Events

LEXINGTON, Ky.―Costumes, actors and sets are multiplied by three this fall as Transylvania University’s theater program ambitiously mounts its first repertory theater season, packing nine performances into 11 days. “Repertory implies the same cast in all the shows,” explains Sullivan Canaday White, assistant professor of theater and the theater program director. “However, we are rotating all the student actors and the directors for each show. That means we can have first-year students in major roles and no overlap among the actors and technicians. “There is one exception: Sophomore theater major Olivia Luken will stage manage two shows.” A total of 30 students will present three plays that range from drama to comedy. All performances will be in Transylvania’s Lucille C. Little Theater. Kevin Kling’s “Lloyd’s Prayer” opens the trilogy of productions. Directed by White, the comedy is a parable about Bob the raccoon boy and what happens to him when he is “rescued” from his raccoon family. Kling, a playwright and storyteller known for his popular commentaries on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” will visit Transylvania in February to deliver a one-man performance. Sheila Callahan’s “Crumble (Lay Me Down Justin Timberlake)” confronts themes of loss, aging and adolescent hardship. Directed by senior classics and history major Tori Lantrip, the hilarious although disturbing production finds young Janice and her mother in a dilapidated apartment without much hope—except for visitations from their celebrity crushes, Justin Timberlake and Harrison Ford. Meanwhile, the

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LEXINGTON, Ky—Nationally known alt-folk rocker and 2000 Transylvania University graduate Mark Heidinger returns to campus Thursday, Sept. 19, for a free concert and lecture. Heidinger performs under the name Vandaveer with a cycling cast of band members, the latest being co-vocalist Rose Guerin, whose voice has been compared to Emmylou Harris’. Currently on a national tour, the duo will perform murder ballads from the CD Oh, Willie, Please. Last year, the web-based 78 Project asked Heidinger to select public domain songs and record them with a single microphone and a 1930s Presto direct-to-acetate disk recorder. Originally the plan was to record the well-known murder ballad “Pretty Polly.” Although the band ended up covering another ballad, Heidinger was attracted by the “darker side of the human condition” and went on to record 11 murder ballads for this new release. Reflecting on his time as an English major at Transylvania, Heidinger says, “I began to learn how to read and think critically, as an adult. You apply that to your artistic trade almost inherently at that point. You become a chief and strident critic of your own writing. Beyond exposing me to important writers and great writing, the English department taught me how to think.” Transylvania art professor Kurt Gohde created the album artwork for Vandaveer’s 2007 release Grace and Speed. Heidinger will talk about the formation of the band and sources of inspiration for Oh, Willie Please during a lecture Thursday,

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