Theatre & Dance and Tennessee Shakespeare Co.
together for the summer
The University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance is happy to announce a very special summer partnership with Tennessee Shakespeare Company. The end of the spring semester usually means a quiet and still theatre building during the summer months but not this summer – the rehearsal rooms and scene shop are bursting with so much energy and excitement preparing for a co-production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream running on the U of M Mainstage June 6 – 21 with previews June 4 and 5. Several U of M students and alumni are working side by side with seasoned professionals from Tennessee Shakespeare Company and guests from around the country. It is an incredible opportunity for university students to work in a professional setting and to experience Actor's Equity Union rehearsals. U of M students involved are Jon Castro, Jason Eschhofen, Megan Gardner, Roman Kalei, Kaitlyn Maurer and Emily Grace McCormick as well as recent alums David Hammons, Charisse Norment, Paul Revaz and Jerry Rogers.
The partnership also includes a new venture for Tennessee Shakespeare Company as they collaborate with NYC's Theatrical Rights Worldwide to showcase three musical works in progress in Showplace Memphis.
"Two years ago," says Holly Lau, Chairwoman of U of M's Department of Theatre & Dance," Dan McCleary and Stephanie Shine met with me and offered to conduct an audition and cast students in their production of Romeo and Juliet. What a positive experience that was! Meanwhile, I mentioned our theatre lay dormant in the summer. Dan immediately began 'dreaming' up this deeper partnership.
"TSC and U of M are sharing strengths, resources, and vision; and it enhances both organizations. I am thrilled that our students share the stage with TSC professional artists, that gifted alums have come back from afar, and that our faculty designers are adding their creative magic. The halls are not silent this summer – they are alive with verse and song. It is sublime!"
University of Memphis Department of Theatre & Dance
The University of Memphis' Department of Theatre & Dance offers both the BFA and MFA
degrees in theatre and is successfully training our next generation of theatre artists.
The Department mounts a full season of plays and dance concerts in a variety of performance
venues, large and small. With an emphasis on diversity and a breadth of experience
only the performing arts can provide, the Department of Theatre & Dance provides audiences
with the best in local theatre and dance. Upcoming productions feature a delightful
mix of comedy and drama, music and dance.
Tennessee Shakespeare Company
Tennessee Shakespeare Company is a professional 501(c)(3) theatre and education organization which performs the plays of William Shakespeare indoors and outdoors seasonally; performs classical and Southern writers seasonally; and provides year-round educational and training programming. Now in its seventh season, Tennessee Shakespeare Company seeks to sustain a Mid-South classical theatre that both nurtures artists and encourages audiences to exaltation, curiosity, and wonderment; be a center for the community dedicated to re-discovering faith in life by increasing awareness of reality and expanding imagination through an emphasis on the performance, education, and training of William Shakespeare's works. For more information: www.tnshakespeare.org.