Arts and Entertainment

Things to do at Penn State: March 17-23

A selection of cultural events happening on campus this weekend and next

“Pippin” tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence. Will he choose a happy but simple life, or will he risk everything for a singular flash of glory? The Center for the Performing Arts will host the touring Broadway musical at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, in Eisenhower Auditorium. Credit: Photo providedAll Rights Reserved.

What's happening at Penn State? Here's a look at some of the cultural events taking place at the University this weekend and the coming week:

Performances

"A Year with Frog and Toad" — 2 p.m., March 19, Eisenhower Auditorium. This Tony Award-nominated musical is a vaudville-inspired "Odd Couple" featuring an amphibious odd couple's pondside adventures.

"Pippin" — 7:30 p.m., March 21, Eisenhower Auditorium. The Tony Award-winning musical tells the story of a young prince on a death-defying journey to find meaning in his existence.

U.S. Army Band Woodwind Quintet — 8 p.m., March 21, 110 Music Building I. The U.S. Army Band Woodwind Quintet will perform a free guest recital.

Events

Adobe Creative Jam — 7 p.m., March 17, Hintz Family Alumni Center. Visitors can vote on designs and listen to experts on illustration, graphic design, animation and videography.

Bangladesh Night 2017 — 6 p.m., March 19, Heritage Hall, HUB-Robeson Center. The Bangladesh Student Association is celebrating the 47th anniversary of Bangladeshi independence with dance, music and authentic Bangladeshi cuisine.

Edible Book Festival — Noon, March 20, Mann Assembly Room, 103 Paterno Library. Penn State students, faculty and staff who want to test their creativity in the kitchen are invited to compete in a themed cake baking and decorating activity. The baked cakes must have the theme of books and reading, with judging in five categories: people's choice, most creative, best depiction of a classic, funniest/punniest, and most appetizing. People are also invited to help judge between noon and 1 p.m. in the Mann Assembly Room.

Pride Week — Various times, March 20-24, various locations. The LGBTQA Student Resource Center will celebrate diversity within the LGBTQ community during its annual pride week. Events include films, workshops and lectures.

'Transforming Education' Strategic Planning Forum — 1 p.m., March 22, 100 Perkins Student Center, Penn State Berks. Faculty, staff and students are invited to discuss Penn State's Strategic Plan.

Lectures

Nelson Mandela Lecture — 6 p.m., March 20, Nittany Lion Inn Boardroom 1. Naomi Tutu, human-rights advocate and daughter of South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will present "Truth and Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds of Racism."

Oweida Lecture in Journalism Ethics — 7 p.m., March 21, HUB-Robeson Center Freeman Auditorium. Martin "Marty" Baron, executive editor of the Washington Post, will be the featured speaker. Baron has been involved with an array of Pulitzer Prize-winning newspapers. As editor of the Boston Globe, the organization won a Pultizer for its 2003 investigation into the concealing of the Catholic Church's clergy sex abuse. The work was the basis for the Academy Award-winning movie "Spotlight" in 2016.

Rolling Reading Series — 7:30 p.m., March 22, Paterno Library Foster Auditorium. Author Sarah Manguso, the Fisher Family Writer-in-Residence, will offer a public reading of her work. Manguso is the author of five books of prose, and her work has appeared in Harper's, McSweeney's, the Paris Review and the New York Times Magazine.

Exhibits

"Backpage Poems" — March 13-17, Edwin W. Zoller Gallery. "Backpage Poems" is a master of fine arts thesis by graduate student Kristina Davis that is an immersive installation about sex, exposing the ruptures between social mores and desires as seen through the lens of sex work.

"Human Rights/Human Rites" — Feb. 21-March 23, Borland Project Space, 125 Borland Building. Created by Serap Erincin, the 2015-17 Institute for the Arts and Humanities Postdoctoral Scholar, the exhibition examines legitimized human rights violations in the western/civilized/first worlds.

"A Kaleidoscope of Color: Studio Glass at the Palmer" — Jan. 31-April 30, Palmer Museum of Art. An exhibit highlighting newly acquired works of studio glass from the collections of various Penn State alumni and donors.

"From the Trenches: The Great War in Sepia" — Jan. 13-May 5, Eberly Family Special Collections Library, 103 Paterno Library. A display of rare battlefield images of the common foot soldier during World War I.

"Research Wrapped in Aesthetics: The Air Wall" — Jan. 16-May 5, Stuckeman Family Building Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library. This exhibit shows how research at Penn State in the 1950s influenced a passive solar design technique widely used today. The exhibit will include images and documents from Penn State’s libraries and archives, as well as a newly built model, all showing how Penn State faculty were among the first to explore solar design techniques intended to make the new glass buildings more comfortable and efficient.

Last Updated March 22, 2017