Category: Theatre

Comedian Josh Blue Headlines Winter Carnival

Josh Blue is tc5124d211b7c56334cb44e5dd81e5e9a3e5cdd12his year’s Winter Carnival Comedian. The Rozsa Center, Student Entertainment Board, Blue Key Honor Society, and the MUB Board have partnered again this year to present the Winter Carnival Comedian.

Perhaps best known as the comedian who puts the cerebral in cerebral palsy, he will perform at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9 at the Rozsa Center. Blue centers much of his self-deprecating act around his disability. He exploded onto the national comedy scene by capturing the attention and endearment of the country as the winner of “Last Comic Standing.”

Having already established himself as one of the most sought-after comedians on the college circuit, his weekly appearances on “Last Comic” in the summer of 2006 expanded his fan base exponentially. In 2011, Josh starred in “Comedy Central Presents: Josh Blue,” which received rave reviews from fans and critics alike.

Most recently, Blue debuted a one-hour comedy special on Showtime, “Sticky Change,” where he cracks jokes and tells stories about everything from being a white African-American, to dealing with cabbies who think he’ll pay in sticky change. The special is currently available on Netflix. He has appeared twice on “Ron White’s Comedy Salute to the Troops” on CMT and made his late-night television debut on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

Blue was the first comedian to perform stand-up on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” was named Best Winning Reality Show Guest for his appearance on “Live with Regis and Kelly” and made a standout guest appearance on “Comics Unleashed.”

He was a member of the US Paralympic Soccer Team and competed in Athens at the Paralympic Games, the world’s second largest sporting event. Blue is a single father living in Denver, Colorado with his son, Simon and daughter, Seika.

Tickets are on sale now, $15 general admission and no charge for Michigan Tech students. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Rozsa Box Office the evening of the performance. The Rozsa Box Office opens two hours prior to performances.

Faculty, Students Win at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival

IMG_1272.JPGKent Cyr was recognized at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region III with a faculty service award for Innovative Teaching. The KCACTF Region III festival was held in Indianapolis, Indiana, January 9-14 at the University of Indianapolis. The goal of the festival is to encourage, recognize, and celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in university and college theater programs.

Also, a number of our Visual and Performing Arts students were recognized. Congratulations!

Design Storm!

Student consults with other designers, dramaturg, and director to create a key scene in a play, prepare initial sketches, basic ground plan/rendering, and discusses how the design illustrates personal ideas and production intention/concept.

  • Hunter Storie (Scene Design) and Ethan Troyer (Dramaturgy) Most Wretched Deathbed Dreams of Edgar Allen Poe

Regional Design Projects

Regional Design Projects are intended to serve Region III student designers with the opportunity to showcase their work for non-realized design projects, and to receive a response to their work that will help them improve their design skills and grow as designers. Seven students presented in Sound Design and two in Costume Design.

  • Sarah Calvert (Winner), His Dark Materials, Sound Design
  • Noah Schumaker (Finalist), Insurrection, Sound Design
  • David Brown (Finalist), Galileo, Sound Design

Realized Design Projects

National-eligible for consideration in all design areas. Winners are invited to present at the Kennedy Center National Festival in April.  Three students participated and two were finalists.

  • Chris Wilson (Finalist), Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Music Composition
  • Alex Weber (Finalist), West Side Story, Lighting Design

Tech Olympics Individual Best Times

Performance is judged on time and/or accuracy in setup, skill, and performance.

  • Kity Williams and Brendan Espinosa, Sound
  • Ryan Nickolas and Hunter Stori, Lighting
  • Alex Weber and Jack Horrigan, Knots
  • Lexa Walker and Jason Scott, Costumes and Props

The Games of The Technological Olympiad Overall

  • Alex Weber and Jack Horrigan, Third Place
  • Ryan Nickolas and Hunter Storie, Second Place
  • Lexa Walker and Jason Scott, First Place

LA Theatre Works Presents “The Mountaintop” at Rozsa

Martin Luther King 50 years of the dreamThis year, in conjunction with Michigan Tech’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, and the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts and Michigan Tech’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion present LA Theatre Work’s brand new production of Katori Hall’s “The Mountaintop.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside room 306 of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. What happened inside room 306 the night before the killing is a mystery. In her internationally acclaimed play, Hall imagines what may have transpired in the overnight hours between the legendary civil rights leader and a seemingly inconsequential hotel maid.

“The Mountaintop” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23 at the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. Immediately following the play, there will be a panel discussion and Q & A in the Rozsa lobby with student members of Michigan Tech’s National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), members of the cast and staff from the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Beverages and dessert will be served.

“The Mountaintop,” is directed by award-winner Shirley Jo Finney and stars Gilbert Glenn Brown (CBS TV’s “The Inspectors” and the upcoming feature film “The Best of Enemies”) and Karen Malina White (“The Cosby Show,” “A Different World,” “Malcolm and Eddie”). The production will travel to 38 cities across the United States.

This performance is supported in part through funding from the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest, generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional contributions from the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the Crane Group. Also sponsored by WGGL, Minnesota Public Radio and Michigan Tech’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

Tickets are on sale now: $22.00 for adult, $10.00 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech Students with the Experience Tech Fee. To purchase tickets in advance, call 7-2073, go online at mtu.edu/rozsa, or visit ticketing operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC). Tickets will also be available at the Rozsa Box office the evening of the performance.

Alumnus Appears in Skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Curtis Fortier speakingMichigan Technological University alumnus Curtis Fortier, BSME ’91 and MSME ’94, currently working as an actor and comedian in Los Angeles, was featured on the ABC late night program “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

Fortier was in a skit that spoofed a recent incident on the game show “Jeopardy.”

While at Michigan Tech, Fortier was active in theatre productions and was a member of “The Troupe” improvisational comedy group. He was the 1991 winner of the Claire M. Donovan award, the last current student to be so honored.

In the skit, Fortier is seated at the far right and is featured at the very end with rap artist Coolio. Watch the skit here.

Michigan Tech Theatre Company presents “Fires in the Mirror”

Fires in the Mirror chronicles the viewpoints of people from two different communities, Black and Jewish, connected directly and indirectly to the Crown Heights riot which occurred in Brooklyn in August 1991.

How can these things happen? A child is hit by a car while playing on the sidewalk. In retaliation, a young man is stabbed to death. A community turns inward upon itself, setting neighbor against neighbor. Can an out-of-balance world be set right?

Smith interviewed members of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights Community and using their own words assembled a retelling of their solemn road from hate and violence to understanding. “Fires in the Mirror” is an unusual evening of theatre taking us to the heart of disaster and understanding and bringing us home safe.

Performances of Fires in the Mirror were held by Michigan Tech Theatre Company, comprised of students and community members, on Wednesday and Thursday, November 15-16, 2017 with additional performances Nov. 30, Dec. 1-2 at the McArdle Theater, in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts on the campus of Michigan Tech.

Tickets for all our performances are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or on the night of each performance at the McArdle Theatre beginning one hour prior to show time. There is no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee.

PUSH Physical Theatre Brings “Dracula” to Rozsa Saturday

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 10.19.52 AMJust in time for Halloween, Bram stoker’s “Dracula” comes to the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts. The classic tale of seduction, desire and madness from the masters of motion theatre.

PUSH Physical Theatre’s “Dracula” is an acrobatic spectacle like nothing you have ever seen, a groundbreaking, thrilling and unforgettable ride into the warped world of one of literature’s most famous villains. “Dracula” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 21), at the Rozsa Center.

It’s “un-theatre.” Intense athleticism, gravity-defying acrobatics and soulful artistry—award-winning PUSH Physical Theatre, the genre-defining masters of physical storytelling, express what it means to be human: the joy and sorrow, humor and tragedy, the big questions and the simple things.

Experience PUSH Physical Theatre’s all new adaptation of the classic horror story. In his hunt for immortality, Renfield stumbles upon the Amulet of the Vampir, a lost jewel buried in the legend of Dracula, The Master. Caged in a cell and under the watchful eye of The Doctor, Renfield uncovers the secrets of eternal life as a mysterious Maiden arrives at the asylum.

As the ties that bind the living and the dead begin to unravel, the lines between heroes and the devil begin to blur.

And, an added bonus: Come for the show, stay for the party! Keweenaw Young Professionals Present Cocktails After Dark, a Dracula after-party, in the Rozsa lobby, free for anyone with a ticket to Dracula. Enjoy a cash bar with Dracula-themed drinks, snacks, a “Dracula’s Lair” photo booth, and meet the cast of Push Physical Theatre’s Dracula.

Tickets for Dracula at the Rozsa Center are on sale now, $22 for adults, $10 for youth (PG-13), and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or at the Rozsa box office the night of the show.

Note: The Rozsa box office opens only two hours before performances.

Michigan Tech Theatre Company performs Picasso at the Lapin Agile

picasso at lapin agile 2The Michigan Tech Theatre Company will perform the Steve Martin comedy “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” again this week. Performance are at 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow (Oct. 18) Thursday and Friday (Oct. 19-20) in the McArdle Theatre in the Walker Art and Humanities Center.

Tickets are $13 for adults, $5 for youth and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at 7-2073, online, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex or on the night of each performance at the McArdle Theatre, beginning one hour prior to showtime.

Art or science, what has more power to change the future?

picasso at lapin agile 2Tech Theatre presents Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile

Art or science, what has more power to change the future? Come, have drinks with Einstein and Picasso, at the Lapin Agile, a bar in 1904 Paris, as delightfully imagined by actor, comic, musician, and yes, playwright, Steve Martin. In his first full-length play, Martin puts Picasso and Einstein on a funny and poignant collision-course to drink, laugh, and debate the genius and imagination that inspires both. Members of the audience can even “drink” at the bar! There will be seats at the café tables for a few lucky audience members each night, with refreshments and snacks served as part of the performance. Tech Theatre, Directed by Christopher Plummer, Professor, Visual and Performing Art,  presents Picasso at the Lapin Agile, a thoughtfully comedic look at the power of imagination at the start of the 20th Century, from the perspective of two giants of their time. The show will run for two weeks, Thursday – Saturday, October 12 – 14, and Wednesday – Friday, October 18 -20, at 7:30 pm in the McArdle Theatre.

A long-running and popular Off-Broadway play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile began with a first reading of the play at Steve Martin’s home. Tom Hanks read the role of Picasso, and Chris Sarandon read Einstein. Following further development, the play opened at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago on October 13, 1993. The show then enjoyed a successful run in Los Angeles and then made its way to New York City. The New York Times wrote, “It’s important to remember that the playwright of Picasso at the Lapin Agile is Steve Martin, stand-up comic, actor, writer, banjo player and something of a genius in his own right. So when big questions are being addressed, you can be sure that a layer of silliness is always in place (and, subversively, a layer of seriousness beneath that).”

 According to Alexandra Walker, Tech Theatre’s stage manager for Lapin Agile, “The play explores the question ‘what is the power of genius?’ As Picasso and Einstein argue over who will be able to change the century more with their work, we come to the conclusion: Both art and science are important, summed up in the words of Freddie, the Lapin Agile bartender/owner Freddie, proposing a toast with his patrons: ‘No movement will be as beautiful as the note across the staff, the line across the paper, or the idea across the mind.’”

Tickets are on sale now, $13 for adults, $5 for youth, and no charge for Michigan Tech students with the Experience Tech fee. Tickets are available by phone at (906) 487-2073, online at mtu.edu/rozsa, in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex, or the night of the show at the McArdle door, which opens one hour prior to performances.

Rozsa Calendars for 2017-18 Season Now Available

20170911_122723Rozsa Center calendars for the 2017-2018 season are now available — both full-size wall calendars and the handy pocket/desk calendars!

Featured this year are 12 Rozsa Presenting Series events, more than 33 Visual and Performing Arts events including music, theater and visual arts and the ever-popular 41 North Film festival.

Season Ticket Packages are on sale now, with the best discounts available on all the season has to offer! There are four Season Ticket Package options this year, offering savings of 18 to 37 percent off single-ticket prices.

Single-ticket sales begin Sept. 1. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Michigan Tech Ticketing Services at the Central Ticket Office (SDC), at 7-2073, or visit our website.

You can pick up one of each or both at the Rozsa Center or at any of the more than 120 local Houghton and Hancock businesses who display and distribute them each year.

For Michigan Tech faculty and staff, we would like to make it easy for you to get your copies of the calendars. If you would like a calendar delivered directly to your campus mailbox, please click on this link and fill out the google form. We will gladly send a calendar to you in inter-campus mail.