By: Ivy Bekker
Monmouth, IL
(March 22, 2011) – The Monmouth College Theatre
Department, in partnership with The Orpheum Theater, is
proud to present Shakespeare’s classic production,
The Tempest. Performances will be at 7:30pm April 9th
and at 2:00 pm on the 10th at the Orpheum
Theater in Galesburg. Tickets can be purchased through
the Orpheum Theater online at theorpheum.org or by
calling (309)342-2299.
In the months
leading up to the big performance a number of exciting
events have and will be happening on and off campus in
preparation. Monmouth College art professor, Stephanie
Baugh created art inspired by The Tempest which
was shown in the Len G. Everett Gallery in the Hewes
Library January 21st through February 11th.
Brian Baugh, art professor at Monmouth College created
two musical instruments that will be used in the
production. Performing during the production is
Monmouth College music professor Julia Andrews and award
winning international composer from Singapore, Dirk
Stromberg. Joined by Monmouth College Art Major, Connor
Shields on diddly-bow, the three musicians will create a
live, improvised sound score for the performances with
the help of artificial intelligence computer software.
Stromberg will
also lead workshops for Monmouth College students. The
workshops will be sometime in late March to early April
and will be open to the campus. While anyone can attend
they will be specifically geared towards those
interested in music technology and math or computer
science. Watch for future postings for specific dates
and times.
On April 3rd
Monmouth will host a Contemporary Arts Weekend in Dahl
Chapel that will feature a musical group, Nonsemble 6,
from California who will premiere new work composed by
Stromberg. Monmouth College music professor Ian
Moschenross will also be performing Beethoven’s piano
sonata number two, commonly known as The Tempest.
As the show
opens there will be still more exciting things to look
for. There will be a preshow discussion at the Orpheum
Theater on April 9th that will include
lectures from Monmouth College professor of English,
Marlo Belschner, Monmouth College professor of Modern
Foreign Languages, Nick Dobson, and Monmouth College
professor Emeritus, Jim DeYoung. There will also be a
lobby display created by students in both the Monmouth
College Theatre History and Shakespeare courses. More
student work will be showcased during the performances
such as set design by Monmouth College senior Nick
Munson, and giant puppets designed and created by
Monmouth College senior Sarah Kindt, and juniors Abby
Davis and Ivy Bekker.
Monmouth
College and the Orpheum Theater are very excited for
their upcoming work together and hope to see a large
turn-out from both the college and the communities of
Monmouth and Galesburg. Director Janeve West said, “the
theatre I want to create does not exist in a void but
rather reaches across many disciplines and pulls
together many ideas.” This project completes that task
as it pulls together the Departments of Theatre,
English, Modern Foreign Language, Music, Art and the
Public Relations program on campus as well as reaching
beyond to Galesburg, and even all the way out to
Singapore to create a spectacular show.
