The Muhlenberg College Department of Theatre & Dance will open its 2012-13 Mainstage season later this month, 
with the first of seven theater productions and three dance concerts. Last September, the department was named the No. 1 theater production program in the country for 2012, by The Princeton Review.
The season is as follows:
œ44 Plays for 44 Presidents
Sept. 29 “ Oct. 3
by The Neo-Futurists
production artistic director: Troy Dwyer
in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
This raucous theatrical mosaic of the U.S. presidency tours the audience through a fractured funhouse of 44 short, non-realist plays, each inspired by a different president. The plays range in length from seconds to several minutes, in tone from poetic to slapstick, and in style from song-and-dance to cowboy western.
Performances are Sept. 29 through Oct. 3: Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Monday through Wednesday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Saturday, Sept. 29, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 30, 2 and 8 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 1, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 2, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.
œOn the Town
Oct. 26 “ Nov. 4
music by Leonard Bernstien
book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
based on an idea by Jerome Robbins
directed by Charles Richter; musical director, Ed Bara; choreographer, Karen Dearborn
in the Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts
œOn the Town is a love letter to the Big Apple by four iconic talents of the American musical theater. Three sailors looking for love and excitement on a one-day pass in New York City, in this 1940s blockbuster, featuring superb dancing, a gorgeous musical score, and zingy, hilarious book and lyrics.
Performances are Oct. 26 through Nov. 4: Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26-27, at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, Nov. 1-2 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 3 at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 4, at 2 p.m.. Tickets are $22. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Friday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 27, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 28, 2 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2 p.m.
œMoving Stories
Nov. 15-17
Student-choreographed dance
Artistic director Karen Dearborn
in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Original dance pieces by upperclass students in the nationally acclaimed Muhlenberg College Dance Program span a variety of genres and styles.
Performances are Nov. 15-17: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Thursday, Nov. 15, 8 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 16, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2 and 8 p.m.
œThe Bourgeois Pig
Nov. 28 “ Dec. 2
A World Premiere Play
by Brighde Mullins
directed by Beth Schachter
in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Its 1978 Los Angeles, and the Riley family is trying hard to hang on”to their hopes and to each other”in the face of serious dysfunction. Jack, the father, is a brilliant but damaged former war photographer-turned-reluctant paparazzi. His ex-wife cant face the reality of a failed acting career. Their daughters cope with the fallout of their parents struggles. This funny and powerful new play by Guggenheim Fellow Brighde Mullins explores the power of the image”on the page and in the public eye.
Performances are Nov. 28 through Dec. 2: Wednesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 29, 8 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 1, 2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2 p.m.
œMaster Choreographers
Feb. 7-9, 2013
artistic director Karen Dearborn
in the Empie Theatre, Baker Center for the Arts
A spectacular evening of ballet, contemporary dance, tap and jazz, œMaster Choreographers showcases exciting new dance works by nationally and internationally acclaimed guest artists and faculty. This years concert features a restaging of part of œViva Vivaldi, the Joffrey Ballets signature work, restaged by Trinette Singleton, co-artistic director of Repertory Dance Company and longtime Joffrey dancer.
Performances are Feb. 7-9: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Thursday, Feb. 7, 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2 and 8 p.m.
œBartholomew Fair
Feb. 21-24, 2013
by Ben Jonson
directed by Kevin Crawford
in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Ben Jonsons 1614 play is a noisy exuberant slice of Jacobean life, pitting the excesses of Puritanism against the cruder vices of the fairs underclass. The production features a new musical score by Caroline Boersma, based on traditional folk melodies, and a faculty spotlight performance by Holly Cate.
Performances are Feb. 21-24: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Thursday, Feb. 21, 8 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 22, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2 p.m.
œNew Visions Directors Festival
March 20-24, 2013
in the Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
œIphigenia and Other Daughters
by Ellen McLaughlin
directed by Danielle Barlow
œMental Landscapes: An Evening of One-Act Plays
featuring: œThe Man Who Turned Into a Stick, by Kobo Abe, directed by Jimmy Morgan; œIntermission, by Will Eno, directed by Abby Wylan; and œRough for Theatre II, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Riva Rubenoff
œIphigenia and Other Daughters, McLaughlins poetic modern adaptation of the legend of Agamemnon and the aftermath of the Trojan War, offers a bold, provocative feminist perspective on a story of lust, fury, sacrifice and rebellion.
In œMental Landscapes, three of Muhlenbergs most accomplished student directors present an evening of life, death and absurdity.
Performances are March 20-24. œIphigenia will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 7 p.m., Thursday and Saturday at 10 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.. œMental Landscapes will be performed Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m., Thursday at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 for either production, or $20 for both. Youth and campus tickets are $8 for either production, or $12 for both, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Wednesday, March 20: œIphigenia at 7 p.m., œMental Landscapes at 10 p.m.
Thursday, March 21: œMental Landscapes at 7 p.m., œIphigenia at 10 p.m.
Friday, March 22: œIphigenia at 7 p.m., œMental Landscapes at 10 p.m.
Saturday, March 23: œMental Landscapes at 2 and 7 p.m., œIphigenia at 10 p.m.
Sunday, March 24: œIphigenia at 2 p.m.
œDance Emerge
April 18-21, 2013
Student-choreographed dance
Artistic directors Jeffrey Peterson and Teresa VanDenend Sorge
in the Dance Studio Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Original dance pieces by upperclass students in the nationally acclaimed Muhlenberg College Dance Program span a variety of genres and styles.
Performances are April 18-21: Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Thursday, April 18, 8 p.m.
Friday, April 19, 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 20, 2 and 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 21, 8 p.m.
œThe Marriage of Figaro
April 25-28, 2013
by Beaumarchais
directed by Francine Roussel
in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance
Writing a few years before the French Revolution, Beaumarchais pours his rage at the aristocracy into a comedy of class and sexual inequality that manages equal parts hilarity and outrage. First produced in 1784, this play about plots, assignations, and the œdroit du seigneur served as the inspiration for Mozarts famous 1786 opera.
Performances are April 25-28: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. Youth and campus tickets are $8, including students, faculty and staff of all LVAIC colleges.
Thursday, April 25, 8 p.m.
Friday, April 26, 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 27, 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 28, 2 p.m.
All venues are at the Muhlenberg College performing arts complex, 2400 Chew Street, Allentown, 18104. Tickets are available at the box office, on the first floor of the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance, or at 484-664-3333, Monday through Friday noon to 6 p.m. and two hours before each performance. Tickets and information are available online at muhlenberg.edu/theatre&dance.
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