Today@Sam Article

Two Student Productions Debuting In April

March 28, 2019
SHSU Media Contact: Wes Hamilton

Written by: Laura Avery

Sam Houston State University’s Department of Theatre and Musical Theatre is presenting two new shows beginning April 2.

“The Mountaintop,” by playwright Katori Hall, is a defiant poke in the eye of all historical conventions and political correctness. Part of the Director’s Debut Series, this play is directed by senior BFA Musical Theatre student Cameron Khalil Stokes.

Showing in the Showcase Theatre April 2, 4 and 6 with evening performances at 7:30 p.m. and a Saturday matinee performance at 2:00 p.m.

April 3, 1968. Memphis. The Lorraine Motel. Room 306. Tomorrow, it will become the scene of one of our nation’s greatest losses. But tonight, it is just another stop over motel for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “The Mountaintop” is a gripping reimagining of events the night before the assassination of the great civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After delivering one of his most memorable speeches, “I’ve been to the mountaintop,” an exhausted Dr. King retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel to rest before another long day of campaigning. While a storm rages outside, a mysterious stranger arrives with some surprising news. Dr. King is forced to confront his destiny, his legacy, his fears, his mortality. “The Mountaintop” reveals a very different side of Dr. Martin Luther King: a man who is tired and flawed, yet is an inspiration.

“I’ve wanted to direct this show for seven years and I’m so glad to be given the opportunity to tell this story,” Student Director Cameron Khalil said. “The play is set in an alternate dimension so I get to combine two things I really love: Black History and Sci-Fi.”

For ticket information, contact the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 936.294.2339 or visit www.shsutickets.com to purchase your tickets online. Admission tickets are $10.

The Showcase Theatre is located in the University Theatre Center at 1740 Bobby K. Marks Drive and 17th street between the Newton Gresham Library and the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center.

For interviews, please contact Cameron Khalil Stokes at CKS014@SHSU.EDU.

“Eleemosynary,” by Lee Blessing, explores three generations of highly intelligent and freethinking women as they attempt to reconcile years of family dysfunction. The title of the show comes from the winning word that one of the characters spelled correctly at the National Spelling Bee. Part of the Director’s Debut Series, this play is directed by senior BFA Musical Theatre student Cara Fowler

Showing in the Showcase Theatre April 3, 5 and 6 with evening performances at 7:30 p.m.

“Eleemosynary” won the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in 1997 for its penetrating study of the interactions among three remarkable women of the Wesbrook family: a young girl, her mother, and her grandmother. As their relationships with one another are examined, we see how tensions can stress a family to its breaking point. The play presents fragmented vignettes of the lives of the three women as they struggle to define themselves both as individuals and as part of a family unit. In this poignant and mature study of familial relationships, the play highlights the human need for connection and forgiveness. In the end, the women come to accept their mutual need for each other and summon the courage to try, at last, to build a life together—despite the risks and terrors that this holds for both of them after so many years of alienation and estrangement.

“Working with this group of women has been life changing,” said Student Director Cara Fowler “They inspire me to be the best director and human being I can be every day.”

For ticket information, contact the Performing Arts Center Box Office at 936.294.2339 or visit www.shsutickets.com to purchase your tickets online. Admission tickets are $10.

The Showcase Theatre is located in the University Theatre Center at 1740 Bobby K. Marks Drive and 17th street between the Newton Gresham Library and the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center.

For interviews, please contact Cara Fowler at CLF041@SHSU.EDU.

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