Theatre UCF will present two showcases as part of the weeklong UCF Celebrates the Arts 2015 at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The two events highlight the work that the theatre and dance students have been doing in their classes for the past year.<\/p>\n
The Theatre UCF\u00a0Showcase will have\u00a0performances on Saturday, April 11,\u00a0and Sunday, April 12, directed by Theatre UCF artistic director Earl D. Weaver, and will\u00a0include musical selections from Nine <\/em>and Hair<\/em>, student monologues,\u00a0stage combat demonstration and more.<\/p>\n Monologues will be performed by a range of students, from first-year acting students to those who are in the Masters of Fine Arts acting program. Be Boyd, theatre faculty member and acting coordinator for this event, says that there is an energy in the air that she hasn\u2019t seen before.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels different than a play. The students are presenting studio pieces and they are all very interested in seeing what each other is doing. They are all very excited to be presenting their own work to the public and to each other,\u201d says Boyd.<\/p>\n Visiting professor and Theatre UCF alumnus Jordan Reeves is leading a group of students in \u201cGuerilla Shakespeare.\u201d The students are presenting a scene from A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/em>, which they will be presenting in entirety later this month.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a student-driven independent study about bringing Shakespeare to a modern audience. Our goal is to make these plays immediate and accessible to today\u2019s audience, while the students learn how to create, produce, and act. They are learning to use whatever resources are at hand, even if that is only three blankets and a string a lights, to bring one of Shakespeare\u2019s texts to life. It has instilled training, confidence, and a true sense of joy while working on the bard\u2019s classics.\u201d<\/p>\n Weaver is incorporating UCF alumni into the program\u2019s finale: \u201cThe Age of Aquarius\u201d from Hair, which is Theatre UCF\u2019s fall musical.<\/p>\n \u201cSince this is the first celebration, we wanted to include both current students and alumni in the event,\u201d said Weaver. \u201cWe have alumni spanning 40 years of Theatre UCF history participating. It also will provide an opportunity for current students to meet alumni who are working professionals.\u201d<\/p>\n