ON THE CPA STAGE

Theatre Arts Performance Season Combines
Humor and Love With Dance and the Experimental

Whether your tastes come down on the side of the big Broadway blockbuster, or the intimacy of Reader's Theatre; established New York based dance style, or up and coming choreographers; or from Shakespeare to Boccaccio, the 2007-08 performing arts season has a little something for everyone.

When the curtain goes up on Oct. 12 with the first show, "A Flea In Her Ear," until the final curtain in May of West Side Story, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy a season full of emotional diversity.

"A Flea In Her Ear" is a comic farce that revolves around a husband's lack of intimacy with his beautiful wife, and how she suspects an affair, although his problem is a nervous condition.  In her attempt to prove this infidelity, she unexpectedly and unwittingly begins to involve more and more people until the whole event explodes at a chic downtown Paris hotel.  This classic has it all. An "anonymous" love letter, the lusting bachelor friend, a jealous Spaniard, a nephew with a speech impediment-although corrected, an affair with the cook and mistaken identity. Guest director Hector Correa is in charge of bringing all this madness to some sense on the Evert B. Person Stage when the play opens on Oct. 12.

In November, director Judy Navas develops a piece based on the classic Italian text, The Decameron, by the great storyteller, Giovanni Baccaccio. The piece, set in Florence against the Great Plague in 1348 A.D. follows a group of young adults who flee the city and take refuge on the hillsides of Tuscany. They ban all sorrow, and devote their time to the pursuit of telling stories that celebrate humanity. Ten individuals recount ten tales a day for ten days. From this, a humorous portrait emerges that is revealing in its keen social satire.

The much anticipated Fall Dance Concert returns with performances in the Dance Studio in the Physical Education Building.  Each year talented student choreographers create a  wonderful show based on their dance experiences while exploring the creative boundaries of their imagination. Dance Professor Nancy Lyons provides directing guidance to these talented individuals. The show opens Nov. 28.

In December, the Theatre Arts Department brings back Reader's Theatre. Tori Truss will direct the program this year with the four night event exploring the art of short fiction, essays and poetry readings.

The New Year begins with guest dancer, choreographer and performance artist Claire Porter in residency working with dance students to mold and shape a combined piece for a February 13 opening. Porter is a Sonoma State alum. She has had a wonderful career, having her work produced throughout the country. Her one woman show "Portables" has been a smashing success wherever and whenever she has performed it. At Sonoma State she will create a piece for the student dancers....she refers to this as "Rapid Repertory," and she will also perform her own solo work.  Audiences can expect a wonderful evening of high quality dance.

When April rolls around The Center For The Performing Arts will take on a huge undertaking.  Over a three week period,  William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the Broadway classic West Side Story will run in repertory.

Director Paul Draper will expertly craft the Shakespeare classic about two young lovers separated by feuding families.

Running in rep with Romeo and Juliet is its modern-day adaptation in West Side Story. Leonard Bernstein's groundbreaking musical transfers all the tragic pathos of its Elizabethan predecessor to New York City's racially tense 1950s. Dance choreography in this production will be handled by Kristen Daley, Lynne Morrow is the Music Director, Timothy Near, Artistic Director of the San Jose Repertory Theatre is stage director.

SEASON SCHEDULE:

FALL
A Flea In Her Ear Oct 12-21  (8 shows), Evert B. Person Theatre
Decameron Nov. 9-17 (7 shows), Evert B. Person Theatre
Fall Dance Nov 28-Dec. 2 (5 shows), Dance Studio, P.E. One
Readers Theatre Dec. 5-8 (4 shows), Warren Auditorium

SPRING
Dance Residency Feb. 13-17 (5 shows), Dance Studio, P.E. One
Romeo & Juliet April 10-May 10 (11 shows/staggered schedule), Person Theatre
West Side Story April 17 - May 11 (12 shows/staggered schedule), Person Theatre    

Center For Performing Arts Box Office- 4-2353
www.sonoma.edu/performingarts/perf/boxoffice.shtml
Tickets for the Fall Programs go on sale Sept. 3.
Tickets for the Spring Programs go on sale Feb. 4.