September – December 2015 Fall Performance Schedule

Fairfield University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts presents their fall 25th Anniversary season. The lineup features an exciting array of talented artists and speakers from around the world, and includes Fairfield’s signature lecture series Open VISIONS Forum, as well as exhilarating performances in music, theatre and dance, family entertainment and high definition broadcasts of The Met: Live in HD and National Theatre Live.

All programs take place at Fairfield University’s Quick Center for the Arts on the Fairfield University campus.

The Quick Center has been the preeminent performing arts center in southern Fairfield County for a quarter-century, and has presented many of the world’s greatest artists, thinkers, and performers to the community. In celebration of its history, and anticipation of future growth, the Quick has a new branded look, and a more developed and contemporary website developed in collaboration with designers Madison Mott of Westport. To experience it, go to www.quickcenter.com.

Single tickets, subscriptions, and group tickets to many events for the fall season are now on sale at the Quick Center box office (The Met: Live in HD single tickets go on sale in August). For more information visit www.quickcenter.com. Here is the September-December 2015 fall performance schedule:


National Theatre Live
Everyman
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 2 & 7 p.m.
$25, $20 seniors, $10 children/non-Fairfield University students, $5 Fairfield University students

BAFTA winner and Academy Award nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), takes the title role in this dynamic new production of one of English drama's oldest plays, directed by the National Theatre's new director, Rufus Norris (Broken, London Road).

Everyman is successful, popular and riding high when Death comes calling. He is forced to abandon the life he has built and embark on a last, frantic search to recruit a friend, anyone, to speak in his defense. But Death is close behind, and time is running out.


National Theatre Live
The Beaux’ Stratagem
Thursday, September 24, 2015 at 2 & 7 p.m.
$25, $20 seniors, $10 children/non-Fairfield University students, $5 Fairfield University students

Simon Godwin (Man and Superman) directs George Farquhar's wild comedy of love and cash.

The ‘Beaux’: Mr. Aimwell and Mr. Archer, two charming, dissolute young men who have blown their fortunes in giddy London. Shamed and debt-ridden, they flee to provincial Lichfield. Their ‘Stratagem’: to marry for money.


Connecticut Trio featuring a world premiere commission composed by Gwyneth Walker
Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 3 p.m.
$35, $30, $25

In honor of our 25th anniversary season, the Quick Center has commissioned Mornings of Creation by Connecticut-based composer Gwyneth Walker. The world premiere will be performed by the Connecticut Trio.

Composer Gwyneth Walker has written more than 300 compositions for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, solo voice and individual instruments. Walker’s choral work “Songs to the Lord of Peace,” commissioned by the Center for Catholic Studies at Fairfield University, was performed by the Fairfield University Glee Club in celebration of their 60th anniversary season.

Having first performed together more than 30 years ago in a recital at Carnegie Recital Hall, the Connecticut Trio has since garnered national and international recognition and features pianist Linda Laurent, violinist Gerard Rosa and cellist Julie Ribchinsky.


National Theatre Live
The Audience
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 2 & 7 p.m.
$25, $20 seniors, $10 children/non-Fairfield University students, $5 Fairfield University students

Nominated for three Tony Awards, The Audience sees Helen Mirren reprise her Olivier Award-winning performance as Queen Elizabeth II, following her Academy Award win for the same role in the The Queen. Encore screens of the original West End production of The Audience, captured live in London in 2013, feature an exclusive Q&A with Stephen Daldry and Helen Mirren.


The Great Guitars
Friday, October 2, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$40, $35, $30

Bringing together the leading acoustic guitarists of their generation, The Great Guitars features Martin Taylor, Frank Vignola, Vinny Raniolo and Peppino D’Agostino. This super group combines Taylor’s award-winning virtuosic finger style, Vignola’s jaw-dropping technique, Raniolo’s energetic playing and D’Agostino’s classical-inspired artistry to form this acoustic explosion. Building on a legacy of guitar greats, including Charlie Byrd and Herb Ellis, these incredible artists have worked with the likes of Mark O’Connor, Ringo Starr, Tommy Emmanuel, David Grisman, Donald Fagen and Wynton Marsalis. This is sure to be an evening of virtuosity, emotion, humor and musical fireworks.


The Met: Live in HD
Il Trovatore (Verdi)
Saturday, October 3, 2015
1 p.m. (live) and 6 p.m. (encore)
Single Tickets: $25, $20 seniors, $5 children/students (including Fairfield University students)

The Live in HD season begins with Anna Netrebko in her highly anticipated Met role debut as Leonora, the tortured heroine of Il Trovatore. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Count di Luna in the first pairing of the two Russian superstars at the Met since 2002, with Yonghoon Lee as Manrico, the title character, Štefan Kocán as Ferrando, and Dolora Zajick in her signature role of the demented gypsy Azucena.


Tim Gunn
“Fashion Today & Designing Your Future Life & Careers”
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$45
Open VISIONS Forum

Best known as the Emmy-winning co-host, mentor and one of the producers for Lifetime’s Project Runway, Tim Gunn has held a number of acclaimed positions in the world of fashion, including fashion dean at Fifth & Pacific, chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne Inc. and member of the administration and faculty at Parsons School of Design for 29 years. Gunn is also a New York Times best-selling author, penning Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making It Work and Tim Gunn’s Fashion Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet.


Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, A Dance Company
Friday, October 16, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$45, $35, $30

Hailed as a “modern dance savior” by The New York Times, Ronald K. Brown fuses the form and rhythm of African dance with contemporary choreography to create movement that is as much soulful as it is energizing. Featuring his recent collaboration with acclaimed jazz pianist Jason Moran and his trio The Bandwagon, EVIDENCE will present their latest work, The Subtle One, which reflects on the presence of our ancestors and their profound impact on our lives.

Funded in part by the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Connecticut Humanities, a nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, supports cultural and historic organizations that tell the state’s stories, build community and enrich lives.


The Met: Live in HD
Otello (Verdi)
Saturday, October 17, 2015
1 p.m. (live) and 6 p.m. (encore)
Single Tickets: $25, $20 seniors, $5 children/students (including Fairfield University students)

A new staging of Verdi’s masterpiece Otello will be conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and directed by Bartlett Sher. Aleksandrs Antonenko sings his first Met performances of the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his wife, Desdemona, and Željko Lučić as Otello’s sinister rival, Iago. The staging, also featuring Dimitri Pittas as Cassio and Günther Groissböck as Lodovico, also marks the Met debut of set designer Es Devlin, whose previous designs include the 2014 revival of Machinal on Broadway and numerous opera productions for Covent Garden, La Scala, and other leading companies.


National Theatre Live
Hamlet
Thursday, October 22, 2015 at 2 & 7 p.m.
$25, $20 seniors, $10 children/non-Fairfield University students, $5 Fairfield University students

Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock, The Imitation Game, National Theatre's Frankenstein) takes on the title role in Shakespeare's great tragedy. Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, National Theatre Live will broadcast this eagerly awaited production live to cinemas.


The Met: Live in HD
Tannhäuser (Wagner)
Sunday, November 1, 2015
12 p.m. (encore) and 6 p.m. (encore)
Single Tickets: $25, $20 seniors, $5 children/students (including Fairfield University students)

James Levine conducts the first Met revival of Wagner’s Tannhäuser since 2004, seen in Otto Schenk’s 1977 production. Johan Botha sings his first company performances of the demanding title role, in a cast that also includes Peter Mattei as Wolfram, his second Met Wagner role; Günther Groissböck as the Landgraf; and Eva-Maria Westbroek as Elisabeth and Michelle DeYoung as Venus, the human and divine rivals for Tannhäuser’s affection.




David Dorfman Dance
Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$45, $35, $30

Founded in 1985, David Dorfman Dance has received eight New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Awards honoring the company’s dancers and artistic collaborators. The company will present their most recent work, the sprawling, athletic Come, and Back Again, an evening-length elegiac exploration of the virtuosity of daily life, vulnerability and mortality.

Driven by the charged poetry and unapologetic, raw ferocity of indie, punk and folk rock music, five dancers and five musicians embark on a kinetic anthem of reckless personal abandon – exploring the nature of time, and how memory influences and manages our slippery, elastic existence.


Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond: A Celtic Family Celebration
with Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy
Sunday, November 8, 2015 at 3 p.m.
$50, $45, $40

Join us for a performance that is perfect for the whole family with exhilarating music and dance! Two of the world’s most celebrated fiddlers, Celtic music duo Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy unite in a new show highlighting the unique talents, influences and stories of their home through dancing, singing and, of course, world-class music-making. Don’t miss these riveting performers exploring their Irish and Scottish roots in a dynamic and engaging show that will transport spectators to the beauty of the Canadian coastline.

"To call Natalie MacMaster the most dynamic performer in Celtic music today is high praise, but it still doesn't get at just how remarkable a concert artist this Cape Breton Island fiddler has become." – The Boston Herald


Orin Grossman & Friends
An Afternoon in Old Vienna
Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 3 p.m.
$35, $30, $25

Pianist Orin Grossman has been delighting audiences the world over with his unique and engaging approach to performing and explaining great American and European music. Join Dr. Grossman and his talented collaborators for an afternoon of chamber music that celebrates some of the great composers of Vienna, including music by Mozart and Schubert’s beloved Piano Quintet “The Trout.”


INCARNATIONS
Emily Coates and Sarah Demers
Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 5 p.m.
$25
Part of Global Theatre Series

The intersections between kinesthetic imagination and scientific ideas are explored in the collaborative work of Emily Coates (Dance) and Sarah Demers (Physics). The performance will include excerpts of Incarnations: Sketches for a Longer Work, which Coates presented as part of Danspace Project’s Platform 2015, and a screening of their co-created science-art video Three Views of the Higgs and Dance.


Four Women
Created by DJ Reborn
Sunday, November 15, 2015 at 7 p.m.
$25
Part of Global Theatre Series

DJ Reborn has been moving crowds for well over a decade with her mellifluous blend of funk, soul, disco, boogie, Hip Hop, reggae, house, Latin, afro-beat, rock, 80's, electro and more. In her latest project, DJs from diverse cultural backgrounds explore using music and technology to sonically weave together their connective yet unique voices and stories.


Charles Best
“Donors Choose: Expanding the Possibilities of Education”
Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$45
Open VISIONS Forum

Providing a simple way to address educational inequity, DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit organization led by Charles Best in which public schoolteachers create classroom project requests and donors pick the projects they want to support. Best launched the organization in 2000 out of a Bronx public high school where he taught history. DonorsChoose.org is one of Oprah Winfrey's "ultimate favorite things" and was featured on the cover of Fast Company as one of the "50 Most Innovative Companies in the World." For three years, Fortune Magazine has named Best to its "40 under 40 hottest rising stars in business.”


Danilo Perez, Brian Blade, and John Patitucci
Children of the Light
Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 8 p.m.
$40, $35, $30

Embracing the message of their long-time mentor and friend, acclaimed composer and saxophonist Wayne Shorter, these three virtuosos and musical soulmates – Danilo Perez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Brian Blade on drums – celebrate Shorter’s music and new compositions with the Children of the Light trio. Each of these incredible musicians has made his mark in the world of jazz, including Grammy nominations and wins. Their three-way conversation is an intense collective improv, unfolding and constructing the music like a rhythmic and smoldering chamber recital.

“...the music unfolded at angles, smoldering grooves came with melodramatic thumps and the collective invention was intense.” – FT.com


The Cat in the Hat
Produced by Childsplay
Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 3 p.m.
$15 (adults and children)
Family Fun Series

From the moment his tall, red-and-white-striped hat appears at their door, Sally and her brother know that the Cat in the Hat is the most mischievous cat they will ever meet. Suddenly, the rainy afternoon is transformed by the Cat and his antics. Based on the book by Dr. Seuss and adapted and originally directed by Katie Mitchell.

Join us after each of our Family Fun Series performances for juice and cookies!


Savion Glover’s DANCE HOLIDAY SPeCTacULaR
Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 3 p.m.
$55, $45, $40

“Glover’s strength doesn’t stop at his feet...It pumps through his body, lanky and tightly wound, radiating out like an electrical force.” – The New York Times

Bursting with festive holiday spirit, legendary choreographer and world-renowned tap dance master Savion Glover is joined by live musicians to bring joyous dance, rhythm and music to all-time holiday favorites from around the world!


The Met: Live in HD
Lulu (Berg)
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
12 p.m. (encore) and 6 p.m. (encore)
11:15 a.m. Pre-talk with Jeffrey Johnson
Single Tickets: $25, $20 seniors, $5 children/students (including Fairfield University students)

William Kentridge returns to the Met for his first new production since the company premiere of “The Nose,” which caused a sensation when it opened in 2010. The inventive visual artist will stage Berg’s shocking masterpiece about a sexually irresistible young woman whose wanton behavior causes destruction for those who fall under her spell. James Levine conducts one of the operas with which he is most identified; he has led 30 Met performances of the work, including the company premiere in 1977. Marlis Petersen reprises her acclaimed interpretation of the title role, with Susan Graham as the Countess Geschwitz, one of Lulu’s most devoted admirers, and Daniel Brenna, Paul Groves, John Reuter, and Franz Grundheber among the men who fall victim to her charms.


The Met: Live in HD
SPECIAL EVENT!
The Magic Flute (Mozart)
Friday, December 18, 2015 at 4 p.m.
$45

Join us for a special encore presentation in celebration of The Met: Live in HD’s 10th anniversary. Ticket includes a special post-talk and reception following the broadcast.


HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR!
Frosty
The Barter Players
Saturday, December 19, 2015 at 1 p.m. & 4 p.m.
$15 (adults and children)
Family Fun Series

The beloved holiday hit Frosty the Snowman inspired this brand new story by Catherine Bush. After a young orphan named Billy discovers magic in a hat, his snowman comes to life! Join Billy and Frosty as they embark on a New York City adventure and discover that the real magic of the holidays is love.


Join us after each of our Family Fun Series performances for juice and cookies!

Tickets and subscriptions are available through the Quick Center Box Office: 203-254-4010, or toll-free 1-877-ARTS-396. (1-877-278-7396). Tickets can also be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com .

Posted On: 08-03-2015 03:08 PM

Volume: 47 Number: 273