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"Experience the Excitement" at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center

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"Experience the Excitement" at the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center

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Announcing the 2006-2007 Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center season:

A CHARLIE CHAPLIN FILM FESTIVAL with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra
8 p.m. Saturday, September 9, Mainstage
The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra plays the exact 1916-1917 music in timed synchronization to silent films, in its spectacular production of A Charlie Chaplin Film Festival, directed by Rick Benjamin.  The Pawnshop (1916), The Immigrant (1917), and The Rink (1916) are featured in the special performance you won’t want to miss!  The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra (PRO) is the world’s only year-round, professional ensemble recreating “America’s Original Music” through the syncopated sounds of early musical theatre, silent cinema, and vintage dance.  PRO was founded in 1985 after Rick Benjamin discovered thousands of turn-of-the-century orchestra scores once belonging to Victrola recording star Arthur Pryor. For more information visit www.paragonragtime.com.

LEWIS W. FOY LECTURE SERIES
7 p.m. Thursday, October 12, J. Irving Whalley Memorial Chapel
For more than 30 years, Sodexho’s Chief Executive Officer Richard Macedonia has been integral to the operations of the world’s leading outsourced food provider and facilities management services.  Sodexho serves 10 million people a day, and philosophically, is committed to hunger-relief initiatives contributing $5 million to support this cause.  Additional information available at www.sodexhousa.com.  Supported by the Lewis W. Foy Endowment.  The Lewis W. Foy Lecture Series was established in 1980 in honor of Mr. Foy, a Somerset County native who retired in May of that year from his position as chairman and chief executive officer of Bethlehem Steel Corporation.  The series provides UPJ students and others in the community with the firsthand learning experiences of networking with successful men and women in the business world.  To register, phone 814-269-2099.

PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE
8 p.m. Saturday, November 4, Mainstage
The critically acclaimed Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has a distinctive repertoire including classic works by 20th-century masters and contemporary new works by today’s passionate choreographers.  Experience The Power of Dance! of this premier ballet company.  One of the top five companies outside of New York City, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is famous for its classical ballet and explorations of contemporary dance.  For more information, visit www.pbt.org.

Jane Elliott:  INSPIRATIONAL Diversity Trainer
January 2007
Day, time and location TBA
Internationally-known teacher, lecturer and inspirational diversity trainer,
 Jane Elliott exposes prejudice and bigotry for what it is, touching many lives.  The conductor of the famous 1968 “Blue Eye/Brown Eye” experiment about racism and prejudice, Ms. Elliott is the recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education.  Her lectures are dramatically captivating and affect audiences everywhere; you won’t want to miss this moving presentation.  This program was made possible by the generous donations from the following:  Sodexho, MetLife, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, and MTS Technologies, Inc.  A UPJ Diversity Working Group Initiative.  For more information, visit www.janeelliott.com.

THEATRE
8 p.m. Tuesday, February 6, 2007, Mainstage
L.A. Theatre Works, Susan Albert Lowenberg Producing Director, presents Private Lives by Nöel Coward.  Starring Amy Pietz* (Caroline in the City, Cursed) and Raphael Sbarge* (Risky Business, Pearl Harbor), in this hilarious tale about Elyot and Amanda, the aging divorced couple, who cannot seem to live with or without each other.  While honeymooning in France with their new and young, but intellectually-challenged mates, they bump into each other causing quite an explosion!  Will this couple be able to patch things up or are they just better off on their own?  Come find out for yourself!  *Cast subject to change.  Supported by the Abe and Janet Beerman Endowment.  Additional information at www.baylinartists.com or www.latw.org.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
8 p.m. Tuesday, February 20, 2007, Mainstage
Bowfire, the hottest show to hit the stage, returns to Johnstown.  Magnificent strings, piano, bass, percussion, guitar, cello, and world-class step and tap dancers promise a sensational evening!  Bowfire presents an “All Star Show” of the finest lineup of fiddle and violin virtuosos ever assembled on one stage.  The group takes audiences on a musical journey that moves seamlessly from jazz, classical, bluegrass, celtic, rock, gypsy, world, Texas swing, and Ottawa Valley and Cape Breton styles and mixes in incredible step and tap dancing and beautiful voice.  Additional information at www.bowfire.com.

CLASSICAL MUSIC      
8 p.m. Friday, March 16, 2007, Mainstage
Featured on National Public Radio and WQED-FM’s classical music series, The Local Touch, the Carnegie Brass Quintet is a chamber group of rare musicianship!  With Bernard Black and Jeffrey Nicodemus on trumpet; David Piecka on French horn; Glenn Wayland on trombone, and David Knapp on tuba, this group delighted audiences in the television special A Child’s Christmas in Pittsburgh.  Sponsored by the Coppersmith Endowment.  For more information visit www.carnegiebrass.com.

STAGE DOOR SERIES for Families and Schools
10 a.m. and noon, Monday, April 30, 2007
ArtsPower’s production of Anne of Green Gables is a heart-warming musical the whole family will love!  Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert want to adopt a boy to help with the chores.  Instead, the orphanage sends vivacious Anne Shirley to their doorstep with a tattered carpet bag and a big imagination.  Join Anne as she sets off on a journey to find the family she has always wanted!  Created as school performances, The Stage Door Series offers educators, home schoolers, caregivers, and others an opportunity to plan a day’s lesson using programming designed for the younger audience.  Perfect for children grades two through six.  For more information visit www.artspower.org.

WINTER JAZZ with the Ramsey Lewis Trio
7 p.m. Saturday, March 24, 2007
Jazz legend Ramsey Lewis breaks new ground while expanding the reach of jazz with the release of The In Crowd, “cool jazz wound with a groove of impeccable taste.”  With Larry Gray on bass and Leon Joyce on drums.  Proceeds benefit the Blackington Endowment.  Past performers include Savion Glover (2006); Dave Brubeck (2005); Wynton Marsalis (2004); Dianne Reeves (2003); Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Star Big Band (2002); Gary Burton, with Sergio Salvatore (2001); Terence Blanchard (2000); Shirley Horn Trio (1999); Paul Winter Consort (1998); Paquito D’Rivera (1997); Count Basie Orchestra with New York Voices (1996); Stanley Turrentine (1995), and Count Basie Orchestra (1993).  Sponsored by Mark E. Pasquerilla.  For more information visit www.ramseylewis.com.

UPJ THEATRE DEPARTMENT
The UPJ Theatre Department presents three wonderful performances this year.  The season opens with Carnival.  Soar in a captivating bubble of delights as Carnival transports you to the Grand Imperial Cirque de Paris, a rundown French circus which has the good fortune of adopting an enchanting waif, Lili, who falls in love with the puppets.  Though she is charmed by Carrot Top, Horrible Henry, Renardo, and Marguerite, the naïve Lili doesn’t realize the adorable puppets are each portrayed by Paul, the surly puppet master.  Paul and Lili’s unlikely love affair sings “Love Makes the World Go Round” against the sparkling backdrop of the colorful traveling carnival amid snake charmers, jugglers, freaks, and aerialists.  October 19, 20, 21, 22*, 26, 27, 28, 29*, 8 p.m.,         *2 p.m. matinees, Studio Theatre

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare’s most beloved play.  The otherworldly glow of the forest does not seem to alert two pairs of star-crossed lovers to the probability they are in an enchanted wood peopled by the rival courts of two feuding fairies, Oberon and Titania.  Add the antics of a group of bumbling would-be thespians who arrive to rehearse their ill-fated play under the supernatural trees.  A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a glistening potion that mingles romance and fun most beguilingly. 
February 15, 16, 17, 18*, 22, 23, 24, 25*, 2007, 8 p.m., *2 p.m. matinees, Studio Theatre

The UPJ Theatre Department’s season wraps up with Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie.  Meet the Wingfields: a mother hopelessly mired in the past; a son with his heart already slipping off into the future; and a daughter heartbreakingly trapped in the here and now.  Enter the Gentleman Caller, an emissary from the Land of Possibility, who momentarily offers hope for all three.  The Glass Menagerie is Tennessee Williams’ faded valentine, a lyric look at his own life by the candlelight of memory.  May 31, June 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 2007, 8 p.m., Studio Theatre

Interview and photo opportunities may be arranged with each of the artists appearing during the 2006/2007 season.  Arrangements can be made by calling the Office of Marketing and Public Relations at 814-269-2080.  For more information, visit the Arts Center website at www.upj.pitt.edu/ArtsCenter.  Photos and graphics are available.

Season tickets are available for purchase now by mail or by telephoning a credit card order to the Artsline at 1-800-846-ARTS.  The Mainstage Series season subscriptions may be purchased for $84, a savings of $10 beginning August 14.  Ticket sales for individual performances placed by phone, fax, or mail only, will be filled beginning  August 28.  These tickets range in price from $15 to $24.  The Box Office opens for in-person, at-the-window sales on August 28.  It will be open for window and telephone sales from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and one hour before all performances.  There is a $2 handling fee on all mail or phone orders.

The Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center is a multi-purpose facility operated by the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.  The Arts Center presents a variety of events, including musicals, adult and children’s theatre, dance and music productions to 12,000 patrons annually.
Posted by Shook, Kimberly on 8/24/2006 8:45:00 AM


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