LCT Awards ‘PO 11259: Sincerely Yours’ Top Prize in CCM’s TRANSMIGRATION Festival

Six teams of student actors craft and perform original 30-minute shows during the 2014 TRANSMIGRATION Festival.

Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized PO 11259: Sincerely Yours as the best production at CCM’s 2014 TRANSMIGRATION Festival, CCM Drama’s annual presentation of student written and produced work. Congratulations to that show’s creative team of Jaclyn Chantel, Hannah Halvorson, Spencer Lackey, Laura McCarthy, Fabiola Rodriguez and Anna Stapleton!

Panelists awarded second place to The 17th Annual Snipes, Arkansas, Harvest Festival, and honorable mentions to Dreams R Us: Tonight’s Answers to Tomorrow’s Questions and Complex: A Structure of Sound, An Organism of Vibrations.

The sixth-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.

PO 11259 was praised for being “funny and poignant” and “a cool concept,”while The Snipes, Arkansas, Harvest Festival allowed its actors to show “a lot of dimensions in a short play.”

CCM Drama Holds Annual Senior Showcase and Dolly Awards on March 14

CCM’s Class of 2014 in Drama.

CCM’s Department of Drama presents its annual Senior Showcase at 2 and 7 p.m. on Friday, March 14, in UC’s Patricia Corbett Theater. The 12th annual DOLLY Awards Ceremony follows the 7 p.m. showcase performance. These events are free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

The showcase performance will consist of a variety of scenes by graduating seniors in CCM’s Drama program, demonstrating the depth and breadth of the acting skills they have honed during their undergraduate training at CCM.

The Senior Showcase will be the first presentation of a performance that the students will be taking on the road to exhibit their talent in New York and Los Angeles in April. You can learn more about the Drama Class of 2014 at ccm.uc.edu/theatre/drama/seniorshowcase.

CCM Drama Students Present New Works in Sixth Annual TRANSMIGRATION Festival This Week

CCM TRANSMIGRATION 2014 logo.

Students in CCM’s Department of Drama flex their writing, editing, designing, directing and acting muscles with the 2014 TRANSMIGRATION Festival of Student-Created New Works, taking place March 6-8 throughout CCM Village. Admission is free, but reservations are required.

The sixth-annual festival allows audiences to experience half-hour works produced by small groups of drama majors, who create all aspects of their productions from start to finish.

“As a faculty member, I’m making an active effort to stay out of their way,” says Brant Russell, Assistant Professor of Drama and producer of this year’s TRANSMIGRATION Festival. “The audience will get a real sense of what our students are reacting to in their world, and we want that rawness to come through in each show.”

TRANSMIGRATION came into being in response to the dynamic careers of today’s professional actors. “There are two very important lessons TRANSMIGRATION gives us the opportunity to learn,” asserts Shaun Sutton, senior drama major from Overland Park, Kansas. “First, we don’t choose our groups – they’re assigned. It’s important for us to learn how to negotiate and work with new people in a medium we’re all so passionate about. Second, in the world of YouTube and Vine where anyone can be an actor, we need to develop our skills to tell a more powerful story. TRANSMIGRATION is our time to play with an unprecedented lack of structure in an intense professional training program.”

Each year, TRANSMIGRATION is different. This year’s shows include a soundscape in a dark room, a piece about dream creation, the story of a cosmic post office box and a work about community and sticking to your roots. See below for more information on this year’s original works.

‘Metamorphoses’ Earns Four Star Rating by the League of Cincinnati Theatres

CCM’s presents ‘ Metamorphoses’ Feb. 5 (preview) – 9, 2014. Photography by Mark Lyons.

We are delighted to report that panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized our Mainstage Series production of Metamorphoses with a Four Star Rating! Congratulations to everyone involved with the show!

Panelists praised Metamorphoses as “a rare, exemplary experience to behold in a theater. The pool, lighting, use of space, direction, transitions, performances and the stories–Myths of Ovid–were compelling, touching, sad, hopeful and even risky.”

D. Lynn Meyers was commended for her direction: “In her hands, Ovid’s dreams ‘were magically realized and lushly furnished with a vision as tender as it was daring’.”

Dana Hall, for scenic design, and Wes Richter, for lighting design, were singled out for designs that were “beautifully evocative, integral to the story-telling, and well-executed”.

Finally, the entire ensemble was lauded for their work: “Bravo to the cast who cast a spell upon this audience member.”

Metamorphoses plays through tomorrow afternoon (Sunday, Feb. 9). For more information about the production, visit ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice/metamorphoses.

Familiar Myths Take on Magical New Forms in CCM’s Mainstage Production of ‘Metamorphoses’

Senior drama major Madeline McKenzie in CCM’s production of ‘Metamorphoses,’ playing Feb. 5 (preview) – 9, 2014. Photography by Stirling Scot Shelton.

CCM’s Mainstage Series resumes in February with a new production of Mary Zimmerman’s award-winning Metamorphoses. Based on the classic myths of Ovid, this entrancing drama runs Feb. 6 – 9 in CCM’s Patricia Corbett Theater, with a special preview performance at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Guest artist D. Lynn Meyers directs. The production is intended for mature audiences.

From a simple, rippling pool of water, Metamorphoses conjures a series of familiar myths into gorgeous theatrical imagery. The winner of two Drama Desk Awards and one Tony Award after its Broadway run in 2002, this entrancing theatrical event retells the classic stories of King Midas, Orpheus and Eurydice, Narcissus and more.

To realize Zimmerman’s bold vision for Metamorphoses, an on-stage pool fills 576 square feet of Patricia Corbett Theater for this production. This pool holds 4,000 gallons of water, weighing roughly 10 tons, and ranges in depth from just a few inches to nearly two feet. Although the element of water is central to all of the myths featured in Metamorphoses, the pool’s function changes from vignette to vignette, sometimes serving as a simple washing basin or swimming pool, while other times standing in for the River Styx or the sea.

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.”

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.”