Terrance saw way more shows than I did in 2023 so he takes the lead on this one. I will share a few of my thoughts at the end, and there were many more shows in this Valley that we weren't able to make it to. When it comes to theatre, this Valley is blessed!
Godspell: A stage musical based on the Book of Matthew in the New Testament, conceived and originally directed by John-Michael Tebelak, with music and new lyrics (Some lyrics are taken from hymnals and Biblical scriptures. Two songs are by Peggy Gordon and Jay Hamburger: “Day by Day,” from the Off-Off-Broadway version, and “Beautiful City, which was written for the 1973 movie.) by Stephen Schwartz.
This weekend FPU’s production of Emma opens. We took a moment to chat about the show with the show’s director, Brooke Aiello, who is an adjunct professor and the Staff Costume Designer/Shop Foreman at FPU.
FPU seems to pick plays that make you think-which is something I really like. This fall’s play, Falling, does just that.
Fresno Pacific University's spring musical is the classic musical Guys and Dolls, and it is being presented at the Selma Arts Center. It opened last night, and is only playing this weekend.
Twelfth Night is one of my favorite plays by William Shakespeare. It is a comedy that is believed to have been written around 1601-02 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. So it seems appropriate that it be the fall play presented by Fresno Pacific Theater.
Sarah Thompson will be leading a Nonviolent Action Workshop this Friday, November 3 from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Reedley Peace Center, 1208 L Street in Reedley, and at Fresno Pacific University on November 4 at North Hall on the campus from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Over the last five years Sarah has trained people of faith and moral courage in nonviolent direct action preparation. Most recently she was the Executive Director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen has always been one of my favorite plays despite the fact that I had never actually seen a production of it. I read it in a Modern World Literature class, and I fell in love with the characters and the way that Ibsen presented something he saw as a problem in his society: the standards of society that kept people (especially women) from doing what they actually wanted to do and enjoying their life. While this doesn’t seem very shocking, Ibsen wrote this play in the late 1800s Norway, and it was very forward thinking for the time. I was excited to find out that The New Ensemble was putting on a production of it, and I loved finally getting to watch it.
The first thing many people think of when they hear the term "defying gravity" is the song from the musical Wicked. However, in the play Defying Gravity, now on stage at Fresno Pacific University, the term means exactly what it says--actually defying gravity by going into space.
Another wonderful year of Valley theatre is behind us, and it is time again to take a look back. 2016 was filled with Valley premieres, musical classics, and amazing performances--too many to mention them all, but here are a few.
