Students with a taste for the arts will be glad to hear that the Ent Center is hosting a variety of Theatreworks plays this season, in addition to other events and forums that will showcase local and emerging creatives in the visual and performing arts.
Theatreworks productions will include “Lumberjacks in Love” and “Little Women,” which will be showing from Sep. 15 to Oct. 9 and Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, respectively.
According to the Theatreworks webpage, “Lumberjacks in Love,” a musical written by Fred Alley and James Kaplan, “promises a heart of gold wrapped in layers of cross-dressing, mistaken identities, romantic entanglements, high-country hijinks, and of course more flannel than Breckenridge in September.”
The uniquely genderqueer approach that this musical will take to the original production is highlighted by creative director Caitlin Lowans, who in the show’s preview said, “This play is about five lumberjacks living alone in a camp in the woods without — they think — a woman around for miles, [when] on one of the lumberjack’s 40th birthday some surprising things and hijinks start to happen around lumberjacks and romance.”
Lowans, who has directed over 50 other productions in New England, Chicago and Colorado, will be accompanied by musical director Jerry McCauley II and choreographer Dottie White. The cast will play their own musical instruments in the show and sing a refreshingly rustic song about “a buncha naked lumberjacks chopping down trees.”
Students are encouraged to show up and celebrate these lumberjacks in all of their flannel glory this September, and attend the opening panel that will take place on Sep. 18 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre.
The Theatreworks rendition of “Little Women,” which was written by Kate Hamill and will be directed by “Twelfth Night” director Kathryn Walsh, is another highly anticipated fall 2022 production. The play adapts the beloved novel of the same name by critically acclaimed female author Louisa May Alcott.
While the details of this production — including the cast — are still unclear, Walsh expressed in the show’s preview that “this adaptation of ‘Little Women’ highlights … the way that everyone in this family is imperfect and struggling in their own way.” While the March sisters work hard to help one another and lift each other up, Walsh emphasized how “they don’t fix one another, or make everything okay.”
“Everyone in the family really gets to be their own person,” Walsh said. “Everyone has to work through their own struggles of their own character or their own circumstances, and I think that’s just a beautiful part of both the book and this play.”
According to the Theatreworks webpage, lovers of this classic story are encouraged to “follow the March siblings’ coming of age and reflect on the rousing joys and trials of finding your place” through Walsh’s fresh stage adaption, which will also be accompanied with an opening panel on Nov. 27th from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theatre.
Other events and forums being hosted by the Ent Center this season, including local adaptations of “Tuck Everlasting” and “Amélie,” can be found on the Ent Center event calendar.
Students can access Theatreworks productions for free using their student ID number and can request tickets in person or over the phone at 719-255-8181. Questions or concerns can be emailed to [email protected].
Photo courtesy of crej.com.