Muhlenberg Theatre & Dance Announces Its 2023-24 Performance Season
Selections include four dance concerts; musical theater featuring the music of the Go-Go's; plays by Caridad Svich and Marcus Gardley; and student-written works
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 01:30 PM
The Muhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance announces its 2023-24 production season, which will include four dance concerts, four fully produced theater productions, and additional staged readings and special events.
“I'm excited about the lineup we have," says Oyinkansola Adebajo '24, a theater student who served as a member of the selection committee. "The student-written plays will provide good opportunities for our playwrights, and the musical provides a great opportunity for our performers.”
The season is as follows:
- The Labyrinth of Desire, by Caridad Svich, directed by Leticia Robles-Moreno and Troy Dwyer, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1
- …And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi, by Marcus Gardley, directed by Christopher Burris, Oct. 26-29
- A faculty-directed cabaret performance, Nov. 3-5
- Reset: New Dances, an evening of student-choreographed dance works, Nov. 16-18
- Fall Studio Concert, the week of Dec. 4
- In Motion, a guest artist- and faculty-choregoraphed dance concert, Feb. 8-10, 2024
- ’Berg New Works: Student Written Plays, an evening of world premiere plays by student playwrights
- Head Over Heels, a musical comedy featuring the music of the Go-Go's, April 18-21, 2024
- Spring Studio Concert, the week of April 29, 2024
Faculty directed staged readings and additional projects will be announced later..
Opening the season is The Labyrinth of Desire, Caridad Svich's contemporary queer adaptation of Lope de Vega's Spanish Golden Age comedy La Prueba de los Ingenios, high-stakes telenovela glamor meets Shakespeare-esque romantic calamity. An honest-to-goodness gender nonbinary romantic lead goes undercover, and gets way more than they bargained for. A ravishing heroine and a suave hero both learn that love and sex aren't as clear-cut as they thought. The show runs Sept. 28 – Oct. 1 in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre.
Marcus Gardley's …And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi offers a poetic retelling of the myth of Demeter and Persephone set during the Civil War and narrated by the Mississippi River. Having run away from a plantation, a father searching for his daughter is murdered and resurrected in the fertile, war-torn landscape of Louisiana. This lyrical play combines traditional storytelling, gospel music, and a wicked sense of humor to create a rich, imaginative world that allows trees to preach, rivers to waltz, and Jesus to moonwalk. The show runs Oct. 26-29 in the Studio Theatre. Guest Artist Christopher Burris will direct.
Theater professor James Stabp and music faculty member Vincent Trovato will collaborate to direct a cabaret performance, Nov. 3-5, featuring student performances from the musical theater canon.
Reset: New Dances offers student choreographers the opportunity to stage world-premiere dance works on the stage of the Baker Theatre, under the artistic direction of dance professor Robyn Watson. The concert runs Nov. 16-18. More student choreography will conclude both semesters with the season's two Studio Dance Concerts — one in December and one in April — both performed in the intimate Studio Theatre.
In Motion, the Dance Program's annual guest artist- and faculty-choreographed concert, begins the spring semester, Feb. 8-10. Dance professor Natalie Gotter will serve as artistic director. The concert will feature world premiere dance in styles ranging from tap to pointe to jazz. The concert will be performed in the Paul C. Empie Theatre.
’Berg New Works will feature fully produced world-premiere plays written by student playwrights, under the mentorship of playwriting professor Gabriel Dean. This evening of short plays will be presented Feb. 29 – March 3 in the Studio Theatre, with artistic direction by Heidi Cruz-Austin.
The musical comedy Head Over Heels showcases the music of 1980s phenoms The Go-Go's. Conceived by Jeff Whitty, with an original book by Whitty, adapted by James Magruder, Head Over Heels premiered in 2015 and opened on Broadway in 2018. A modern musical fairy tale where once-upon-a-time is right now, it follows the escapades of a royal family as they embark on a journey to recover their famous "Beat," and save their beloved kingdom from extinction.
The season was selected by a group of faculty and students, based on shows proposed by more than two dozen members of the theater and dance community.
Tickets for all of the season's shows will be available in August at muhlenberg.edu/seeashow or 484-664-3333. Patrons interested in receiving information can sign up for the mailing list at muhlenberg.edu/seeashow.
About the Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department
Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg’s theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.
About Muhlenberg College
Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is a highly selective, private liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and graduate programs. With an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; selected preprofessional programs, including accounting, business, education and public health; and progressive workforce-focused post-baccalaureate certificates and master’s degrees. Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 miles west of New York City, Muhlenberg is a member of the Centennial Conference, competing in 23 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
