Mark Brotherton, associate professor of theatre and director of the production, is presenting this production as originally intended when it was written in 1931. It was the first musical to win a Pulitzer Prize.

“We are not updating anything,” Brotherton said. “I am not trying to connect it to present day because the nation is too polarized. Everything old is new again and that speaks for itself.”

Brotherton is focused on sharing the style and humor of the 1930s to today’s audiences.

“It’s fast paced. We never let the audience get ahead,” Brotherton said. “The audience must check their brain at the door. Yes, this is as stupid as you can imagine but you must believe it. Yes, love can happen in a second. Yes, French guards of the ambassador do all the sudden break out into dance. It was in the style of the day.”

Sarah Schreck, a senior theatre student and dramaturg of Of The Thee I Sing, gives some background on the time that this musical takes place.

“Of Thee I Sing takes place during the Great Depression and in the middle of the dry desert known as prohibition,” Schreck said. “1930 was a lovely year unless you were a farmer, a citizen with money in the bank and pretty much anyone else.”

Schreck said the play is a satire not a parody. “The two main goals of a satire are that they take themselves seriously and they make a moral judgment,” she said. “John and Mary really do fall in love. To them it is serious, but to us it is funny.”

The show will be performed on the Theatre UCF Main Stage. On opening night, audience members are invited to join the cast and creative team for a post-show reception.

Tickets are available for $20 for the general public and $10 for those with a valid UCF ID. They can be purchased online at http://theatre.cah.ucf.edu/tickets.php or at the box office.

For more information about Theatre UCF and the UCF School of Performing Arts, visit .

Production-at a-Glance

Of Thee I Sing

Book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind

Music by George Gershwin

Lyrics by Ira Gershwin

Directed by Mark Brotherton

Choreography by Mayme Paul

Oct.12, 13, 14, 19, 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 15 and 22 at 2 p.m.

Newson’s introduction to theatre came early when he auditioned for his high school’s musical production of Oklahoma!. He fell in love with the creative process and became fascinated with the ability to transform into someone else. “I felt powerful and, for the first time, confident,” Newson said.

As a student at UCF, he said he was inspired by theatre faculty members Mark Brotherton and Jim Brown because of their passion for the arts and their strong direction and guidance. Upon graduating in 2005 with his BFA in theatre, he was offered the role of Simba for Hong Kong Disney’s Festival of the Lion King. Since then, Newson has performed in Motown the Musical, Fly, In the Heights, Hairspray and other productions.

His new role in the national tour of Hamilton did not come easily. The audition process spanned over four months. After first auditioning in Los Angeles, Newson was then flown to New York for final callbacks with the creative team. Now in the midst of rehearsals in preparation for the tour, Newson’s life will be temporarily uprooted from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Both excited and nervous, Newson is looking forward to this new experience as an opportunity to grow as an artist and performer.

Newson strives to handle his experiences in life with grace and dignity – something that was instilled in him by his mother. He encourages UCF theatre students to be patient with themselves and their personal journey. “Growth is gradual. If you truly love your craft, then work hard and stay the course. Discover those unique qualities that set you apart,” Newson said.

Whether he’s in Los Angeles, New York City or back in Florida, he finds ways to reconnect with his fellow UCF Knights and is inspired by their stories and journeys. “I am proud to be a UCF Knight because UCF is finally gaining the recognition and exposure it has always deserved,” he said.

The national tour of Hamilton will begin in San Francisco in March, followed by a 21-week run in Los Angeles, with more cities follow, including Orlando, for the 2018-2019 season.

Almost, Maine tells nine stories of love in a small town in Maine. The residents of the town find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected ways. It is, said director Mark Brotherton, “an honest and insightful play that represents what all aspects of love really encompass.”

Alex Pica, a junior at UCF, has just completed her first year in the BFA musical theatre program. She plays three characters in Almost, Maine.

“Each of the characters is different and my challenge was finding the way to differentiate them to the audience. I had to find their individual quirks,” Pica said. “[Director Mark Brotherton] really understands that you have to find every piece of information from the words. Those differences in the characters lie within the words.”

The summer production schedule at UCF is different than during the regular academic year. Since most students are not taking daytime classes, rehearsals occur during the days and are condensed into three weeks. This shortened and intense rehearsal period gives the students training for working summer stock productions.

“Because the rehearsal period in the summer is a lot shorter we’ve quickly had to delve into the show and fully focus on it,” Pica said. “Because I’m not taking any other classes, I can focus entirely on being an artist and on finding the characters.”

Assistant director Tommy Heller is starting his junior year in the BA theatre studies program. Brotherton gave him full control over two scenes, which Heller selected. “The scenes I am directing are ‘Her Heart’ and ‘This Hurts.’ I chose them because I wanted one high energy scene and one that was more emotionally charged.”

Though he has directed in the past, this is Heller’s first time as an assistant director. “It’s been very helpful. I’ve been exposed to a different directing style than my own. I appreciate that Mark comes into the room with a clear vision of how the scene works, but then is able to adapt to new discoveries and the actors’ input.”

Heller said that he and Brotherton have a very collaborative relationship. “Mark literally left the room and let me direct during my scenes. Then during the full runs, he would provide me with notes on how I might improve them. But I was also present during Mark’s scenes, so I was able to learn by watching him, and he asked for my feedback.”

Pica explains that Almost, Maine can be enjoyed by both students and community members. “This is a good show for anybody, because all of the themes are universal. This show really shines through the clear honesty in the words. It is about what love really means to different people.”

Heller encourages patrons to come enjoy a bit of winter in Florida. “This is a great show to see in the summer,” he said. “It takes place in February in Maine, so it might seem a little out of place in Florida in the summer. But though the characters live in a different world than ours, the raw, honest emotion they feel is universal and transcends any season.”

For more information about Theatre UCF and the UCF School of Performing Arts, visit

Performance at a Glance

Almost, Maine

By John Cariani

Directed by Mark Brotherton

June 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 at 7:30 p.m.

June 5, 11 at 2 p.m.

On a cold, clear, moonless night in the middle of winter, all is not quite what it seems in the remote, mythical town of Almost, Maine. As the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, Almost’s residents find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and often hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this midwinter night’s dream.

$20 standard, $10 UCF ID

407-823-1500

https://www.theatre.ucf.edu

theatre@ucf.edu

The music for “Kiss of the Spider Woman” was written by John Kander and Fred Ebb, the composer/lyricist team who also scored “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Curtains,” and the script is by “Ragtime” playwright Terrance McNally. It is based on a novel by Argentinian writer Manuel Puig.

The story centers around the relationship between two prisoners, Molina and Valentin, in a Latin American jail. Molina is a homosexual who dreams of being a woman, and Valentin is a political revolutionary. Molina tells stories about Aurora, a legendary actress as a means of escaping the brutal realities of life in prison.

Senior BFA musical theatre major, Kyle Wilkinson, plays the role of Molina. “This is the hardest role I’ve performed. It’s very dark, very heavy,” he said. “Molina has fantasies of the Spider Woman—she symbolizes death and he is terrified and obsessed with her. “Kiss of the Spider Woman” isn’t just about two people in prison, it’s about what humanity does to survive.”

Director Mark Brotherton is focusing on the themes of escapism in this musical. “To some degree, all musicals depend on a suspension of belief. But when a musical [such as “Kiss of the Spider Woman”] is purposefully set in a fantasy world, it becomes more believable and we realize why people go to musicals and movies—to escape their own lives.”

The story contains violence, profanity and abuse, and patrons should be prepared for some uncomfortable moments. But just as the prisoners use their imaginations to escape, the writers of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” have included moments for the audience to escape into a fantastical world of vibrant music and electrifying dance.

Choreographer John Rudell, a senior in the BFA Musical Theatre program, fused several styles of dance into this production. “The choreography reflects classic Broadway dance, but is also heavily Latin influenced with inspiration from tango, flamenco, paso doble, and salsa dance styles,” he said. “It is very sensual.”

Senior Abby Jaros, also a senior in the BFA Musical Theatre program, is playing the role of Aurora/Spider Woman. “Theatre UCF hasn’t staged a musical with this level of dance since I’ve been here,” she said. “Being in this show has proven to me that I can be a song and dance woman. I’ve danced my whole life, but now I can’t see my life without adding the singing and acting component to that.”

Production at a glance:

Kiss of the Spiderwoman

Music by John Kander and Fred Ebb; book by Terrence McNally

Directed by Mark Brotherton

“Kiss of the Spider Woman” won the Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score when it debuted on Broadway.

Oct. 16, 17, 18*, 23, 24, 25* at 8 p.m.

Oct. 19, 26 at 2 p.m.

$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student

Main Stage, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

407-823-1500

theatre@ucf.edu

*There is a UCF home football game on Saturdays, Oct. 18 and 25. Parking for these performances will be in Lot B-4. Allow for extra travel time.

Larry Shue’s comedy is directed by Mark Brotherton (The Music Man, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment). The play centers on two friends, one British, who visit a fishing lodge in a small town in Georgia. Since one of the gentlemen is shy and not keen on talking about his recent divorce, the pair tells the local residents that he doesn’t speak English. Believing them, the residents openly discuss some of their nefarious plans, causing “The Foreigner” to have to “learn” English in a very short time in order to stop them.

Patrons familiar with the UCF Black Box will be pleased to learn that new seats have been installed in the theater, thanks to a donation from the Greene Family Fund. The old, uncomfortable seats had been a deterrent fo rmany patrons attending productions in that space.

Following The Foreigner, Theatre UCF will run The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on the Main Stage on July 10-20. The show is directed by Be Boyd (The Fantasticks, Stop Kiss). The light-hearted musical about six spelling champions and their mentors includes optional participation from audience members. Patrons should arrive early in order to apply to be part of the show (no “speshal” spelling skills are needed!)

Both summer productions will begin evening performances at 7 p.m.. (Please note the earlier start time. The regular curtain time of 8 p.m. will resume in August.) The matinees will start at 2 p.m.

Productions at a glance:

The Foreigner

By Larry Shue

Directed by Mark Brotherton

A comedic chain of events is set into action as a Georgia fishing lodge when two friends tell a small fib about one’s inability to speak English.

June 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 7 p.m.

June 15, 22, 29 at 2 p.m.

$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student

Black Box Theatre, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

Music and lyrics by William Finn

Book by Rachel Sheinkin

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman

Additional material by Jay Reiss

Directed by Be Boyd

Six spelling champs vie for ultimate glory in this spirited musical. Audience participation encouraged.

July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19 at 7 p.m.

July 13, 20 at 2 p.m.

$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student

Main Stage, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando              

For tickets and more information about Theatre UCF, visit .

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Playwright Meredith Willson wrote the musical in the 1950s and it depicts his childhood in Iowa. The well-known musical features favorite songs like “Seventy-Six Trombones,” “Goodnight, My Someone,” and “Till There Was You.”

Kate Busselle, a first-year master’s Theatre student and dramaturg for the production, has been researching life in early-20th century Iowa in order to help director Mark Brotherton and the students working on the musical recreate Willson’s world.

Busselle said: “At the time, Iowa was one of the most progressive states of the union and that is well-reflected in the casting of the show. Iowa abolished slavery 39 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. In our production, the mayor and his wife are African-American, which would not have happened in most of America at that time, but could have happened in Iowa.”

This production has a set and costumes, but was scaled back slightly in order to accommodate the 24-piece orchestra on the stage.

“We are extremely excited to present this collaborative production of The Music Man,” said UCF School of Performing Arts director Jeffrey Moore. “This show is a tangible example of the ongoing merger that demonstrates the growing levels of cooperation within the Music and Theatre units. Building on the previous success of our collaboration on 2012’s production of Ragtime, faculty and students are interacting and interfacing like never before.”

Moore also thinks that joint productions such as this one create benefits for patrons.

“When UCF made the decision to create a School of Performing Arts, we knew that our students would benefit from collaborations between the Music and Theatre departments. In this production of The Music Man, the community also benefits: an orchestra provides a fuller experience for theatre-goers, especially when it is a musical about music. We won’t have quite 76 trombones, but there will be plenty of brass, reeds, and percussion alongside the singers.”

Production at a glance

Meredith Willson’s The Music Man

Book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson

Story by Meredith Willson and Franklin Lacey

Directed by Mark Brotherton

8 p.m.: Feb., 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, March 1

2 p.m.: Feb. 23, March 2

Price: Standard $20, Senior $18, Student $10; Group discounts available.

Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

Box Office Phone: 407- 823-1500

Box Office Hours: Monday through Friday:  noon to 5 p.m. and 2 hours before performances

Theatre UCF invites anyone with a good imagination to its next production, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment — The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougement (As Told by Himself), an astounding story of bravery, survival – and a little bit of embellishment.

Written by Donald Margulies, author of several plays including Dinner with Friends, which won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Shipwrecked! is an adaptation of the Victorian memoirs of the main character. It is suitable for imaginative audiences of all ages.

Director Mark Brotherton expects the audience to connect with the show at the Black Box Theatre because the performance has its basis in storytelling.  

“We all grew up with people telling us stories – before we go to bed, sitting around a campfire, listening to our grandparents in front of the fireplace,” Brotherton said. “Shipwrecked uses this device of storytelling and then adds elements of theatre to make it even more exciting.”

And in this account, the play examines how far we’re willing to blur the line between fact and fiction to be remembered.

Eric Earley, a junior in the BFA acting program at UCF, said he was drawn to perform in the play because it pulled him into the adventurer’s world, which stretches over more than a half century of the storyteller’s life.

“I feel blessed to tell this man’s amazing adventure night after night,” Early said. “Louis and I are more similar then different. I find it so much fun to play Louis because of how full of wonder and excitement he is. A lot of that wonder and excitement is what drives me as a person as well.

Brotherton said his favorite part of working on the show was the way the cast, crew and production team added to the process of creating the show.

“We listened to all ideas and incorporated as many of them as we could. It is definitely an ensemble piece,” he said.

Production at a glance

Shipwrecked! An Entertainment — The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougement (As Told by Himself)

Playwright: Donald Margulies

Directed by Mark Brotherton

8 p.m. Nov. 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23

2 p.m. Nov. 17, 24

Black Box Theatre

(Theatre patrons attending the Nov. 21 performance need to allow extra time to get to the theatre because of a football game on campus. Patrons should park in Lots B4 or B6. A parking permit, which will email to you by Theatre UCF before the performance, will be required. Print it out and have it displayed on your dashboard while on campus. Golf cart shuttles will be available in the parking lot to take passengers to the theater.)

Price: Standard $20, Senior $18, Student $10; Group discounts available

Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando FL 32816

Box Office Phone: 407-823-1500

Box Office Hours: Monday through Friday:  noon to 5 p.m. and 2 hours before performances                                    

For more information about Theatre UCF, visit .

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The play centers around architect Bernard (Patrick Sylvester), who, with the help of his long-time buddy Robert (Eric Earley) and his surly maid Bertha (Kate Ingram), juggles three fiancĂ©es (Emily Schwartz, Danielle Miller, and Kim Hough), all flight attendants with different travel schedules. There is much door slamming, physical and verbal comedy, and sexual innuendo as Bernard’s meticulous timetables fail and the women converge upon the apartment at once.

Comedies such as Boeing Boeing aren’t easy for actors. Director Mark Brotherton focuses his attention on the benefits to the students. “Farces like Boeing help them learn pace and timing—both having to come from incredibly hard active listening,” he said. “And on top of that, it needs to be believable.

“In comedy, the actor has to believe the situation and the stakes. And the best comedies are like this one. They occur when normal people – at least in their own eyes – are thrown into incredibly abnormal situations. Their world has been thrown out of order, and they will all try anything and everything to get it back into order.”

In addition to learning about timing, there are plenty of foreign dialects in the play for the students to master. The play takes place in Paris, so Bertha speaks with a French accent. The three flight attendants are from Italy, Germany and New York.

Miller, who plays the role of Italian flight attendant Gabrielle, transferred to UCF this summer and is in her first UCF production. “I had never used an Italian dialect prior to my audition, but I watched a lot of movies in order to get the hang of it. I’m channeling Sophia Loren and Penelope Cruz in Nine.”

The practice doesn’t end with rehearsal. “I work at Lazy Moon,” said Miller, “and find myself delivering pizzas with an Italian accent.”

Brotherton agrees that there are benefits for audience members, too.

“Boeing Boeing is just a good time,” he said. “Mad Men is one of the biggest hits on television. And Boeing Boeing, well, it’s like Mad Men without any valium or scotch to calm the characters down.”
Production at a glance:

Boeing Boeing

Written by Marc Camoletti

Translated by Beverly Cross and Francis Evans

Directed by Mark Brotherton

8 p.m.: June 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, July 12, 18, 20

2 p.m.: June 16, June 23, July 14

Theatre UCF Black Box

Price: Standard $20, senior $18, student $10; group discounts available

Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

Box office phone: 407-823-1500

Box office hours: Monday through Friday: noon to 5 p.m. and two hours before performances

For more information about Theatre UCF, visit .

Bury the Dead, an anti-war story by Irwin Shaw, will be presented Feb. 16-26 in the campus’ Black Box theatre. Even though several major wars have been fought in the decades since the play opened on Broadway in 1936, the play focuses on old themes that are still relevant.

While the play is anti-war, the director did not want it to be anti-military. Those involved with the production are raising awareness and funds to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides help for injured service members as they return to civilian life in the community. 

“Everyone in the cast knows someone serving in the military. We support and honor these soldiers,” said director and Associate Professor Mark Brotherton. “All the soldiers [in the play] have passed on and are young, and there are a lot of things they say they didn’t take notice of in life – things we see that pass us by.”

The play portrays six dead soldiers who stand up in their makeshift graves and refuse to be buried. As they express their anguish and the futility of war, they don’t want to give up their hold on the past and future.

To prepare for the play, Brotherton asked the cast members to watch movies about war and the military. They were shown military movements by a member of the cast who is in ROTC. They also met with a wounded returning soldier and his wife to discuss the effects of war on their lives.

“We had a master sergeant come to talk with us,” Brotherton said. “He talked about the camaraderie, and he made a wonderful statement about war that meant a lot to the cast. He said that when he goes there [into battle], ‘It doesn’t mean I agree or disagree with the war. My job is to get my men home.’”

The cast of 29 is using the play as a way to reach out into the community.

They have started an online donation page to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project (https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org/individual-fundraising/ucfbtd/). Students are hosting an information table at Market Day on Wednesdays outside the Student Union, and they will collect donations from patrons during the Bury the Dead intermission.

Before the Feb. 23 performance, there will be a 6:40 p.m. discussion with organizations that help veterans. The benefit and discussion are being organized by students Karlyn Muzik and Kimberly Carolus.

Although most of the play is somber, it is not all about death.

“It gives more reasons for living than it talks about dying,” Brotherton said. “They don’t come back to say that war is bad. They come to say what we should watch for in life.”

Theatre UCF’s Black Box production of Bury the Dead will run Thursdays through Sundays, Feb. 16-26. Shows begin at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and other information contact the box office at 407-823-1500.

The play, written by Central Florida native Kevin Christopher Snipes, tells the story of four teenage boys at a New England boarding school on the eve of World War II. They are brought together by their love of Shakespeare and torn apart by the impending war.

“The Chimes” opens this week as a full-scale production with many of last year’s cast members. The play, in the Black Box Theatre on UCF’s Orlando campus, runs from Thursday, Sept. 23, through Sunday, Oct. 10.

“’The Chimes’ rings out to remind us that unless a stand is taken, ignorance and hatred can rule not only an institution of higher education, but an entire civilization,” said director David Lee, an assistant professor of Theatre at UCF.

The cast combines the talents of several UCF Theatre students with three professional actors: Mark Brotherton, a UCF Theatre faculty member, Bob Dolan and noted film actor Tom Nowicki. Please note that this show includes adult themes and brief nudity.

Performances of  “The Chimes” will be Thursdays through Saturdays from Sept. 23 until Oct. 9. A Sunday matinee performance will be Oct. 10.

All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for the Sunday matinee, which will start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $17 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students with their ID. Reservations are recommended and available through the UCF Conservatory Theatre box office at 407-823-1500. Group rates are available. The box office can assist with accommodations for patrons with disabilities.

Read more about the production on Snipes’ and visit the UCF Conservatory Theatre to see listings for the rest of the 2010-11 season.