Brighton Beach Memoirs will be performed Nov. 7-9 and 13-15, 2014 in the Studio Theatre. Neil Simon’s first play in the “Eugene” trilogy won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play in 1983, and was a nominee for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play. The original Broadway production earned Tony awards and nominations for actors and direction.
"Meet Eugene Jerome and his family, fighting the hard times and sometimes each other—with laughter, tears, and love. It is 1937 in Brooklyn during the heart of the Depression. Fifteen-year-old Eugene Jerome lives in Brighton Beach with his family. He is witty, perceptive, obsessed with sex, and forever fantasizing his baseball-diamond triumphs as star pitcher for the New York Yankees. As our guide through his "memoirs," Eugene takes us through a series of trenchant observations and insights that show his family meeting life's challenges with pride, spirit, and a marvelous sense of humor. But as World War II looms ever closer, Eugene sees his own innocence slipping away as the first important era of his life ends—and a new one begins." - GoodReads
UIS Associate Professor of Theatre Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson will direct Brighton Beach Memoirs. Open auditions/crew interviews will be held Sept. 2-3, 2014 in The Studio Theatre. Callbacks will take place on Sept. 4. Roles are available for 4 women and 3 men. Auditions and crew positions are open to students, faculty, staff, and community members. Check www.uis.edu/theatre for updated times and information.
A Streetcar Named Desire will be performed April 10-12 and 16-18 in the Studio Theatre. Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play is an American classic that also won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play in 1948, with numerous revivals over the years. Very few plays continue to have such power and impact as Williams’ 1948 drama continues to do so 66 years after the original production, but A Streetcar Named Desire is one such play.
"The play reveals to the very depths the character of Blanche DuBois, a woman whose life has been undermined by her romantic illusions, which lead her to reject—so far as possible—the realities of life with which she is faced and which she consistently ignores. The pressure brought to bear upon her by her sister, with whom she goes to live in New Orleans, intensified by the earthy and extremely ‘normal’ young husband of the latter, leads to a revelation of her tragic self-delusion and, in the end, to madness." - Samuel French
UIS Associate Professor and Director of Theatre Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson will direct A Streetcar Named Desire. Open auditions/crew interviews will be held Jan. 25- 26, 2014 in The Studio Theatre. Callbacks will take place on Jan. 27. UIS Associate Professor of Theatre Missy Thibodeaux-Thompson will play the role of Blanche DuBois. Roles are available for 5 women and 5 men. Auditions and crew positions are open to students, faculty, staff, and community members. UIS Assistant Professor of Theatre Dathan Powell is Scenic Designer/Technical Director for both productions.
The curtain time for Thursday, Friday and Saturday night shows is 7:30 p.m. with the Sunday performance starting at 2 p.m. Ticket prices are $14 for adults, $12 for senior citizens (65 or older with a picture I.D.), $10 for UIS Faculty/Staff and $8 for UIS students (and all other college-level students) with a valid, current i-card or college I.D. card. Please note that a service charge, not included in the prices above, from Sangamon Auditorium will be added to each ticket price, at the time of purchase. To avoid a higher service charge, buying tickets in person at the Sangamon Auditorium ticket office is highly recommended.
For more information on the upcoming theatre season contact Eric Thibodeaux-Thompson at 217/206-6613 or ethib1@uis.edu.