OCU School of Music Performances 2013–2014

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OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY . BASS SCHOOL OF MUSIC

given voice through American opera and musical theater.

Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company

Celebrating the extraordinary stories of ordinary women

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It was a dramatic moment, worthy of the stage that would soon rise from the prairie. America’s lanky, sandy-haired hero sauntered a few steps off America’s Main Street and turned a spade of red clay from America’s heartland.

The date was September 28, 1927. Four months after his history-making transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh broke ground for a new fine arts building at Oklahoma City University. The $300,000 structure, just off the newly christened Route 66, was planned as an oasis for the arts.

Few of the assembled crowd who turned out to see Lucky Lindy could have predicted what history had in store. In October 1929, the stock market crash marked America’s descent into the Great Depression. Oklahoma was hit hard, yet the school soldiered on. Six months after the crash, on April 4, 1930, OCU presented its first fully staged musical production, charging 50 cents to see the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta HMS Pinafore. The performance became the first of many shows produced sporadically through the Depression, Dust Bowl, and war years.

In the aftermath of World War II, the university enjoyed a growing talent pool and larger audiences. Encouraged, the school established the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company in 1951 and began mounting complete seasons. In the 62 years since – through economic ups and downs – more than half a million people have attended hundreds of OCU productions of more than 140 different operas and musicals, here on campus or on one of our international tours. Many of the shows have been Oklahoma premieres, and several have been world premieres. In the process, the school has become one of America’s finest training grounds for opera and musical theater.

In the 21st century, Dean Mark Parker expanded the music school’s size and scope, envisioning a creative incubator for music education, performance and collaboration. In 2006, the school’s square footage more than doubled when the state-of-the-art $38.5 million Bass Music Center.

Over the decades, renowned entertainers ranging from Pearl Bailey to Bob Hope to Clark Gable have visited. Placido Domingo and Bill Cosby accepted honorary degrees, and music performed by legends ranging from American violinist Joshua Bell to the Moscow Chamber Ensemble to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have resounded through these halls.

In addition, the school has produced many of its own celebrities. Students featured first on the stage of the Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Auditorium include dozens of musical, theater and opera stars, including Tony Award-winning Kristin Chenoweth, Met favorite Leona Mitchell, international soloist Sarah Coburn, Tony nominees Ron Raines and Lara Teeter, Grammy- and Emmy-winning composer Mason Williams, four-time Tony nominee Kelli O’Hara and three Miss Americas.

Little did Lindbergh know, as he shoveled red clay that September day, that he was building a launching pad for stars.

Our six-show season

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features 19 performances of musicals and operas drawn from classic American works of the 20th century. The composers and librettists were inspired by a Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, two Pulitzer Prizewinning plays, a movie comedy, a short story about a journey to see a Tulsa televangelist and photographs of Depression-era farmers.

September 27-29

Violet

October 25-27

Street Scene November 15-17

Our Town February 21-23

The Tender land March 7-9

South Pacific April 24-27

September 27-29

MAINSTAGE MUSICAL - Kirkpatrick Auditorium

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(2008) Inspiration: Movie comedy, one of the American Film Institute’s 100 Funniest Movies Setting: 1980 corporate America Creators: Dolly Parton, music/lyrics Patricia Resnick, book Of note: Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical Score, Best Choreography; 15 Drama Desk nominations, four Tony Award nominations.

Pushed to the boiling point by an arrogant boss, co-workers Violet, Judy and Doralee conspire to take control of their company and change their destiny in this romantic musical comedy. The wily but underestimated Violet, newly divorced and naïve Judy and misunderstood Doralee team up to take care of business in a tale of friendship and revenge in the Rolodex era.

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Free Burg Theatre 7:15 p.m. Friday, September 27 7:15 p.m. Saturday, September 28 2:15 p.m. Sunday, September 29

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Pre-Show Director’s Talk:

Tickets: $12-25 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, September 27 8 p.m. Saturday, September 28 3 p.m. Sunday, September 29

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Tickets: $20 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, September 27

Performances:

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Opening Night Dinner:

October 25-27

SPOTLIGHT MUSICAL - Burg Theatre

VIOLET

(1997) Inspiration: “The Ugliest Pilgrim,” a short story

by Doris Betts Setting: 1964 cross-country trek to meet a Tulsa televangelist Creators: Jeanine Tesori, music; Brian Crawley, libretto.

Of note: Best Musical, Drama Critics Circle; Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical This award-winning chamber work incorporates musical styles ranging from gospel to bluegrass to Memphis blues. We follow Violet’s odyssey to Oklahoma to find a charismatic preacher she believes can heal the jagged scar that disfigures her face. Along the way, she encounters fellow travelers, befriends two poker-playing soldiers, and comes to terms with the father who inadvertently gave her the scar, The work evokes Dorothy’s quest in The Wizard of Oz, imbued with what The New York Times called “shadowy Southern Gothic with an inspiring promise of sunshine.”

Performances:

Tickets: $10 Burg Theatre 8 p.m. Friday, October 25 8 p.m. Saturday, October 26 3 p.m. Sunday, October 27 MUS IC T

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November 15-17

MAINSTAGE OPERA - Kirkpatrick Auditorium

STREET SCENE

(1946) Inspiration: Elmer Rice’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Setting: Tenement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, 1946.

Creators: Kurt Weill, music; Langston Hughes, lyrics; Elmer Rice, book.

Of note: First Tony Award for best original score Kurt Weill’s synthesis of opera and Broadway combines art song with catchy jazz, blues and bebop and big choruses in a melting pot of verismo tragedy.

The story follows the lives of the Maurrant family -- the desperate Anna, her alcoholic husband, and their daughter, Rose, who is about to begin her own romantic life against the tapestry of her New York neighbors and their story lines -- over two steamy June days in New York.

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Free Burg Theatre 7:15 p.m. Friday, November 15 7:15 p.m. Saturday, November 16 2:15 p.m. Sunday, November 17

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Pre-Show Director’s Talk:

Tickets: $12-25 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, November 15 8 p.m. Saturday, November 16 3 p.m. Sunday, November 17

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Tickets: $20 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, November 15

Performances:

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Opening Night Dinner:

MAINSTAGE OPERA - Kirkpatrick Auditorium

February 21-23

Our Town

(2006) Inspiration: Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prizewinning play Setting: 1901-1913 small-town New England Creators: Ned Rorem, music; J.D. McClatchy, librettist Of note: First operatic interpretation of 1938 Wilder classic Thornton Wilder’s classic work of Americana becomes larger-than-life with this operatic transformation by composer Ned Rorem, hailed

by Time magazine as “the world’s best composer of art songs.” Rorem’s evocative score, and Wilder’s kaleidoscopic use of time, illustrate the cycles of love and marriage and death and loss in the village of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, in the years before World War I. The Guardian of London called the opera: “charming and rather touching, especially in the final act, when the action takes an unexpected twist into fantasy.”

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Free Burg Theatre 7:15 p.m. Friday, February 21 7:15 p.m. Saturday, February 22 2:15 p.m. Sunday, February 23

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Pre-Show Director’s Talk:

Tickets: $12-25 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Friday, February 21 8 p.m. Saturday, February 22 3 p.m. Sunday, February 23

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Tickets: $20 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, February 21

Performances:

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Opening Night Dinner:

SEE TOMORROW’S

Celebrating a sampler of 15 music from the Bass School of Music Leona Mitchell (BM ’71) Puccini and Verdi specialist, performed for 18 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.

Ron Raines (BM ’74) Joseph Pulitzer in Newsies, Benjamin Stone in Follies, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Nick Longworth in Teddy & Alice, Gaylord Ravenal in Show Boat) Nominated for a 2012 Tony Award as Best Performance by an Actor in a Musical for Follies.

Stacy Logan (BM ’82), Broadway veteran of shows including Sweet Smell of Success, Crazy for You, Beauty and the Beast, Candide, Big and High Society.

Marquita Lister (MM ’85), featured as Serena in PORGY AND BESS with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2012, has been cast as Bess in the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2013 concert presentation of the Gershwin classic.

Kristin Chenoweth (BM ’91, MM ’93) Actress, Sony recording artist, star of one-woman cabaret special on Live From Lincoln Center and of concerts in venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl to the Sydney Opera House. Winner of an Emmy for her portrayal of April Rhodes in Glee, a Tony nomination for her depiction of Glinda in Wicked, and a Tony Award for work as Sally in the Broadway premiere of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown.

Katrina Thurman (BM ’97) will debut with Florentine Opera as Musetta in La Bohème for the 2013-2014 season. Other recent performance include the premiere of Mrs. President with Anchorage Opera, Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella with Tulsa Opera, soloist with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra for ‘S Wonderful! ‘S Marvelous! Gershwin!, Oper Bonn in Germany to reprise the role of Mrs. Naidoo in Phillip Glass’ Satyagraha, and headliner at the University Club of New York’s Summer Cabaret.

Kelli O’Hara (BM ’98) Four-time Tony Award nominee, for her portrayal of Clara Johnson in Light in the Piazza, Babe Williams in The Pajama Game, Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, and Billie Bendix in Nice Work If You Can Get It).

STARS TODAY.

theater and opera professionals at Oklahoma City University Sarah Coburn (MM ’01), featured as Princess Yue-Yang in the world premiere production of Tan Dun’s First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera and acclaimed for her portrayal of Lucia/ Lucie in the French and Italian versions of Lucia di Lammermoor. 2013-14 engagements include featured soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier at Cincinnati Opera, Marie in La Fille du Regiment at Seattle Opera, Adina in L’elisir d’amore at Washington National Opera and Elvira in I Puritani at Boston Lyric Opera.

Jennifer Sanchez (MM ’05) is currently featured in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Previous Broadway roles: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Ghost the Musical, and West Side Story.

Ernie Pruneda (BM ’05), Pablo in Sister Act on Broadway and in the ongoing national tour.

Will Mann (BM ’06) has transferred from the Broadway cast of Memphis to the national tour, co-starring as Bobby Dupree.

Manna Nichols (BM ’07), stars as Eliza in Molly Smith’s acclaimed 2013 Arena Stage production of MY FAIR LADY, in Washington, D.C. She was honored with the 2012 Barrymore Award winner for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Tuptim in Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre’s production of The King & I. Rachel Rhodes-Devey (BM ’09) Featured in the national tour of the Lincoln Center production of SOUTH PACIFIC; 2013 Lincoln Center debut in 2013 with New York Philharmonic in staged concert of Carousel.

Ian Patrick Gibb (BM ’09), long-time Jean Prouvaire in the national tour of Les Miserables.

Jeffrey Grayson Gates (BM ’10), winner of the Vocal Arts DC Young Artists Competition, featured in a 2013 concert to broadcast live from the Millennium Stage at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

March 7-9

SPOTLIGHT OPERA - Burg Theatre

The Tender land (1954) Inspiration: Walker Evans’ photographs from James Agee’s Depression-era Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Setting: 1930s American Midwest Creators: Aaron Copland, music; Erik Johns, aka Horace Everett, libretto Of note: Commissioned by Rodgers & Hammerstein through the League of Composers The only full-length work for the stage by the legendary Aaron Copland, this coming-of-age tale is set at harvest time in the American heartland.

Critic Anthony Tomassini notes its “open-spaced chords, comfortingly tonal harmony, folksy evocations of hymns, dances and ditties” and called the work “affecting, honest and musically elegant.”

Performances: Tickets: $10 Burg Theatre 8 p.m. Friday, March 7 8 p.m. Saturday, March 8 3 p.m. Sunday, March 9

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(1949) Inspiration: James Michener’s Pulitzer Prizewinning book, Tales of the South Pacific Setting: World War II U.S. naval base in South Pacific Creators: Richard Rodgers, music; Oscar Hammerstein II, lyrics; Joshua Logan, book

Of note: Pulitzer Prize for drama; 10 Tony Awards for 1950 show; 7 Tonys for 2011 revival Our season finale is the much-lauded, comic, touching, tragic, thought-provoking Rodgers & Hammerstein classic that earned alumna Kelli O’Hara one of her four Tony nominations. Packed with hummable standards -- including Some Enchanted Evening, Happy Talk, I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, Bali Ha’i, Younger Than Springtime and There Is Nothin Like A Dame -- the work is one of the most popular Broadway musicals of all time.

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Free Burg Theatre 7:15 p.m. Thursday, April 24 7:15 p.m. Friday, April 25 7:15 p.m. Saturday, April 26 2:15 p.m. Sunday, April 27

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Pre-Show Director’s Talk:

Tickets: $15-35 Kirkpatrick Auditorium 8 p.m. Thursday, April 24 8 p.m. Friday, April 25 8 p.m. Saturday, April 26 3 p.m. Sunday, April 27

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Tickets: $20 Bass Music Center Atrium 6:15 p.m. Friday, April 25

Performances:

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Opening Night Dinner:

April 24-27

MAINSTAGE MUSICAL - Kirkpatrick

FIRST EVER -Co-production with Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre

South Pacific

Join us in the Atrium of the Bass Music Center for opening night dinners:

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September 27

Street Scene November 15

Our Town February 21

South Pacific April 25

6:15 p.m. Friday dinners ($20)

Reservations required: 405.208.5227 Hosted by Dean Mark Parker and Dr. David Herendeen These galas feature musical entertainment

by Bass School students.

Celebrate Opening Nights with Dinner & Show

SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS

One opera and one music theater production each season is presented with intimate staging and piano accompaniment. This year’s Spotlight Series shows are Violet and The Tender Land.

DIRECTOR’S TALK

Director talks are presented in the Burg Theater 45 minutes prior to mainstage productions.

Friday and Saturday: 7:15 p.m.

Sunday matinee: 2:15 p.m.

Save with a season package!

405.208.5227 www.okcu.edu/tickets

Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company

MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS

Each season, OCU’s Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company presents two opera and two music theater productions featuring lush orchestrations, dazzling costumes, and professional lighting and sets.

Mainstage performances are in the historic Kirkpatrick Auditorium.

Celebrate our 62nd season in style with one of our VIP ticket packages!

VIP TICKET PACKAGE A Friday Opening Nights

4 2 4 4

Mainstage productions Spotlight productions Mainstage opening night dinners Mainstage intermission receptions

Return unused tickets for a tax deduction 2 guest tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice $300 per person $500 per couple

VIP Package B

Saturday or Sunday 4 Mainstage productions 2 Spotlight productions Return unused tickets for a tax deduction 2 guest tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice $150 per person $250 per couple

Select VIP packages on order form or call 405.208.5700

Partner with the Bass School of Music Purchase a VIP ticket package or a season ticket package and lend additional support to our performance season at one of these levels:

$ 500 Patron

Featured recognition in season program 2 Guest tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice

$1,000 Sustaining Member includes all of the above, plus:

1 Parking pass for 6 opera/music theater performances 2 Additional tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice (total of 4) 2 General admission tickets to Christmas Vespers Concert

$2,500 Benefactor

includes all of the above, plus:

2 Additional tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice (total of 6) 2 Tickets to Distinguished Artist Series

$5,000 Show Sponsor includes all of the above, plus:

Concierge Service (One call personal assistance for tickets, ticket delivery/exchange, guest services) Listing on title page of production program as show sponsor 4 Additional tickets to bring friends to a production of your choice (total of 10) 2 Reserved Seats to Christmas Vespers Concert

$10,000 Season Sponsor includes all of the above, plus:

Sponsor announcement from the stage Listing on title page of all programs as season sponsor 25 Flex tickets (for any Bass School production) 2 Additional reserved seats to Christmas Vespers Concert (total of 4) 2013 Christmas Vespers CD

$25,000 Grand Season Sponsor includes all of the above, plus:

Sponsor for entire Bass School Performance Series (Opera and Music Theater Company productions, Distinguished Artist, Faculty Artist, Wind Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra, Choirs) Music performance at your home or business Purchase a VIP season ticket package to lend additional support to our performances.

Donors contributing at the $500 level are entitled to additional benefits, to recognize and thank you for your partnership with the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University.

To become a patron, call us at

405-208-5700

Save up to 33%

SERIES A: 4 Mainstage productions season price

Front orchestra Rear orchestra/Front balcony Rear balcony

$75 $54 $36

SERIES B: 2 Mainstage musicals season price

Front orchestra Rear orchestra/Front balcony Rear balcony

$40 $28 $19

SERIES C: 2 Mainstage operas season price

Front orchestra Rear orchestra/Front balcony Rear balcony

$40 $28 $19

SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTIONS season price

Burg Theatre

$8

Individual tickets go on sale September 3

SEASON TICKETS

SEASON SUBSCRIBER BENEFITS

Keep your same seat Ticket exchanges at no charge 20% discount on Spotlight productions Save up to 33% off single ticket price

Buy Now! Season Tickets!

RETURN BY MAIL OR CALL 405.208.5227 PERFORMING ARTS TICKET OFFICE Oklahoma City University c/o Performing Arts Ticket Office 2501 N. Blackwelder, Oklahoma City, OK 73106-1493 www.okcu.edu/tickets To renew your subscription with no changes Series subscription Day (Circle one) # tickets Price

Opening Night Dinner

September 27 November 15 February 21 April 25

$20 each 9 to 5 ______ Street Scene ______ Our Town ______ South Pacific ______

Series A: 4 Mainstage Productions $75 $54 $36

Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun

Series B: 2 Mainstage Musicals $40 $28 $19

Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun

Series C: 2 Mainstage Operas $40 $28 $19

Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun Fri Sat Sun

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Spotlight productions: open seating

October 25-27 $8 March 7-9 $8

Violet Fri Sat Sun The Tender Land Fri Sat Sun

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Package A- Friday Opening Nights______ $300 per person/ $500 per couple

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Package B - Saturday or Sunday ______ $150 per person/ $250 per couple

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VIP Packages

Enclosed is my tax-deductible donation to the Bass School of Music (Join our donor reception at opening night intermissions)

Total Payment :

Personal check

$______

$______ MC/Visa/Discover

#_______________________________________ Exp._________ Signature:_____________________________________________ Name:________________________________________________ Address:______________________________________________ My e-mail:_____________________Phone:__________________

www.okcu.edu/tickets

April 24-27

South Pacific

March 7-9

The Tender land

February 21-23

Our Town

November 15-17

Street Scene

October 25-27

Violet

September 27-29

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2501 N. Blackwelder Oklahoma City, OK 73106-1493

Wanda L. Bass School of Music

Okla. City, OK Permit No. 2017

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