Tickets on Sale for SU Drama's 2015-16 Season, Kicking Off with KISS ME, KATE

SU Drama's 2015/16 season features six productions, including three musicals, starting in October with the Cole Porter classic Kiss Me, Kate. Second in the season is Agamemnon, the haunting Greek classic, followed by a co-production with Syracuse Stage, Peter Pan. After winter break, the season continues with Punk Rock and the country-flavored musical The Spitfire Grill. Closing the season in May is the comedy A Flea in Her Ear.

Housed in Syracuse University's College of Visual and Performing Arts (SU:VPA), the Department of Drama (SU Drama) is a premier undergraduate theater training program, recently ranked #13 in the world by the Hollywood Reporter. Alumni from the Department include familiar names like Aaron Sorkin '83, Vanessa Williams '85, Taye Diggs '93, Vera Farmiga '95, and recent Tony Award-winner Jessie Mueller '05.

SU Drama has achieved its status as a leading undergraduate training program by striving for professional level artistry in its productions and aided largely by its unique relationship with Syracuse Stage. Regular interactions between students and working professionals include hands-on learning, work opportunities, and mentorships.

Department of Drama productions are held in the Syracuse Stage/Drama Theater Complex, 820 East Genesee Street in Syracuse. Kiss Me, Kate and Peter Pan will perform in the larger Archbold Theater. All other shows will perform in the Storch Theater.

Six-play season tickets for the 2015/16 season range from $89-$99 and are now available at the Box Office at 820 East Genesee Street from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by telephone at 315-443-3275. Season tickets for Friday preview performances will be available at the discounted price of $89 for six shows.

Single tickets for Kiss Me, Kate and Agamemnon are also now available and range $17-$19. Single tickets for the remainder of the season will go on sale September 21.

For more information on SU Drama's 2015/16 visit vpa.syr.edu/drama.

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UPCOMING SHOWS:

Kiss Me, Kate

October 2-10, 2015

Opening Night: October 3

Music and Lyrics by Cole Porter

Book by Sam and Bella Spewack

Directed by David Lowenstein

Musical direction by Brian Cimmet

Choreography by Andrea Leigh-Smith

The joys, madness, and the rewards of working in the theater, onstage and off, are celebrated in this heralded musical that can be rightly called a Broadway treasure. Taking its inspiration from Shakespeare, Kiss Me, Kate follows the antics of two feuding romantic couples during a touring production of The Taming of the Shrew. Sparkling with 18 classic Cole Porter songs - including "Another Op'nin', Another Show," "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Always True to You in My Fashion," "Too Darn Hot," and "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" - Kiss Me, Kate epitomizes the Broadway musical comedy at its irresistible best. A love song to the theater.

Agamemnon

November 6-15, 2015

Opening Night: November 7

By Aeschylus

Directed by Rodney Hudson

Fire in the night signals the return of Agamemnon from 10 long years of war in Troy. Triumphant and with a captive slave, the prophetess Cassandra, in tow, the warrior king arrives home and is welcomed by Clytemnestra, wife and mother who seethes with a vengeance born of the slaughter of their daughter Iphigenia. Revenge begets revenge; fate will be fulfilled. The first great play of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, Agamemnon delivers a visceral and haunting theatrical experience.

Peter Pan

November 28, 2015 - January 3, 2016

Opening Night: December 4

Co-Produced with Syracuse Stage

Lyrics by Carolyn Leigh

Music by Morris "Moose" Charlap

Additional Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Additional Music by Jule Styne

Based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie

Directed by Paul Barnes

Musical Direction by Brian Cimmet

Choreographed by Anthony Salatino

Journey to Neverland in the high-flying family musical Peter Pan. "All children grow up, except one." So begins the magical adventure that has been delighting youngsters (and oldsters) for more than 100 years. With such songs as "I'm Flying", "I Won't Grow Up", and "Never Never Land", Peter Pan delivers a musical and adventurous treat for the holiday season. Paul Barnes (Irving Berlin's White Christmas, The Miracle Worker) directs with choreography by Anthony Salatino.

Punk Rock

February 19-28, 2016

Opening Night: February 20

By Simon Stephens

Directed by Robert Moss

Propelled by an anxious momentum, Punk Rock is an honest and unnerving chronicle of contemporary adolescence at the breaking point. In a private school outside of Manchester, England, a group of highly articulate 17-year-olds flirt and posture their way through the day while preparing for their A-Level mock exams. With hormones raging and minimal adult supervision, nothing can forestall the underlying tension that becomes increasingly pronounced as the play moves from comic beginnings to a serious and troubling conclusion. Playwright Simon Stephens' (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) ear for teen conversations, shifting alliances, and fundamental fears is spot-on. Gripping, insightful, and excitingly theatrical.

The Spitfire Grill a Musical

April 1-10, 2016

Opening Night: April 2

Music and Book by James Valcq

Lyrics and Book by Fred Alley

Based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff

Directed by Ralph Zito

Musical direction by Brian Cimmet

Choreography by Andrea Leigh-Smith

A soul-satisfying, country-flavored work of theatrical imagination, The Spitfire Grill glows with an abundance of warmth, spirit, and goodwill. A feisty parolee named Percy follows her dreams to a small town in Wisconsin and finds a place for herself working at Hannah's Spitfire Grill. Aged and troubled, Hannah would like to sell the Grill, but there are no takers in the forgotten town of Gilead. A simple idea proposed by Percy brings new life to the Grill and renewed hope to the people of the town, including one long gone but not so far away. A graceful and compelling story buoyed by soaring and instantly infectious melodies.

A Flea in Her Ear

May 6-14, 2016

Opening Night: May 7

By George Feydeau

Directed by Stephen Cross

In French playwright Georges Feydeau's famous bedroom farce an insurance salesman wrongly accused of infidelity by his wife becomes entangled in a web of misunderstanding, intrigue, jealousy, and mistaken identity as ridiculous as it is complicated. Played at break-neck comic speed, this explosively funny delight rollicks with antic, pell-mell humor complete with slamming doors, revolving beds, and wildly amiss gun shots. Mon Dieu!

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The Department of Drama (SU Drama) offers conservatory-style training in a university setting shared with a resident, professional theater (Syracuse Stage), presenting an unparalleled combination of teaching professionals and diverse performance and production opportunities. SU Drama offers four conservatory-style bachelor of fine arts (B.F.A.) degree programs in acting, musical theater, stage management, and theater design and technology, as well as a bachelor of science (B.S.) degree program in drama that features a Theater Management track. Undergraduates put classroom theory into practice through productions and various special opportunities, including Wednesday Lab, study abroad, the NYC-based Tepper Semester, the Sorkin in L.A. Learning Practicum, numerous community engagement initiatives and the opportunity to participate in workshops or discussions with such visiting artists as Taye Diggs '93, Aaron Sorkin '83, Vanessa Williams '85, Frank Langella '59, David Henry Hwang, Tim Miller, Tony Kushner and more.

The Department of Drama is housed within the College of Visual and Performing Arts (SU:VPA). SU:VPA is committed to the education of cultural leaders who will engage and inspire audiences through performance, visual art, design, scholarship and commentary. It provides the tools for self-discovery and risk-taking in an environment that thrives on critical thought and action.

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