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Performance Highlights 2005-06

Music

As the last 2006 Spring Concert in the Friday Music Series, the Music Program was honored to present a unique performance of a new modern opera. Presented as an open workshop to hear selected excerpts, the event was hosted by Professor Anthony DelDonna and included a discussion with director Michael Robinson.

In April 2006 the Georgetown University Concert Choir, led by director Dr. Gerard Yun, flew to Qatar to perform at the inaugeration of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. This ceremony was attended by many dignitaries including HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad, Dean Dr. James Reardon-Anderson and Georgetown University President Dr. John J. DeGioia. Click here to read the article in the Gulf Times.

Theater

The 2005-06 academic year also saw the opening of the new state of the art Royden B. Davis S.J. Performing Arts Center. For its first season, the Davis presented "Our Country's Good" by Timerblake Wertenbaker, "The Winter's Tale" by William Shakespeare, "Dr. Korczak and the Children" by Erwin Sylvanus and collaboratively produced with the Jewish Chaplaincy, the Program for Jewish Civilization, and Nomadic Theatre; and lastly "Schoolgirl Figure" by DC native Wendy MacLeod and directed by Jen Rogers ('06) as part of her inter-disciplinary thesis.

For the 2005-06 Academic Year, the Theater Program was proud to host TIMBERLAKE WERTENBAKER as the Davis Visiting Professor. Throughout the year, the program hosted a number of events with Wertenbaker for the campus including presented "Our Country's Good" as the opening production for the Davis Season, a stage reading of her play "Galileo's Daughter", a developmental workshop and opening reading of her new work "Jenufa" directed by Irina Brown of the National Theatre in Londong, and the Davis Lecture "The Importance of Being Uncomfortable."

MICHAEL PHILIPPI, a premiere lighting and set designer was Resident Artist in the Theater Program and its opening season in the Davis Center this year. In addition to teaching a design class at GU and designing sets and lights for Our Country's Good and The Winter's Tale, Michael has worked with severl Tony Award-winning directors this past year. He was lighting designer for Jon Jory's adaptation of Jane Austen's Price and Prejudice,which enjoyed a national tour this spring; he also designed a new adaptation of Hecuba at the Goodman Theatre, as well as designed productions for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival and Center Stage.

In the Spring Semester, the Theater Program was proud to offer the Hope Seminar Playwriting Workshop. An intermediate/advanced playwriting workshop which culminated in publicly staged readings/workshops of the plays developed in class with Professor Natsu Onoda. Guest Artist JOSEPH MEGEL conducted three intensives throughout the semester where all plays in progress will be discussed and on-on-one sessions with each writer will be scheduled. This course was modeled after a variety of successful professional new play development processes, including Professor Megel’s which was developed during his six year tenure at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey. Though students may work on more than one piece throughout the semester, each will be required to have comp0leted and reworked one full-length or one-act script by the end of the semester. Professor Megel also served as director of the students' work during the staged reading/workshop process. Joseph is also serving as co-director on The Skin of Our Teeth and Dream Boy for the first annual "Gritti Politti Summer Performance Festival" at the Davis Center in June and July of 2006.

For more photos of the thriving theater scene at Georgetown, please visit the websites of each of the theater groups - Nomadic Theatre, Black Theatre Ensemble, Mask and Bauble and Georgetown Players. Also be sure to visit the Georgetown Theatre Alumni's growing collection of images from performances dating back to the 1930s.

Dance

In April 2006 the Georgetown University Dance Company became the first dance group to perform in the new Gonda Theatre. The Spring Concert featured works ranging from contemporary ballet to modern jazz and hip hop, as well as works by professional choreographers Elisa Clark from Battleworks and Troy Powell from Alvin Ailey.

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