Roosevelt Theatre Presents VIVID 2012, 4/10

The Chicago premiere of Will Reynolds' The Greenwood Tree and a unique program of stylistically diverse jazz and contemporary music groups will be featured as Roosevelt's Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) presents Vivid 2012 at 7:30 p.m. April 10 at the Auditorium Theatre.

Roosevelt's The Greenwood Tree features selections from a new musical by Chicago-area native Will Reynolds. Based on the poetry of William Shakespeare, the production opens this year's Vivid, which is free and open to the public and is CCPA's premier student showcase of the year.

Featuring performances by students from CCPA's musical theatre program, The Greenwood Tree weaves a story based on Shakespeare's sonnets and stars the beloved Puck from A Midsummer's Night Dream. The show is directed by Ray Frewen, assistant professor of theatre and assistant director of the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt, and a well-known Chicago actor and former producer at Apple Tree Theatre in Highland Park and former artistic director at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace.

The second half of Vivid will present performances by several ensembles of CCPA's jazz and contemporary music studies program, which is headed by Paul Wertico, a seven-time Grammy Award winner, former member of the Pat Metheny Group and a member of the Larry Coryell Trio and Paul Wertico's Mid-East/Mid-West Alliance.

Musical selections in this set will be performed by student instrumentalists and vocalists from CCPA's New Deal Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Hard Bop Combo, ECM Combo, Brazilian Combo and Latin Jazz Ensemble. The repertoire will range from popular songs such as Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" and Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" to jazz standards like McCoy Tyner's "Blues on the Corner" and Carla Bley's "Ida Lupino" to Brazilian and Afro-Cuban classics. It will be a virtual musical trip around the world, but seen through the eyes of jazz, an American-born art form and a universal symbol of artistic freedom.

"This is an opportunity for all to see and hear the promising young talent at Chicago College of Performing Arts," said Henry Fogel, dean of CCPA who will be the evening's master of ceremonies.

Complimentary tickets for Vivid 2012 can be reserved by visiting www.roosevelt.edu/ccpa or can be obtained at the Auditorium Theatre Box Office, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago. For more information about this event, contact CCPA's Performance Activities Office at 312-341-2238 or email cbernstein@roosevelt.edu.