Purdue Fort Wayne Offers Early Bird Special Theatre Season Subscriptions

The Purdue University Fort Wayne Department of Theatre is offering a $55 Early Bird Season Subscription Special for tickets to four (4) Mainstage productions and two (2) Studio Showcase productions in the 2019-20 subscription season.

Audiences enjoy top-quality theatre featuring mainly student actors, focused on contemporary and classic scripts, enhanced by creative and imaginative sets, costumes, and lighting. Take advantage of this great opportunity and save $23 off the single ticket price through July 31, 2019. www.pfw.edu/tickets

Department of Theatre 2019-2020 Season

Flora the Red Menace

Music by John Kander

Lyrics by Fred Ebb

Book by George Abbott and Robert Russell

Directed by Craig A. Humphrey

Musical Direction by Holly Knott

Williams Theatre - Mainstage

Sept. 27, 28 Oct. 3, 4, 5 2019 8:00 p.m.

Sept. 29 2:00 p.m.

At the height of the Great Depression, Flora Meszaros, a spunky fashion designer is looking for work. Eventually employed at Garrett and Melnick's department store, she falls in love with the handsome but shy Harry Toukarian, a young artist and member of the communist party. She discovers her biggest rival for his affection is the party itself, so she joins the party to be closer to him. In this musical romance of charming simplicity, Flora soon finds herself torn between her career and her commitment to Harry and his farsighted idealism. The composing team of Kander and Ebb also wrote Cabaret and Chicago.

Ghetto

By Joshua Sobol

Directed by Bev Redman

In partnership with the Violins of Hope Fort Wayne

Musical Direction by Holly Knott
Williams Theatre - Mainstage

Nov. 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 2019 8:00 p.m.

Nov. 17 2:00 p.m.

Ghetto is based on the true story of a theatre company that functioned in the Jewish ghetto of Vilnius, Lithuania, amidst the darkest days of the Holocaust, where cabaret-style performance, music, and dance become a metaphor of the indestructibility of the human spirit. Founded as a tactic of survival by the ghetto's Jewish council, the theatre's vital and dynamic performances of scenes, songs, and dances become a center of solidarity for the oppressed community facing imminent annihilation. The performances in the theatre are a vigorous and moving reminder that there is a heroic life of the spirit, and of art, neither of which can be crushed.

The 24-Hour Plays

Produced by Mark Ridgeway and James Stover
Studio Theatre in Kettler Hall - Studio Showcase Admission $5

Dec. 7, 2019 8:00 p.m.

The 24-Hour Plays is a wild night of original work featuring short plays written, rehearsed, and performed by students over the course of 24 hours. On Friday night, each playwright will be assigned a director and a group of actors (underclassmen) who will each bring a prop and costume piece. Writing all night, keeping the actors, props, and costumes in mind, the playwright will meet with their director at 7 a.m. to discuss the newly written play. One hour later the actors begin rehearsals and have all day Saturday to fully memorize, stage, and perform their play for an audience.

Grease

Music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey

Directed by James Stover

Musical Direction by Holly Knott

Williams Theatre - Mainstage

Feb. 28, 29 Mar. 5, 6, 7, 2020 8:00 p.m.

Mar. 1 2:00 p.m.

Grease tells the story of high school sweethearts finding their identity alongside their groups of friends, while simultaneously celebrating their final year at Rydell High School. Set in 1959, they begin to explore and question who they will become once they leave those hallowed halls. Featuring familiar songs including "Summer Nights," "We Go Together," and "Born to Hand-Jive," the musical is a nostalgic look at the beginnings of Rock & Roll, along with a reflection on the end of an era of innocence. An upbeat, crowd pleaser: GREASE IS THE WORD!

The Penelopiad

By Margaret Atwood (based on her novella The Penelopiad)

Reading directed by Bev Redman
Studio Theatre in Kettler Hall - Studio Showcase Admission $5

Mar. 20, 21, 2020 8:00 p.m.

With modern twists, Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad retells The Odyssey from the points of view of Odysseus's wife, Penelope, and her handmaidens. Residing in Hades for eternity, the thirteen female spirits reminisce on their lives in Ithaca before and after the Trojan War's end. In this reader's theatre performance, the Greek chorus of handmaidens continually interrupts Penelope's narrative to express their views on events. Using a different genre for each chorus, the maids' interludes make for a lively aural and visual experience that include a jump-rope rhyme, a lament, an idyll, a ballad, a lecture, a court trial and several types of songs.

Dracula: An Act of Destruction

A devised piece based on Bram Stoker's novel

Conceived and Directed by Jeff Casazza

Williams Theatre - Mainstage

Apr. 24, 25, 30, May 1, 2, 2020 8:00 p.m.

Apr. 26 2:00 p.m.

Following the 2017 devised exploration of the iconic Frankenstein, Jeff Casazza now focuses on another icon: Dracula. Irish author Bram Stoker introduced the world to one of literature's most famous characters in his 1897 Gothic horror novel. Count Dracula's essence and the seductive power of destruction that follows him continues to fascinate millions around the world. This unique, devised theatrical performance will delve into the nature of fear and various facets of destruction through spoken word, music, dance, lights, sound, and special effects. The production will feature many of the well-known "inhabitants" of Dracula, other iconic vampires, and various characters from world mythology.

University Box Office

Purchase Season Subscriptions and Tickets Online

www.pfw.edu/tickets