Tag Archives: Louis Armstrong Theatre

Shakespeare Festival kicks off GVSU’s music, theater offerings

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The Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival is the oldest and largest festival celebrating the Bard’s life and works in Michigan. Now in its 26th season, the festival has attracted thousands of people of all ages to the campuses of Grand Valley State University and to West Michigan to enjoy the legacy of Shakespeare. For more information about the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival, visit gvsu.edu/shakes

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” 

Sept. 27, 28 and Oct. 3, 4 and 5 at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 5 and 6 at 2 p.m.

Louis Armstrong Theatre, Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus

Tickets: $16 for general admission; $7 for students; $14 for seniors and faculty, staff and alumni. For tickets and more information, contact the Louis Armstrong Theatre box office at (616) 331-2300.

Last year, the GVSU Sharkespeare Festival presented “King Lear.” (Supplied)

Shakespeare’s most magical comedy transports us to a moonlit forest where four young lovers flee to escape the cruel law of Athens that would make a daughter choose between marrying the wrong man or being put to death. In the chaos of the night, the lovers find themselves at the mercy of fairies whose dreamlike power operates just below the level of conscious thought, weaving spells around the lovers and making sport with a troupe of bumbling, would-be actors who come to the woods to rehearse their wedding play about star-crossed lovers. The production will be directed by Roger Ellis, professor of theater at Grand Valley.

Other Performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance

For more information about performances from the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, visit gvsu.edu/mtd.

GVSU OPERA THEATRE

“Mother Goose” (a ballet) and “The Naughty Boy” (an opera)

Oct. 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

Peter Martin Wege Theatre, Grand Rapids Ballet Company, 341 Ellsworth Ave. SW, Grand Rapids

Tickets: Grand Rapids Ballet ticket office at 454-4771, ext. 10

This family-friendly pairing of the stories from “Mother Goose” and “The Naughty Boy” (who wouldn’t do his homework) comes from French composer Maurice Ravel. GVSU students and the Junior Company of the Grand Rapids Ballet School will bring this piece to life.

Margarita Denenburg

MUSIC

Guest artist piano recital: Margarita Denenburg

Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus

Margarita Denenburg is widely recognized for her teaching effectiveness. She is associate professor of keyboard studies at Heidelberg University and has written a number of articles about teaching music; she also has presented at several conferences on the same topic.

GVSU Symphony Orchestra side-by-side concert

Oct. 24 at 8 p.m.

Grandville High School, 4700 Canal Ave. SW, Grandville

Admission: Free and open to the public

The GVSU Symphony Orchestra will combine with the Grandville High School Orchestra for a joint concert.

20th/21st Century Piano Festival

Oct. 26, all day

Sherman Van Solkema Hall, Haas Center for Performing Arts, Allendale Campus

Admission: Free and open to the public

This celebration of 20th/21st-century piano music will include student recitals throughout the day. The performances include the premier of a commissioned piece by composer Sun-Young Park, who will also be in residence.

THEATER

ReACT! presents: “My Costume is Not My Consent”

Oct. 30, 8-10 p.m.

Kirkhof Center, Room 0072, Allendale Campus

Grand Valley’s anti-violence theater troupe will use peer theater education methods to work with audience members on how to develop safety strategies for Halloween celebrations. The performance will include discussion and dialogue on how the GVSU community can help prevent sexual assault.

GVSU offers a number of free music and dance programs

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Valentine’s Day may be over, but there are still plenty of fun things to do in the month of February, all of which are free and open to the public. Grand Valley State University has a number of options to fill up the month. Here is a sampling.

 

GVSU Choral Concert – “Songs of Love”
Feb. 21, at 7:30 p.m.
Cook-DeWitt Center, Allendale Campus
This concert, which is free and open to the public, will feature the Cantate Chamber Ensemble and Select Women’s Ensemble, under the direction of Ellen Pool, and the University Singers, under the direction of Shirley Lemon. The concert will feature songs of love from many different genres, including jazz, spirituals and folk songs.

 

GVSU Symphonic Wind Ensemble Concert
Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus

 

Great American Voices Series Collaboration Concert
February 25 and 26, at 7:30 p.m.
Park Church (10 E Park Pl NE, Grand Rapids)
Building on the success of the February 2015 Collaboration Concert at Park Church, this year’s collaboration will include the GVSU University Arts Chorale, Park Church Chancel Choir, and West Michigan’s Holland Chorale. The concert will begin with Patrick Coyle, Park Church minister of music, conducting the Park Chancel Choir and the Holland Chorale, accompanied by the GVSU Chamber Orchestra, in a performance of Haydn’s “Lord Nelson Mass.” The evening will conclude with two sections of Alexander Borodin’s powerful opera, “Prince Igor.”  The GVSU Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Henry Duitman, will present the rousing “Overture” and then the three choirs, 120 voices strong, will join the orchestra for the opera’s exhilarating “Polovetsian Dances.” Proceeds from the offering will benefit string scholarships at Grand Valley.

 

GVSU Concert Band Performance
Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus

 

GVSU Jazz Concert
March 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Louis Armstrong Theatre, Performing Arts Center, Allendale Campus
The GVSU Large and Small Jazz Ensembles will perform during this free concert that is open to the public.

 

‘Sweeney Todd’ is the upcoming production of GVSU Opera Theatre

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Benjamin Barker is a barber unjustly imprisoned for years by a corrupt judge. He returns to London bent on revenge under the guise of Sweeney Todd.

 

GVSU Opera Theatre presents the darkly hilarious and indiscriminately dangerous “Sweeney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” Feb. 2 – 5 and 10 – 12 at Grand Valley State University’s Performing Art sCenter, located on the GVSU Allendale campus. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

 

Tickets are $14 for adults; $12 for alumni, seniors, faculty and staff and $6 for students and groups. 

 

For more information, contact the Louis Armstrong Theatre Box Office at 616-331-2300.