dancing Through the History of Jazz with Bill and Adrienne, January 12, 7:30pm

• Dan Larocque, Narratorl/Accompanied by a 6-piece jazz orchestra
• Bill Evans is an award-winning performer, teacher, choreographer, lecturer, administrator, movement analyst, writer, adjudicator, and consultant with a uniquely varied and comprehensive background of experiences and accomplishments.
• Adrienne Wilson is a dancer and musician who has been actively pursuing a life in the arts for over twenty years. She has an MFA in choreography and perfomance from SUNY Brockport and bachelors and masters degrees in piano performance from Ithaca College.

Bamidele Dancers and Drummers, January 18, 10:00 am and noon School Performance under the direction of Marilyn Middleton Sylla and Sekou Sylla.

Bamidele Dancers and Drummers, January 19, 7:30 pm Public Performance
from Africa, the Americas and the Caribbean, these dedicated performers work to preserve African rooted cultures through dance, music and song.

Conversation, Conflict & Choreography, January 24, 25, 26 Performances at 7:30 pm, January 27, Matinee Performance at 2:30
AU student dancers performing

Choreography by Adrienne Wilson and guest choreographers Bill Evans & Drika Overton

A Midsummer Night's DreamWilliam Shakespeare’s timeless tale of love and laughter gets a clever new- age twist in the second offering of Auburn University Theatre’s 2007-2008 season.

Running November 8-11 and November 13-16, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare's most magical and enduringly popular comedies involving two pairs of Athenian lovers who try to solve a romantic dilemma by fleeing into the woods only to become the playthings of a group of fairies who are having their own romantic challenges. Meanwhile an inept troupe of would-be actors preparing an entertainment for a royal wedding also fall prey to some supernatural antics while rehearsing in the woods. Much confusion ensues with magic flowers and mistaken identities before the air is cleared and things conclude with the most hilarious “play within a play” ever written.

The production is under the direction of A.U. Theatre Assistant Professor Chris Qualls, who has fashioned an ingenious interpretation designed to make the play accessible to both mature and young adult audiences. The text has been cut to accommodate more than ten songs to be sung by the characters in the play in the fashion of a “jukebox musical.” Songs range in style from Frank Sinatra to Air Supply to Captain & Tennille to Aretha Franklin to TLC to Johnny Cash.

“The students are having a blast with it,” said Qualls. “Shakespeare is one of the greatest lyrical poets in the English language (or any language), but he was also a consummate entertainer. He was part- owner of a theatre and wrote his plays for the paying public, unashamed of embracing the pop culture of his time. Perhaps Frank Sinatra himself might have sung in Shakespeare’s shows had the two been contemporaries. One of the great joys in experiencing the play is how easy it is to recognize our most foolish selves in Shakespeare’s characters, and to revel in their outrageous follies.”

The A.U. Department of Theatre will also celebrate the career of retiring Professor A. Lynn Lockrow with a retrospective of his design work in the Telfair Peet Theatre art gallery during the run of the production. Two public receptions are planned in connection with the production-- Dean Anne-Katrin Gramberg will host an opening night reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. November 8 and the Theatre Department will host a closing night reception in honor of Professor Lockrow beginning at 6:30 p.m. on November 16.

The enchantment begins Thursday, November 8th. For tickets call 334-844-4154.

AU Theatre's new season starts September 27 with "Deadwood Dick or The Game of Gold," a spoof of the action-packed dime novels that helped define the Old West in the late 19th century.

The fast-paced farce runs Sept. 27-30 and Oct. 2-5 at Telfair Peet Theatre, with curtain at 7:30 pm on weeknights and Saturday and 2:30 pm Sunday.

Proceeds from the Oct. 5 performance will support scholarships for theatre students.

Later presentations of the 2007-08 season include Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Nov 8-11 and Nov. 13-16; "A Shayne Maidel" about Holocaust survivors in 1946 Manhattan, Feb 19-23; and the comedy "Little Shop of Horrors," April 9-13.

"Deadwood Dick" is based on a character of that name in a series of dime novels by Edward L. Wheeler from 1876 until the 1890s. Like othes of their ilk, the "Deadwood Dick" stories were hastily written and produced cheaply for a mass audience, leading critics to dub them "dime" novels. Although these and other melodramatic, historically inaccurate dime novels faded in popularity with the early 20th century advent of film, the genre inspired hundreds of equally inauthentic cinema westerns well into the 1950s.

The AU Theatre production provides a comic take on familiar characters, including brave heroes, damsels in distress, venial villains and other colorful characters caught up in episodes involving lost daughters, stolen gold mines, kidnapped heroines, hairbreadth escapes and other staples of the genre.

Tickets are available at the Peet Theatre Box Office weekdays from noon-6 pm. Admission is free for students. Faculty and staff may obtain tickets without charge for the Oct. 2 performance or pay $15.00 for other performances. Public admission is $20.00, senior citizens pay $15.00 and high school and grade school students pay $10.00. Season tickets for all five performances are $50.00.

For information or reservations, call the box office at 844-4154.

Media Forum Open to Students

October 12, 2007

There will be a Media InForum for students interested in learning about script-writing, advertising, publishing, getting an agent, and creating and pitching a television reality show on Friday, Oct. 12, 2007, in the auditorium at the Jule Collins Smith Museum.

Six speakers will give presentations throughout the day beginning at 9 a.m. and each presentation is 35 minutes and will end with a 15 minute question and answer session.

The times and speakers for the Media InForum on Friday, Oct. 12, are:

Title: “A Career on Camera”
Time: 9 - 9:50 a.m.
About the Presenter: Marc Summers is a producer and host of the behind-the-scenes details on classic American food show “Unwrapped” on the Food Network. And for over 10 years Summers hosted the popular Nickelodeon kids game show “Double Dare.” He will give a talk at 9 a.m. about hosting TV shows and how to create and pitch a reality show.

Title: “Writing for the Hollywood Dollar”
Time: 10 - 10:50 a.m.
About the Presenter: Tony Blake is a Primetime writer and executive producer for shows such as “Charmed,” “Lois & Clark,” and “She Spies.” Blake has just published a book on to break into the business of writing for Hollywood. He will talk at 10 a.m. about how to write and sell a script.

Title: “Artist’s Representation”
Time: 11 - 11:50 a.m.
About the Presenter: Kathy Armistead is a music agent who puts together sponsorship deals for country music artist tours and is currently working with the band Rascal Flats. At 11 a.m., Armistead will talk about what agents do, and how to get an agent.

Title: “Print Journalism Today”
Time: 1:10 - 2 p.m.
About the Presenter: Kay Fuston is Editor and Vice President of Coastal Living Magazine based in Birmingham. She is an Auburn Alumna and will explain the difference between editorial and publishing sides of print, and how to break into publishing.

Title: “Advertising in Our Society”
Time: 2 - 2:50 p.m.
About the Presenter: Matt Crisci - A former managing partner of the advertising company Lintas: New York, and a former executive with the Interpublic Group (IPG), an advertising holding company, Crisci will talk to students about how advertising pays for everything and the changing role of advertising in the digital age.

Title: “Media InForurm Summary & Panel Discussion”
Time: 3 - 3:50 p.m.
About the Presenter: The media forum is being hosted by Auburn Alum Michael Young,’74, of Michael Young Media (MYM). Young is a leading multi-platform creator and producer of television, internet, corporate video and live events. MYM produces stand-alone television specials, national conventions, and Web site content.

The goals of the Media InForum, Young says, is to provide current students with advice and contacts within the communications industry - print, television, radio, film, theatre, advertising, etc., and to offer an opportunity where media professionals interact with students to provide inspiration, define possibilities, and advance networking opportunities.

“We are incredibly lucky to have outstanding alumni like Michael Young to give back to our students,” said Anna Gramberg, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “This is a great opportunity for students to learn first-hand what it takes to succeed in the communication world.”

Please note: Parking is free at the museum, and there is a Tiger Transit stop at the museum.
For more information about the forum, please visit the Website: www.aumediainforum.com