Tag: Department of Theatre and Dance


‘42nd Street’ Goes to Mobile

From the April 2015 Desktop News | The Department of Theatre and Dance staged a performance of the award-winning musical “42nd Street” to a nearly sold-out house at the Mobile Civic Center on April 9. Performances are also being held in Tuscaloosa at the Marian Gallaway Theatre April 14-19. Some 60 UA students and faculty traveled to Mobile to present the full-scale musical. This is the third time the department has taken a large-scale production to a major Alabama city […]

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Tennessee Williams Tribute

From the March 2015 Desktop News | UA theatre students performed dramatic readings from the plays of Tennessee Williams March 2-3 as part of a tribute to Williams and his friendship with Dr. Marian Gallaway, longtime professor of theatre at UA. Gallaway and Williams met in 1938 and became lifelong friends. The two-night tribute included performances in Demopolis and Tuscaloosa, including a performance in UA’s Marian Gallaway Theatre, which was named after Gallaway in 1976. The performances were sponsored by […]

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Anthony Braxton to Visit UA Feb. 18-25

From the February 2015 Desktop News | Legendary musician and composer Anthony Braxton will spend Feb. 18-25 at UA working with College of Arts and Sciences students and faculty as part of a weeklong residency presented by the Sonic Frontiers concert series. This event is the first major residency by Braxton in the Southeastern United States and will be one of the largest retrospectives of his work ever produced. Braxton will work with students from the College’s art, percussion, jazz […]

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Backward Thinking

Sondheim Musical Challenges Performers Merrily We Roll Along, running November 10-16 at the Allen Bales Theatre, is one of Stephen Sondheim’s most experimental musicals. The story of a composer and lyricist and their rise to prominence, Merrily We Roll Along is a show where time runs backward, beginning when the characters were in their 50s, traveling back through important events in their lives. This unique premise creates a challenge to actors, who must convincingly age in reverse onstage. Daniel Hulsizer, […]

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From Vancouver to Hawaii to Australia

From the August 2014 Desktop News | How does it feel to perform before thousands of people every night and wake up in a new country every morning? Jess Berzack has one word for it: incredible. Berzack, a 2014 musical theatre graduate, recently returned from a nine-month contract as a lead singer aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas. The cruise ship sailed from Vancouver to Hawaii before spending the majority of its time in and around Sydney, Australia. Berzack […]

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Dancer Named Film Festival Finalist

From the July 2014 Desktop News | A University of Alabama senior was named among the top 14 choreographers who submitted short, dance-focused films to a national film festival this year. Whitney Thompson, a dance and biology major from St. Clairsville, Ohio, shares the honor with graduate students, teaching assistants and other undergraduates across the country. The Dance Shorts Student Film Festival was the first of its kind and was sponsored by the University of South Florida. It highlighted up-and-coming […]

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Students Named Fulbright Scholars

From the July 2014 Desktop News | Six recent graduates of the College were awarded Fulbright grants from the U.S. State Department to conduct research and teach abroad during the 2014-2015 school year. They were among 1,800 students chosen from a pool of 11,000 applicants nationwide. “For the College to have not one, but six students chosen for prestigious 2014-2015 Fulbright grants speaks very highly not only of these young men and women, but of the College faculty who have […]

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UA Delegation Travels to Greece

From the June 2014 Desktop News | When someone is truly confused by something, they might say “It’s all Greek to me,” but The University of Alabama Greece Initiative is just the opposite; it’s all about furthering understanding and collaboration between UA and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. A group of faculty members from the University recently traveled to Greece to meet with representatives from Aristotle University to discuss potential projects on which faculty from both entities could cooperate. “The Alabama Greece […]

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Gulf Shores Is “All Shook Up”

From the June 2014 Desktop News | In its 11th season, SummerTide Theatre will be shaking things up this summer in Gulf Shores, where The University of Alabama’s professional summer theatre company will present All Shook Up by Joe DiPietro. Performances will run June 6-July 4 Tuesdays through Sundays beginning at 8 p.m. at the George C. Meyer Performing Arts Center. Inspired by and featuring well-loved tunes from Elvis Presley, the production centers around a mysterious stranger who rides into a small […]

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Professors Share Their Philosophies and Practices

From the 2014 Celebrating Excellence | Between teaching classes, conducting researching, sharing their work off-campus and working with students outside the classroom, professors often don’t have time to consider the impact they’re making. For Sarah M. Barry, associate professor of dance, receiving the University’s highest honor for excellence in teaching did just that – it forced her to slow down and made her realize that she is, in fact, doing what she set out to do. “I was so honored […]

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