2012-13 Performing Arts Schedule Announced

10/06/2012 

Renovation work might have temporarily changed the locations for SUNY Cortland Performing Arts Department productions this year, but audience members can rest assured the high-quality talent they’re used to experiencing will stay the same.

Musicals, concerts, recitals and plays will be presented by the Performing Arts Department at a variety of venues, both on and off campus, during the 2012-13 academic year while the Dowd Fine Arts Center undergoes extensive renovations.

The new performance season will begin the last weekend in October, with the Tony-award winning rock musical “Spring Awakening.” The musical will play six performances in Old Main Brown Auditorium, starting Friday, Oct. 26.

The show is a modern take on a German play that was written in the late 1800s and criticized the sexually oppressive culture of the late 19th century. The musical uses folk and alternative rock to tell the story of teenagers discovering their sexuality. Performances, which are recommended for mature audiences only, will be at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 26, 27, Nov. 2 and 3, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28 and Nov. 4.

Tickets for “Spring Awakening” and all other SUNY Cortland musicals will be on sale at Jodi’s Hallmark Shop one month before opening night and at the door on the night of each performance. Admission for “Spring Awakening” is $18 for the general public, $15 for senior citizens and SUNY staff; and $8 for all students.

All other music events, such as recitals or concerts, are free. For more information, visit the department website: www.cortland.edu/departments/performing-arts.

Other performances include:

• Ubaldo Valli will direct a concert of classical orchestral music performed by the College-Community Orchestra at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The concert will be held at the Cortland Junior Senior High School Auditorium, 8 Valley View Dr., in Cortland.
• The College Singers will perform the music of Leonard Bernstein at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, in the College’s Interfaith Center at 7 Calvert St.  Conductor Stephen B. Wilson coordinates this concert, which will include selections from “West Side Story,” “Candide,” “Mass” and “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.”
• Wilson also conducts the Choral Union concert at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4, in the Interfaith Center. Music from or about Great Britain will include works by Orlando Gibbons, Arthur Sullivan, Edward Elgar, Percy Grainger and Gerald Finzi.  
• The biannual staging of the full classic ballet, “The Nutcracker,” will be produced in cooperation with the Cortland Performing Arts Institute from Friday, Dec. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 9. Directed and choreographed by Kevin and Cynthia Halpin, the production brings a cast of more than 100 performers to the stage. Location and times for this holiday favorite will be announced.

Spring semester events planned by the Performing Arts Department will be announced in greater detail in January. They include:

• Underclassmen Recital, a performance by sophomores and juniors, on Sunday, Feb. 17

• The Spring musical “Once Upon A Mattress,” from Friday, April 5, to Sunday April 14

• College-Community Orchestra concert on Tuesday, April 16

• College Singers concert on Sunday, April 21

• Student-Directed One-Act Plays from Thursday, May 2, to Sunday, May 5.

For more information about these events, visit the Performing Arts Department website at http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/performing-arts/ or call (607) 753-2811.