Spelling, songs and soul: ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ buzzes into Transy
Transylvania’s theater and music students bring “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” to campus Nov. 19-23.
Transylvania’s theater and music students bring “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” to campus Nov. 19-23.
Sure, students can learn German theater without leaving home, but in the spirit of Transylvania’s experiential May term, a class headed to Berlin to see what it’s like for themselves.
The Transylvania and Bluegrass Community and Technical College theater departments are teaming up for Wednesday’s “The Raid by Idris Goodwin: A Staged Reading Performance.”
After working for theater programs throughout the country—from the Utah Shakespeare Festival to The Juilliard School in New York City—Micah Daniel Bennett soon will return to the Bluegrass as the newest addition to Transylvania University’s theater program. Bennett, who was raised in central Kentucky and attended Eastern Kentucky University, will begin this fall as instructor of theater/production and technical coordinator. “His dedication to research in sustainable methods to create theater, and his professional work with companies across the country—along with the connections he made with our students during a campus visit—made quite an impression on all of us,” said Tosha Fowler, who joined the department this school year as Lucille C. Little Chair of Theater and program director. “He not only will have a lot to offer our university, but he also will be an important contributor to the professional Lexington theater industry.” Bennett, a technical director and designer finishing his Master of Fine Arts degree at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, also has worked for the Santa Fe Opera; McLeod Summer Playhouse in Illinois; and The Public Theater and Signature Theatre, both in New York City. “With Daniel joining us, the theater program is going to soar to new heights,” Fowler said.
Transylvania’s theater season kicks off Nov. 1 with an irreverent, contemporary, and very funny remix of Chekhov’s The Seagull by playwright Aaron Posner.