Mark Ballora, a devoted and dynamic professor of music technology in the Penn State School of Music, affiliate faculty in the School of Theatre, and newly appointed director of the Arts & Design Research Incubator, unexpectedly died Thursday, July 18, 2019. He was 57 years old.
“The Last Day,” written by former Nittany Lion and Cincinnati Bengal football star Mike Reid, is an ambitious musical theater piece that tackles issues relevant to today's youth, including mental health and substance abuse among college students.
Penn State Centre Stage will launch its return to professional summer theatre with "The Last Day," June 12–22, at the Penn State Downtown Theatre, with music by Mike Reid, lyrics by Sarah Schlesinger and book by Reid and Schlesinger. John Simpkins directs, with musical direction by Jennifer Peacock. Reid is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and former Penn State defensive lineman.
State College youth in the Roots of Life performing arts ensemble joined with members of the Foxdale Village chorus for a unique intergenerational performance on Saturday, May 11. Titled “Imagine: Songs of Hope and Peace,” the performance featured individuals from under 10 to over 90.
William J. Doan, professor of theatre in the College of Arts and Architecture and artist-in-residence in the College of Nursing, has been named Penn State Laureate for the 2019–20 academic year. As laureate, he will explore the intersections of art, science and health through interactive experiences — including performances, workshops and discussions — that address issues of living with anxiety and depression.
Jaclyn Backhaus' "Men on Boats" will be presented April 16–20 at the Penn State Downtown Theatre. The show is a rollicking adventure tale brought thrillingly to life by a cast of diverse performers, who use carefully exaggerated theatrics to tell the story of an actual 1869 expedition led by John Wesley Powell to chart the Colorado River.
Penn State Centre Stage presents "To Kill a Mockingbird," Christopher Sergel's stage adaptation based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, April 2–12, at the Playhouse Theatre. The play chronicles the social and racial inequalities of the rural South in 1935 as told through the eyes of a young girl.
Penn State Centre Stage will present "Caroline, or Change," with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and score by Jeanine Tesori, Nov. 27 through Dec. 1, at the Penn State Downtown Theatre. This rarely performed, groundbreaking musical is an inspiring and brave examination of the untold stories of those in our society who defy all odds by surviving against unthinkable circumstances.
School of Theatre alumnus, Michael Chapman's financial gift will create scholarship money in perpetuity for students enrolled in the Costume Design Program.
Eric Christian, a 2010 graduate of the School of Theatre’s Design and Technology program, won a Creative Arts Emmy in September for his role as one of the lighting directors for “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert,” and he counts the Puppy Bowl and the U.S. tour of "Fela!" among the projects he's completed as a freelance lighting programmer. Christian took the time to share insight on his career and how Penn State helped him get where he is today.
The College of Arts and Architecture and the Arts and Architecture Alumni Society will honor the college’s 2018 Alumni Award winners in a ceremony at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2, in the Palmer Lipcon Auditorium. Established in 1981 by the Alumni Society, the award is presented as part of a campus visit that also includes meeting with faculty, administrators and current students.
"Sing Out!" — a performance-based, scholarship competition created by the combined voice areas of the School of Music and School of Theatre — will be held Oct. 23-Nov. 1 in the Borland Project Space, 125 Borland Building. Members of the Penn State community are invited to this rare inside view into the process of theatrical and musical preparation leading up to a performance.
The halftime show at last Saturday's "White Out" game against Ohio State brought the Penn State Blue Band and musical theatre students together, for the first time ever, to create a Super Bowl-like show that featured song and dance performance numbers from the musicals “Jersey Boys,” “Hamilton” and “Hair."
Penn State Centre Stage will present the award-winning production "Legally Blonde the Musical," with book by Heather Hach and music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, Oct. 2 to 11 at the Playhouse Theatre.
Playwright Naomi Iizuka's "Polaroid Stories," set to run Sept. 18-22 at the Penn State Downtown Theatre, challenges the audience with a series of vignettes and loosely connected visceral subplots about homeless youth.
