ALL THE VALLEY'S A STAGE
The ASU 2006-2007 performance schedule enriches audiences in Phoenix and Scottsdale as well as Tempe
By Oriana Parker

ASU Gammage:
Bringing audiences the very best

With their Broadway Across America and Beyond Broadway programs, ASU Gammage provides audiences with a broad range of entertainment and cultural events. Fans of spectacular musicals, as well as those who favor intimate dramas, need not pack their bags and travel all the way to New York City. Why should they? Broadway has been coming to the corner of Mill Avenue and Apache Boulevard for more than 40 years.

For the 2006-2007 season, nearly every show is coming directly from its Broadway run. Valley audiences can anticipate applauding “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “Doubt,” “The 25th Anniversary Putnam County Spelling Bee,” Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life,” “Light in the Piazza” and “All Shook Up” soon after the lights dim on the Great White Way marquees. The Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning show “Doubt” will feature its original Broadway star, Cherry Jones.

A lot of hard work, insight and determination is needed to produce a performing arts program this dazzling. Some might compare the efforts of Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, executive director of ASU Public Events, to the labors of Hercules.

“I make it a point to see every production before it appears on our stage,” stresses Jennings-Roggensack, who’s been in charge of programming for 14 years. Her research method entails extensive travel, lengthy discussions with colleagues who act as independent critics and reading four newspapers, the New York Times and the London Times among them, on a daily basis.

“Of course, that’s just the aesthetic aspect,” she notes. “Needless to say, fund-raising is a very important consideration.” Jennings-Roggensack has developed pairing individual donors and corporations with just the right production into an art form. That art is also exercised when picking shows to please the ticket-buying masses.

“To make sure we’re bringing audiences exactly what they want, we do a great deal of research including focus groups,” she said.

So next time you’re applauding a Gammage performance, remember what made the experience possible; think of Jennings-Roggensack, ticket clenched between her teeth, racing to catch that plane to Seattle, Chicago, New York, or London.

Herberger College Mainstage:
Dramatizing cultural diversity

Cultural diversity has become an integral part of our global society and Arizona sharing a border with Mexico underscores its importance. The 2006-2007 Mainstage Season of the Herberger College of Fine Arts celebrates this theme creatively in myriad ways.

Ranked among the nation’s top 10, the Herberger Department of Dance examines the African influence on Western Dance via Cuban, Mexican, North American and Brazilian selections in the show “Rhythms of Life.” A highlight of the International Conference of the Congress on Research in Dance, “Rhythms” features a work choreographed by faculty member Joel Valentin-Martinez for departmental students. Courses taught by this professional dancer, an integral part of the Performance in the Borderlands project, emphasize the study of Mexican social and folkloric forms.

Folklore also dramatizes cultural diversity in presentations offered by the theater department. “Throughout our season, you will find theatrical works that are adaptations of engaging, thought-provoking, entertaining folktales and literary classics,” said director Linda Essig.

Based on the novel by Salman Rushdie, “Haroun and the Sea of Stories” explores traditional Kashmiri folktales. Written while the author was in hiding, this production focuses on the importance of free speech and artistic freedom, as well as the love between parent and child.

Caridad Svich, one of the nation’s most prominent Latina voices, unveils a global reincarnation of a literary classic. Titled “Iphigenia Crash Lands and Falls on the Neon Shell that Once Was Her Heart: A Rave Fable”, this dazzling production steers the Euripides-inspired heroine into the arms of Achilles, a sensuously androgynous rock star, where Iphigenia discovers that escaping from myths – be they ancient or modern – is impossible.

The historical perspective of cultural diversity is also explored by the Organ Department’s “Golden Age in Europe” concert, which features French chansons of the Renaissance and Spanish tientos of the Baroque period. The Jazz Department celebrates that uniquely American music, which originated in African-American communities, with concerts devoted to icons such as Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus.

“Cultural diversity has always been an inherent feature of opera, operetta and musicals,” points out William Reber, Lyric Opera Theatre program director. “Candide,” one of the new season’s offerings, is an excellent example of both creative and historic cultural diversity. Written by France’s Voltaire in the 18th century, the score was composed by 20th century American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

ASU Kerr Cultural Center:
Reaching out to local talent

Part of ASU since 1981, the charming adobe theatre tucked away off Scottsdale Road showcases a mind-boggling variety of performances ranging from jazz to opera, lectures to theater. Programming staff in charge of Kerr import international groups, such as the Russian musicians who will be showcased during the “Moscow Nights” performance this November, while distinguished actors such as Estelle Parsons often grace the stage in plays and other dramatic vehicles.

And homegrown talent is a regular part of the lineup, as well. “Some of our events feature ASU professors and graduate students,” said A. Nannette Taylor, center director. “For instance, there’s the ‘Last Lecture’ series now in its 11th year. Nominated by students, ASU professors deliver the ‘last word’ on their respective fields of expertise.”

Taylor stressed that the venue also reaches out to local talent in other ways; for instance, Valley jazz pianist and composer Charles Lewis will return to Kerr with another compelling adaptation of Langston Hughes’s writings. “We are incredibly lucky to have such talented musicians living here in the Valley,” she said.

Local talent also plays an important role in the ever-popular Tuesday morning Coffee at Kerr series. Taylor said the daytime programs run for just over an hour; afterwards, performers remain to interact with the audience and are “exceptionally accessible” to them. The free event is very popular with schools and retirement communities, she reports.

West campus:
Providing an invaluable cultural resource

The Interdisciplinary Arts & Performance Department, a part of the New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at ASU’s West campus, continues to reach out to diverse audiences from its Thunderbird Road locale on the Phoenix-Glendale border with an innovative performing arts series.

A distinguished roster of staff members, visiting and resident artists contribute greatly to the success of the department’s presentations. For instance, the program’s technical director, Charles St. Clair, co-creator of the
August Wilson anthology drama “August in April,” has filmed celebrated artists such as Charles Dutton and Felicia Rashad, who worked with the distinguished playwright on Broadway. Visiting Irish director Emelie FitzGibbon will direct “Pencil,” a play examining the impact of drugs on youth.

“Productions are often workshopped here before being presented to wider audiences locally, regionally, nationally and internationally,” Robert Taylor, department chair, said. “‘Pencil,’ which was recently produced at London’s National Theatre, is seeking an international audience with this U.S. premiere. ‘August in April’ is also anticipating an international future ... In this way, the department’s visibility as a leading resource in the 21st century art world is enhanced.”

On the next page, take a moment to look at some of the highlights of the ASU 2006-2007 performing arts schedule, and you’ll discover just how richly rewarding Arizona-based culture is.

— Oriana Parker is a Scottsdale-based freelance writer.