Author: Danielle Sherman
Occidental’s Theater department is full of activity this semester. Rehearsal along with creation of costumes and scenery for the two upcoming main stage productions, Blues For An Alabama Sky and Saint Joan, are underway. Senior Theater majors are working on their comprehensive projects, and there are several other upcoming theater events.
Blues For An Alabama Sky focuses on the challenges of five African Americans during the time of the Harlem Renaissance as they deal with family, career and social change. The play was written for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Arts Festival by Pearl Cleage, a distinguished African American playwright and author.
Guest Director Tre Garrett, who is currently a director for Walt Disney and whose credits include The Opera of Emmitt Till for the Trilogy Opera Company, joins the production as director. Oxy actors in this production include Doug Locke (junior), Chelsea Angle (sophomore), Brandon Lumbly (junior), Natalya Gibbs (first-year) and Kaja Martin ’08. The play opens Nov. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Keck Theater.
According to Professor and Acting Chair Susan Gratch, Oxy’s other main stage show, Saint Joan, centers on the historical figure of Joan of Arc using “humor and delightfully incisive language.” The cast of over 20 students includes actors from first-years to seniors, five of whom are using their roles for the focus of their senior comprehensive project.
The main role of Joan will be played by Reba Buhr (junior), who is double majoring in Theater and vocal performance. “After reading the play and discovering what a strong and spunky character she was, I knew I desperately wanted to play Joan [. . .] I’ve always wanted a good reason to chop off all my hair and tramp around the stage in tights,” Buhr said. Saint Joan opens Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Keck Theater.
Other events this semester include Han Solo and Gretel, a children’s theater production, on Nov. 15 at 10 a.m. on the lawn across from Johnson Student Center, and the Student/Faculty Dance Concert on Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the dance studio.
According to Gratch, the biggest news in the theater department this year is that this is Acting and Narrative Film Professor Alan Freeman’s final year at Oxy, “He will retire at the end of the spring semester after more than 40 years of teaching, writing, acting, directing and inspiring,” said Gratch.
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