Date: Jan 26, 2009

Hofstra University Presents Spring/Summer 2009 Theater/Dance Schedule

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … For more information on the performances below call the Hofstra Box Office at (516) 463-6644, Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. On the Web, visit the Department of Drama and Dance at www.hofstra.edu/drama and for Hofstra Entertainment visit www.hofstra.edu/HofstraEntertainment.

DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA AND DANCE

March 5 to 15: 60th Annual Hofstra Shakespeare Festival, featuring The Tempest, directed by James J. Kolb. Prospero, an exiled ruler and practitioner of magic, causes a tempest to shipwreck his enemies as he seeks revenge for wrongs committed against him 12 years earlier. But on his island, “full of noises, sounds and sweet airs,” Prospero’s better self finally emerges, allowing him to forgive, reconcile, renounce his “rough magic,” and leave the deserted island to return to the rough and tumble of a Milan that he was forced to leave 12 years ago. The Tempest is Shakespeare’s last complete play, followed only by plays written in collaboration with others. This year’s production will feature Hofstra faculty member Peter Sander in the role of Prospero.

Performances are Thursday, March 5, 8 p.m.; Friday, March 6 and 13, 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 7 and 14, 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 8 and 15, 2 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $12; $10 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID. One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard. Tickets on sale February 3.
   
March 7 and 14: “Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On,” the Shakespeare Festival Musicale presented by The Hofstra Collegium Musicum, directed by William E. Hettrick, and Something Wicked … A One-Hour Version of Macbeth by Maureen Connolly McFeely. Performances are Saturday, March 7 and 14, 2 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $10, $8 for senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID. Members of the Hofstra community receive one free ticket upon presentation of a current HofstraCard. Tickets on sale February 3.

March 12: Special performance of Something Wicked … A One-Hour Version of Macbeth by Maureen Connolly McFeely. “Fair is foul and foul is fair” when dark prophesy and a lust for power leads the Thane of Cawdor to treason.  Witches, ghosts, murder, and madness are packed into a one-hour version of one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies. Performance is Thursday, March 12, 8 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $6. One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard. Tickets on sale February 3.

March 27 to April 5: The Ghost Sonata by August Strindberg, directed by Edward Elefterion. A young student idealizes the mansion on the hill and the family that lives in it … until he is invited inside.  Can he escape whatever disease has turned them envious and hateful, or is he doomed from the moment he sits down to dinner?  What is the price of salvation, if salvation is even possible?  Considered by critics to be one of the seminal plays of the last century, August Strindberg’s The Ghost Sonata remains as challenging and gripping today as when it premiered in 1908.

Performances are Friday, March 27 and April 3, 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 28 and April 4, 8 p.m.; Sunday, March 29 and April 5, 2 p.m.; and Thursday, April 2, 8 p.m. at the Black Box Theater, located at the New Academic Building on the South Campus. Tickets are $10, $8 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID.One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard.
Tickets on sale beginning March 10.

April 23 to 26: Hofstra University Spring Dance Concert. Featuring exciting premieres and reconstructions of classic pieces by Hofstra faculty choreographers and special guest artists. Performances are Thursday, April 23, 8 p.m.; Friday, April 24, 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 25, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, April 26,  2 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID. One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard. Tickets on sale beginning April 7.

HOFSTRA ENTERTAINMENT

March 8: Lady Bird, Pat and Betty: Tea for Three by Eric H. Weinberger and Elaine Bromka. Emmy Award-winning actress Elaine Bromka has more than 30 years of experience in film and television, as well as on Broadway and Off-Broadway. In 85 minutes of heartwarming delight, she reveals a gallery of intimate portraits of three remarkable and radically different first ladies, Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, and Betty Ford. Particularly apt in a time of heightened politics, this one-woman show is both funny and deeply moving, a thought-provoking exploration of these fascinating women and what they faced in this most unusual job. We discover each at a threshold moment in her life, and learn the personal cost of what Pat Nixon called “the hardest unpaid job in the world.” 

Performance is Sunday, March 8, 2 p.m. at Monroe Lecture Center Theater, California Avenue, South Campus. Tickets are $21, $18 senior citizen (over 65) or matriculated non-Hofstra student ID, $10 children under 12. One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard. Tickets on sale beginning February 17.

June 7: Very Good Years – A 90th Birthday Tribute to Ervin Drake. Featuring musical performances and special guest appearances. Composer and lyricist Ervin Drake has been making music since the early 1940s.   He has had a hand in musical hits such as “Tico-Tico”; “Perdido”; “Al Di La”; “Quando, Quando, Quando”; “Made for Each Other”; and “Come to the Mardi Gras.” His 1946 song, “Good Morning Heartache,” became a jazz standard.  From 1948 to 1962, he focused on television work and as writer/composer/producer was involved in more than 700 prime time network telecasts. Another popular song, “I Believe,” sold more than 20 million copies in various recordings, and his 1961 song, “It Was a Very Good Year,” provided  Frank Sinatra with his first top 10 hit in a decade and a Grammy Award in 1966. On Broadway, What Makes Sammy Run? was followed by Her First Roman in 1968.

Performance is Sunday, June 7, 2 p.m. at Monroe Lecture Center Theater, California Avenue South Campus. Tickets are $20, $17 senior citizen (over 65), $15 matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID.
One free ticket with current faculty/staff/student HofstraCard. Tickets on sale beginning May 19.

HOFSTRA ENTERTAINMENT’S SUMMER SEASON –
A TRIBUTE TO BROADWAY AND NEW YORK!
Subscriptions will be processed beginning April 14.
Individual tickets on sale beginning May 12.  See all three shows for $65!

June 12 to 14: It's Still Rock and Roll to Me – A Broadway musical tribute to Billy Joel. Starring Broadway’s “Piano Man” Wade Preston and The Movin’ Out Band. Performances are Friday, June 12, 8 p.m.; Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m.; and Sunday, June 14, 2 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $30, $25 senior citizen (over 65), $15 matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID and $10 Hofstra faculty/staff/student with current HofstraCard (two-ticket maximum).
   
July 10 to 26: World Premiere – I'm the Greatest Star! A celebration of Broadway's greatest musical theater stars from 1900 to today! Based on the book I'm The Greatest Star! by Robert Viagas, conceived by Bob Spiotto. Written by Bob Spiotto and Robert Viagas with musical direction by John Farrell. Performances are Friday, July 10, 17, 24, 8 p.m.; Saturday, July 11, 18, 25, 8 p.m.; and Sunday, July 12, 19, 26, 2 p.m. at
Monroe Lecture Center Theater, California Avenue, South Campus. Tickets are $25, $23 senior citizen (over 65), $15 matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID, $10 Hofstra faculty/staff/student with current HofstraCard (two-ticket maximum).

August 14 to 30: 42nd Street. The legendary Broadway musical comedy extravaganza! Directed and choreographed by Amy Dolan Fletcher with musical direction by William W. Williams. Performances are Friday, August 14, 21, 28, 8 p.m.; Saturday, August 15, 22, 29, 8 p.m.; and Sunday, August 16, 23, 30, 2 p.m. at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse, South Campus. Tickets are $32, $30 senior citizen (over 65), $15 matriculated non-Hofstra student with ID and $10 Hofstra faculty/staff/student with current HofstraCard (two-ticket maximum).