Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Selected “Best Musical of the 20th Century,” by TIME magazine, “Carousel” is the enduring effort to overcome prejudice, greed, and self-doubt. Transylvania’s theater and music programs’ production features 26 students in the classic roles and another 17 in the orchestra conducted by music professor Ben Hawkins. The beloved classic runs Thursday, May 15 through Saturday, May 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium. Tickets are $10. Written in 1945, “Carousel” was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s second collaboration, following “Oklahoma!” in 1943. With an overture that is visually evocative as well as musically exciting, a love duet between two characters who never admit they are in love with each other and the suicide of a main character who is later seen in Heaven, “Carousel” has a strong set of real characters, a fast-paced plot and a powerful theme of forgiveness and redemption through genuine caring and love. The lyrics suggest a specific time and place, and Transylvania’s sets, costumes and lights echo that New England atmosphere while also giving the production a transcendent and surreal mood. “The basic concept I’ve been following in directing the musical is the need to find some balance between rigid conformity and absolute independence,” said director and drama professor Tim Soulis. “There is much in the script to suggest that those who only conform to societal expectations are just as lost as those who seek total freedom. A carousel is fun, but also predictable and you

Read “Transylvania’s theater and music programs present Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece “Carousel”; opens May 15 for three night run”

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania Theater presents “Closer,” a play by Patrick Marber, Thursday, April 10 – Saturday, April 12 in the Lucille C. Little Theater. This powerful drama of contemporary relationships features four actors in disturbing, haunting and poignant portrayals of longing and betrayal. “Closer” is for mature audiences only. “‘Closer’ is an intense drama about relationships among four characters in contemporary London,” said Tim Soulis, director and Transylvania drama professor. “The play is extremely well-written, innovative in its presentational style and honest in its depiction of modern love triangles, fidelity and betrayal.” “TIME” said of Marber’s play that, “‘Closer’ is a bruising dissection of modern relationships, in which sex is the subject even when it’s not, honesty is frequently not the best policy and people with choices almost always make the wrong one.” The “San Francisco Examiner” wrote, “Bitingly comic but unavoidably poignant, curiously compassionate in the midst of its pervasive cynicism, ‘Closer’ belies the implied promise of its title with a look at love as a game of sexual musical chairs.” Marber also wrote the screenplay for the 2004 film adaptation of his play, starring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Jude Law. Tickets are $10 and are on sale in the Little Theater box office Monday- Friday, 1:30-4 p.m. Call (859) 281-3621 for tickets.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Several Transylvania music programs are offering concerts this week that are all free and open to the public. Monday, March 31: flute studio recital, 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater. Tuesday, April 1: chamber orchestra concert, 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater. Thursday, April 3: concert band concert, 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater. Friday, April 4: Transylvania Singers, Pioneer Voices and Transylvania Choir concert, 7:30 p.m., Haggin Auditorium. Monday, April 7: jazz band concert, 7:30 p.m., Carrick Theater. For more information, contact the public relations office at (859) 233-8120.

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Frank Edens, professor of poultry science at North Carolina State University, will give a lecture on the sustainability of human health Thursday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Haggin Auditorium. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is the second in this year’s Alltech Lecture Series at Transylvania. At no time in history has our food chain had a more important role in influencing health. Our agricultural practices, the care and management of food producing animals and our food processing techniques all influence the value of our foods and ultimately our health and quality of life. Edens’ lecture will raise awareness of the relationship between human health and quality of the food chain and will describe some facts in the food chain that contribute to our view of health and the quality of life. Edens will join Transylvania professors Sharon Brown, exercise science, and Kathleen Jagger, biology, and University of Kentucky professor emeritus James Drummond, oral pathology, for a panel discussion and question and answer session following the lecture. For more information, call the Transylvania public relations office at (859) 233-8120.