WITH BERNSTEIN'S "MASS"
Nov. 12 to 15 public performances to feature rock, jazz, Broadway, blues, opera and hymns
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Leonard Bernstein's seldom-performed "MASS" will be
presented at Northwestern University's Cahn Auditorium for five public
performances. Subtitled "A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and
Dancers," the production of the controversial work fusing sacred and
secular music will feature 200 performers.
"MASS" will be staged at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, and Friday, Nov. 13;
2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. Cahn
Auditorium is located at 600 Emerson St., on the University's Evanston
campus.
In consultation with Bernstein's lyricist daughter, Jamie Bernstein,
the production will feature new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, composer
and lyricist of "Godspell" (1971), "Pippin" (1972) and "Wicked" (2003).
Schwartz will visit the campus in mid-November to see the production
and spend the day with Northwestern students.
"MASS" will be directed by Joseph Jefferson ("Jeff") Award-winning
director Dominic Missimi, director of Northwestern's Music Theatre
Certificate Program and executive director of the American Music
Theatre Project. Music direction will be provided by Northwestern music
performance faculty member Ryan T. Nelson, with choreography by
Northwestern Dance Program faculty member Jeffrey Hancock.
Presented by the Theatre and Interpretation Center and Henry and Leigh
Bienen School of Music, the cast will include members of the
Northwestern Music Theatre Certificate Program and students from the
Bienen School of Music, the Red Rose Children's Choir of Lake County
and boy soprano Henry Griffin, a member of the Oak Park and River
Forest Children's Chorus.
"MASS" was originally commissioned in 1971 by Jacqueline Kennedy for
the opening of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in
Washington, D.C. Based on the Tridentine Mass of the Roman Catholic
Church, "MASS" examines one celebrant's crisis of faith.
Missimi is directing "MASS" for the third time in his professional
career. He first directed the work in Detroit in 1975 before leaving
the University of Detroit and Marygrove College to teach at
Northwestern. In 1991, he directed it again to celebrate the
inauguration of Northwestern's certificate program in music theatre. He
felt there could be no more fitting work to celebrate the new
collaboration than "MASS."
Now, nearing his retirement from Northwestern, Missimi has come full
circle to direct the work he calls "near and dear to my heart."
Northwestern senior Andrew Howard, a School of Communication theatre
major, will sing the role of the celebrant for four performances, and
senior Seth Dhonau, a vocal performance major at the Bienen School of
Music, will sing the role for the Saturday matinee.
"MASS" also will feature the work of students in Northwestern's M.F.A.
(Master of Fine Arts) Design Program, with set design by Scott Davis
and Sarah Watkins, costume design by Mekey Guberinic and lighting
design by Mike Stanfill. Northwestern theatre faculty member Josh
Horvath will provide sound design.
Single ticket prices for "MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players,
and Dancers" are $25 for the general public; $22 for seniors 65 and
older, Northwestern faculty and staff and area educators and
administrators; and $10 or full-time students. Single tickets may be
purchased through the TIC Box Office at (847) 491-7282 or online at www.tic.northwestern.edu.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tags: latest press releases
Chris Jones' blog
