UC Alumna Sarah Mizelle Joins CCM’s Office of Development and External Relations

University of Cincinnati alumna Sarah Mizelle has been named CCM’s new Director of Development and External Relations. A graduate of UC’s Carl H. Lindner College of Business (MBA, 2011) and College-Conservatory of Music (MA Arts Administration, 2013), Mizelle begins her new position on Monday, May 22.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sarah back to the UC Foundation and CCM,” says Karen Tully, CCM’s Senior Director of Development and External Relations. “I had the pleasure of getting to know Sarah while she served as a graduate assistant in CCM’s Development and External Relations Office from 2009 to 2011. She quickly became a valuable member of our team, coordinating many of the outreach and special events sponsored by CCMpower, our volunteer fundraising organization. We are delighted to have her rejoin the CCM family.”

Mizelle returns to CCM with a decade’s worth of leadership experience in building strong school communities through student, alumni and donor engagement. She most recently served as Executive Director of the Madeira Schools Foundation, where she successfully oversaw a $600,000 capital campaign to build a new fitness center at Madeira High School. During her tenure, the Madeira Schools Foundation’s annual auction also achieved the highest gross profit since its inception in 1985.

Prior to her position at the Madeira Schools Foundation, Mizelle was Executive Director of the Friends of the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), an organization dedicated to securing resources that enhance SCPA’s creative environment and enable the development of each student’s artistic potential.

Mizelle worked in CCM’s Development Office during her time as a student in CCM’s Arts Administration graduate program. She also served as manger of social media marketing and public relations for a CCM summer festival in Spoleto, Italy, in 2011.

Mizelle received her BM in Music Education from Miami University, Oxford, in 2004. She has continued her involvement in music and the performing arts throughout her career, volunteering for such organizations as People Working Cooperatively (PWC) Ohio and Cincinnati Music Theatre. At Cincinnati Music Theatre, Mizelle served as vocal director for productions of The Music Man and Sunset Boulevard and artistic director for Crazy For You, each of which won an Orchid Award for Excellence from the Cincinnati Association of Community Theatres.

“The arts have been an enormous part of my life and have shaped who I am today,” says Mizelle. “I am beyond thrilled to return to CCM, an institution where the arts thrive everyday. I am proud to have the opportunity to further the mission of such a truly special place.”

Please join us in welcoming Sarah Mizelle back to the CCM family!

CCM’s ‘The Crucible’ Earns Four Star Rating by the League of Cincinnati Theatres

CCM’s proudly presents Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible,’ running through Sunday, Oct. 6. Photography by Mark Lyons.

We are delighted to report that panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with a four star rating!

Written in 1953  as a parable for McCarthyism by American playwright Arthur Miller, The Crucible tells a story of hysteria and witchcraft in colonial Salem.

Panelists praised The Crucible as “a skillful, intense, heartfelt, and nearly perfect production of The Crucible. I truly watched in wonder as the story unfolded.”

“The ensemble acting was terrific…this cast was admirable in its portrayal of a wide range of ages, young to middle-age to elderly.”

As one panelist noted: “I would recommend the production because it is a classic play that still resonates today.”

League of Cincinnati Theatre panelists evaluate productions on a five star scale and recommend shows at either a four star or five star level. Nominations for LCT awards will be determined and announced at the end of the season and winners awarded at the annual LCT gala in the spring. Learn more about The Crucible‘s four star rating here.

CCM’s 2013-14 Mainstage Series resumes at the end of this month with a joyous, graceful stage adaptation of the classic film musical Singin’ in the Rain! Learn more about that production and the rest of our current season here.

CCM Slideshows: The Crucible

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CCM’s highly anticipated 2013-14 Mainstage Series opens this week with a bold new production of the American classic The Crucible, running tonight through Sunday, Oct. 6, in Patricia Corbett Theater.

You can enjoy a preview of the Tony Award-winning play, courtesy of photographer Mark Lyons. Tickets and subscription packages are on sale now.

CCM’s 2013-14 Mainstage Series Opens Next Week With ‘The Crucible’

Joe Markesbery is “John Proctor” and Laura McCarthy is “Abigail Williams” in CCM’s ‘The Crucible.’ Photography by Mark Lyons.

CCM opens its 2013-14 Mainstage Series with an intensely physical retelling of the American classic The Crucible. This epic drama of morality and justice runs Oct. 3 through 6 in CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater, with a preview performance at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Under the direction of Richard Hess, Professor and Chair of CCM’s Department of Drama, this production of The Crucible “is a post-modern expression” of the world we live in, says Hess. “There’s no fanciness; it doesn’t need to be tampered with. The Crucible was powerful when it was presented in a time and place where it resonated beyond the Salem witch trials.”

Audience members will be surprised by the amount of physicality on stage. “This Crucible will not be stuffy people standing and talking and arguing. They’re going to be running, tearing at each other, moving. It’s pretty down and dirty,” explains Hess. The physicality of the characters embodies the conflicts and moral dilemmas that they face. “It’s not a pretty costume drama.” Even the recognizable setting of Salem may feel different. The scenic design by Dana Hall, second-year scenic design graduate student, will be stark and very clean with a three-story motorized wall that moves throughout the performance.

Joe Markesbery, senior, plays the role of John Proctor, while Abigail Williams is brought to life by sophomore Laura McCarthy. Anna Stapleton plays Elizabeth Proctor. “What I love so much about Richard’s direction of this show is that one really gets a sense of the hysteria, betrayal and selfish ambition that John Proctor fights so hard against,” says Markesbery of his portrayal of John Proctor. “Proctor is a man who, because of his affair with Abigail, truly isn’t sure if he is good or evil. Ultimately, every action he commits in the play is to defend the truth and bring evil to the light, but still he thinks himself a fraud. From peace and simplicity to betrayal and the destruction of a man and his good name: there’s the tragedy for me.”

View the official trailer for CCM’s Mainstage Series production of The Crucible here.

CCM Video: The Mainstage Series Presents Arthur Miller’s ‘The Crucible’ (Official Trailer)

Next month, CCM’s Mainstage Series proudly presents the original American horror story: Arthur Miller’s Tony Award-winning The Crucible.

CCM E-Media seniors Dan Marque and TIm Neumann collaborated with CCM Drama Chair Richard E. Hess and the cast and crew of The Crucible to produce a chilling trailer for this new production. Marque and Neumann are both National Broadcasting Society grand prize-winners in the categories of “Live Music Video” and “60 Second Promotional Video.”

CCM Drama, Dance, Choral, Piano, Musical Theatre And More On Display This Weekend!

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CCM’s stars of tomorrow will be shining bright in a wide variety of concerts and productions running this weekend!

CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series concludes with a production of Emily Mann’s powerful docu-drama Execution of Justice, running through April 20 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required. This production contains mature subject matter. Learn more about this production here.

CCM’s Ballet Ensemble also presents its annual Spring Dance Concert this weekend, with performances running through April 20 in Patricia Corbett Theater. This year’s program features unique collaborations with CCM’s Chamber Choir and Chamber Players. Learn more about this production here.

At 8 p.m. this Saturday, April 20, the CCM’s Chorale and Concert Orchestra join forces with a variety of special guests to present Benjamin Britten’s Spring Symphony and other works in Corbett Auditorium! Learn more about this performance here.

CCM’s annual celebration of the art of the piano returns at 7 p.m. this Sunday, April 21, as Pianopalooza VIII showcases our most spectacular student pianists! Learn more about this performance here.

CCM Slideshows: Execution of Justice

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The final installment of CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series opens this evening with the Michael Burnham directed Execution of Justice. Emily Mann’s riveting docu-drama runs April 18-20 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required. This production contains mature subject matter.

CCM’s 2012-13 Studio Series Concludes with Gripping Docu-Drama ‘Execution of Justice,’ April 18-20

CCM proudly presents the final installment of the 2012-13 Studio Series with a production of Emily Mann’s powerful docu-drama Execution of Justice, directed by CCM Professor of Drama Michael Burnham. Execution of Justice runs April 18-20 in UC’s Cohen Family Studio Theater. Admission is free, but reservations are required. This production contains mature subject matter.

A chilling examination of the trial of Dan White for the murder of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay Supervisor, and Mayor George Moscone, Execution of Justice puts the trial on trial and measures the distance between “politics,” “action” and “the law.”

LCT Awards ‘S.L.U.T.’ Top Prize in CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Series

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized S.L.U.T. as the best production at CCM’s 2013 TRANSMIGRATION Festival, the Drama department’s annual presentation of student written and produced work. Panelists awarded second place to Sentenced, and honorable mentions to 2122 Michigan Avenue and The Sherwin Williams Effect. Congratulations to all involved!

The fifth-annual festival allows the audience to experience half-hour works produced by small groups of Drama majors, who create and design all aspects of their productions from start to finish. The festival is an exciting event for both guests and the presenters, as audiences get the opportunity to see up to four very different pieces of new theatre in a single night and the students premiere works that are entirely their own. This year, six shows were presented. “TRANSMIGRATION teaches our actors to be entrepreneurs,” says Richard Hess, chair of CCM’s Drama Department and director of the TRANSMIGRATION Festival. “There are absolutely no holds barred, with the exception of the thirty-minute time limit, allowing our students to learn to express from within.”

The 2013 TRANSMIGRATION Festival’s New Works

Running March 7 – 9, this year’s TRANSMIGRATION festival will feature student-created new works 2122 MICHIGAN AVENUE, The Opening, Sentenced, The Sherwin Williams Effect, S.L.U.T. and Void.

Audience members will have the opportunity to customize their theater-going experience by choosing to watch up to four different productions, which are performed simultaneously and in non-traditional spaces throughout CCM’s Corbett Center for the Performing Arts. Learn more about each of these new, student-created works after the jump!