20 ENTERTAINMENT
CHAUTAUQUA STAR
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014
‘Shape Of Things’ Concludes SUNY Fredonia Mainstage Series
Contributed Article of Anne Frank.”
SUNY Fredonia
The SUNY Fredonia
Department of Theatre
and Dance concludes
its season with the
modern drama “The
Shape of Things” by
American playwright
Neil LaBute.
Six performances are
scheduled from April
25 to May 3 in Bartlett
Theatre at Rockefeller
Arts Center as part of
the Walter Gloor Mainstage Series. Dates and
times are April 25, 26
and May 1, 2 and 3 at
7:30 p.m. with a matinee
on April 27 at 2 p.m.
Directing the show will
be Theatre and Dance
faculty member Jessica
Hillman, whose recent
department productions
include “The Sound of
Music” and “The Diary
Hillman described
“The Shape of Things”
as a thought-provoking
work with a dark side.
“The Shape of Things”
is set in a small university town and focuses on
four students who become emotionally and
romantically involved
with each other. This
leads to questions about
the nature of art and
the lengths to which
people will go for love.
“It’s exciting and has a
quick pace,” Hillman
said. “You really get
to know the characters
and you can feel for
them. Audiences will
come away with something to think about.
One of the points of
the play is to make you
question some deeply
held assumptions.”
Born in Detroit, Mich.,
Adam (Kevin Stevens) and Evelyn (Danielle Izzo)
debate the meaning of art in a scene from “The
Shape of Things,” SUNY Fredonia Department of
Theatre and Dance production that opens April 25
in Bartlett Theatre at Rockefeller Arts Center.
in 1963, LaBute is also
a producer and director. His writing style
has been described as
“very language-oriented” with his works
being “terse, rhythmic,
and highly colloquial.”
According to an article
on LaBute posted on
the IMDb web site, the
playwright has “firmly
established himself as
an unforgiving judge of
the ugliest side of human
nature” with his representation of “true-to-life
characters” and “all-tootrue social themes.”
Hillman thinks “The
Shape of Things” is a
work that college students in particular will
find interesting.
“It raises questions
about the meaning of
art and how far one
can go in service of
their art,” she said.
Adding to the intimacy
of the production is the
fact it is set in Bartlett
Theatre, which Rockefeller Arts Center’s
smaller experimental,
or “black box,” theater.
“The student designers have done amazing
things with the set,”
Hillman said. “It’s a lot
like an art installation –
it’s visually exciting.”
“The Shape of Things”
is sponsored by M&T
Bank as part of the
Lake Shore Savings
Season. This production contains adult
themes and is recommended for mature
audiences.
Tickets are available
through the SUNY
Fredonia Ticket Office
in the Williams Center,
by phone at 673-3501
and online at fredonia.
edu/tickets.
New Horizons Band To Perform Spring Concert
“MUSIC OVER THE YEARS AND OUR YEARS OVER THE MUSIC”
Contributed Article SUNY Fredonia
School of Music eight
years ago and is living
proof that, when it
The New Horizons
comes to learning to
Band of Western New
play a musical instruYork will present a
spring concert at 7 p.m. ment, it truly is “never
on Thursday, April 24. too late.” New Horizons Band members,
The free concert will
be held in the Harry S. who are at least 50
King Concert Hall on years old, learn to play
a band instrument, rethe SUNY Fredonia
turn to playing a band
Campus.
instrument after a long
There will be a cookie absence, or continue
reception following the to improve playing an
concert in The Cathy
instrument they have
and Jesse Marion Art
long enjoyed.
Gallery.
The band program
The band, under
includes two weekly
the direction of Dr.
group lessons on an
Katherine Levy,
instrument and two
was launched by the
weekly band rehearsSUNY Fredonia
held during the months
of January and July.
No lessons are offered
during the special
sessions. The summer session concludes
with concerts in local
venues.
Levy, Associate
Professor of Music
Education at SUNY
Fredonia, conducts the
band. Advanced music
New Horizon Band members from across Western
New York will present a free spring concert on
education students in
April 24.
the School of Music
als at SUNY FredoNew York is 63. Band provide group lesson
instruction. Levy was
nia’s Mason Hall. The member ages range
introduced to New
band has an enrollfrom the early 50s to
Horizons in 1995 when
ment of more than
the late 70s.
she became the brass
60 musicians. The
By popular demand,
average band member special New Horizons instructor for one of
age of the New HoriBand-Only sessions are the first New Horizons
Bands in Iowa City,
zons Band of Western
Iowa. She has conducted New Horizons
Bands in Iowa and
Georgia, and she
founded a New Horizons Band in Hagerstown, MD.
“Music making is just
too much fun to leave
only to younger folks,”
Levy said. “Almost
anyone can enjoy learning to play a musical
instrument when good
instruction, a friendly
environment, and lots
of helping hands are
available.”
For a complete list of
upcoming events in the
School of Music, visit
fredonia.edu/music