Coming Up In CAM: Spring 2023

"Sweeney Todd" Musical, Dance Spectrum, & Other CAM Events
April 19, 2023
Coordinated by Nifemi Bola
CAM Media Contact: Jackie Swan


Sweeney Todd Image

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Book by Hugh Wheeler from an Adaptation by Christopher Bond

Presented by the Department of Theatre & Musical Theatre
Directed by Penny Hasekoester

Apr. 27–29, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. each evening
Apr. 29, 2023 | 2 p.m. matinee
Erica Starr Theatre, University Theatre Center
Performances contain adult content, language, violence, and strobe lighting.

This musical thriller embraces the excesses, the vices, and the virtues which dominated Victorian England. Benjamin Barker, unjustly convicted and exiled to Australia, escapes his captors and returns to London. Aided by the eccentric proprietress of a failing pie shop, Mrs. Lovett, he resumes his old trade using a new name, Sweeney Todd, and begins to mete out revenge. While seeking retribution, Sweeney Todd stumbles onto a gruesome and efficient method of avenging the wrongs perpetrated on him and his family. Told with soaring music which shows Sondheim at his best, the macabre story amplifies the horrors perpetuated on and by Todd while using wry humor to seduce us into believing the situation isn’t as gruesome as we think.  

Tickets are available on the Box Office website for $12 in advance and $15 the week of the event. Season passes for $99 include 10 events of choice per year. SHSU students, faculty, and staff may redeem one free ticket per event with a valid Sam ID. Student tickets will be available the week of the event. Restrictions may apply. Contact the Box Office for details. www.shsutickets.com.


Dance Spectrum Image

Dance Spectrum in Concert
Presented by the Department of Dance
May 4–6, 2023 | 8:00 p.m. each evening

Dance Theater, Gaertner Performing Arts Center
Program may contain haze and strobe lighting.

Join us for an exhilarating evening of choreography and performance as we close out the Spring 2023 semester with a collection of dance works by the Department of Dance faculty, including a collaboration that was selected for the American College Dance Association South-Central Conference Gala concert and for the National Dance Festival in Long Beach, CA.

About the Dances

"Libretto of a Hero Child (or the Chirping of Crickets Telling Temperature)" choreographed by Ashley Clos
Set to music by DJ Shadow, Kate Bush, and Paul Simon, this premiere work for eight dancers is an abstract and deeply personal autobiography exploring perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and a changing relationship.

"La Folia" choreographed by Francisco Graciano
A new quintet set to Vivaldi’s delightful “Variations on La Folia” is a high-energy expressive work that highlights the dancers' technical and musical prowess. The work explores how frenzy and whimsy delightfully influence each other.

"The Truth in the Lie, Lies in the Truth" choreographed by Colette Kerwick
This new work promises to be a visually dramatic spectacle that takes the audiences on a journey to unravel the complexities of truth and deception. With a cast of three male dancers and a supporting crowd of 30, this is a captivating exploration of who's lying, what's real, who holds the truth, and what is the truth within the lies we tell. Projection design elements enhance this work.

"Jam Session" choreographed by Kyle Craig-Bogard in collaboration with Natasha Wakim
An ode to tap dancers everywhere, this number presents a modern version of the famous Hoofers' Club in Harlem from the 1920s to the 1940s, where dancers of all levels came to show off their talents and trade tap steps. The creative process involved the fusion of storytelling with rhythm tap and the individual creative skills of all its participants.

"Fang" choreographed by Travis Lake
This new ensemble work with an original score by Lake celebrates the athleticism and technical prowess of the dancers at SHSU. What appears to be a piece about vampires and darkness is a metaphor for the blood, sweat, and tears the dancers endure throughout their lifelong physical practice.

"Revoke" choreographed by Dionne Sparkman Noble
This premiere is an expressive work for a cast of 15 women created in a post-Roe era. After more than a century of progress for women in America, how does the stripping away of personal privacy for women leave us? How will this affect future generations and the rights for women in general worldwide? These questions permeated the creative process for Sparkman Noble and the dancers.

"The Floating Door" choreographed by Professor Andy Noble in collaboration with Neal Petz and Joshua Martinez
This team joined forces to create a new dance work that features set design, projection design, and light installation to create a haunting and surreal world. The dance draws inspiration from iconic dream imagery in an attempt to make sense of that which lingers with us.  

"Tower" choreographed by Andy Noble in collaboration with Laura Harrell
Earlier this semester, SHSU hosted the American College Dance Association (ACDA) South-Central Conference. "Tower" was presented at the conference to represent SHSU Dance. Featuring 33 dancers using raw athleticism to create the energy of a storm, this work was chosen by a panel for the ACDA Gala concert and then selected to go on to the National Dance Festival in Long Beach, CA. The work will be shown in Dance Spectrum to celebrate this honor. This group of dancers will also perform a new ditty by Noble to Electric Light Orchestra’s "Mr. Blue Sky" – that which appears after the storm.

 

Tickets are available on the Box Office website for $12 in advance and $15 the week of the event. Season passes for $99 include 10 events of choice per year. SHSU students, faculty, and staff may redeem one free ticket per event with a valid Sam ID. Student tickets will be available the week of the event. Restrictions may apply. Contact the Box Office for details. www.shsutickets.com.


Heatwave Image

Heatwave Media & Film Festival
Presented by the Department of Mass Communication

May 2–4, 2023 | 7 p.m. each evening
May 2 | Opening Event

May 3 | Texas Filmmakers Screening
May 4 | Award Ceremony
Old Town Theatre (1023 12th St, Huntsville, TX 77340)
Free admission

This three-day festival will feature screenings of select media and films produced by SHSU students and independent Texas filmmakers, followed by an awards ceremony recognizing the winners selected by a jury. Admission is free and open to the public. 


School of Music Events

The School of Music hosts a variety of ticketed and non-ticketed performances throughout each academic year. The following performance is ticketed. For a full list of all School of Music events, visit shsu.edu/camevents

Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Lab Bands Concert 
May 2, 2023 | 7:30 p.m.
Payne Concert Hall, Gaertner Performing Arts Center 

Masterworks Concert ft. Symphony Orchestra & Choirs 
May 4, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. 
Payne Concert Hall, Gaertner Performing Arts Center

Tickets are available on the Box Office website for $12 in advance and $15 the week of the event. Season passes for $99 include 10 events of choice per year. SHSU students, faculty, and staff may redeem one free ticket per event with a valid Sam ID. Student tickets will be available the week of the event. Restrictions may apply. Contact the Box Office for details. www.shsutickets.com


Department of Art Exhibitions

The Department of Art hosts a variety of exhibitions throughout each academic year that are free to view during gallery hours. The following exhibitions will be on display in the University Gallery, which is open Monday–Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a full list of all Department of Art exhibitions, visit shsu.edu/camevents

Graphic Design Senior Exhibition 
Apr. 17–29, 2023  
University Gallery, Dana G. Hoyt Fine Arts Building 

Studio Art, Photography, and Animation Senior Exhibition
May 8–13, 2023  
University Gallery, Dana G. Hoyt Fine Arts Building