Alisha Huber, an MFA student working through Blackfriars Playhouse, leads EMU students in a Shakespeare movement workshop this fall in the studio theater. Photo by Brent Anders

Alisha Huber, currently an MFA directing student at Mary Baldwin, will direct Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labors Lost” at EMU in February. She’s scheduled three workshops throughout the fall 2009 semester in EMU’s studio theater (soon to be named after alumnus Lee Eshleman) to provide early training for EMU students who will audition. (The final workshop will be held Saturday, Dec. 12 from noon to 2 p.m.)

“Love’s Labors Lost” is scheduled for performance at the Blackfriars on March 21 as part of Huber’s MFA thesis project in addition to the EMU performances slated for Feb. 18-20 and 25-27.

Heidi Winters Vogel, EMU theater professor

Alisha brings a wealth of Shakespeare experience to EMU,” says Heidi Winters Vogel, theater professor at EMU. “She directed performances of Julius Caesar this summer in both Michigan and New York City.”

“I’m really looking forward to this final workshop,” says EMU student Steven Stauffer. “It will give me a great chance to practice my audition ahead of time and get some crucial feedback from the director.”

The challenge of Shakespeare

“The first thing I wanted to accomplish in these workshops was to take Shakespeare off his pedestal and out of English class. Everyone who came was there because they were excited about doing Shakespeare,” says Huber.

EMU students participate in a Shakespeare workshop led by Alisha Huber this fall in the studio theater. Photo by Brent Anders

Previous workshops this fall were “Shakespeare in Your Mouth,” which focused on elminating the language barrier and destroying preconceptions of what Shakespearean actors should sound like, and “Shakespeare on Your Feet,” which dealt largely with movement and staging.

“My focus was to acclimate the students to the joys and complications of original practices staging,” says Huber of the movement workshop.” The best exercise was about acting a set that one doesn’t have!”

About the final workshop

The final workshop, to be held Saturday, Dec. 12 from noon to 2 p.m., will prepare students for a classical audition, something many will be doing for “Love’s Labors Lost.”

“The Shakespeare workshops are not required for participation in ‘Love’s Labors Lost’ during the spring 2010 semester,” says Vogel, “but they’re a fun way to improve your comfort and knowledge of the art of Shakespeare.”

Participation in the final workshop is limited to the first 20 folks. No preparation is necessary. For more information, contact the theater department at (540) 432-4360 or theater@emu.edu.

Visit emu.edu/theater to learn more about theater at EMU!

The three-time Broadway smash hit, directed at EMU by Patrick K. Reynolds, theater department chair, will be presented 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 14-16 and the same time Feb. 21-23 in the mainstage theater of the University Commons.

The scene is a night club in Berlin, Germany, as the 1920’s draw to a close. The master of ceremonies welcomes the audience to the show and assures them that, whatever their troubles, they will forget them at the cabaret.

Backstage at the Kit-Kat Klub (l. to r.) Ingrid Johnson, Braydon P. Hoover and Rachel King.

Yet, the dawn of the new year finds new and troubling political forces rising in pre-War World II Germany. An urgency to choose sides grips members of the small community, even as they find joy and release through song and dance on the stage of the cabaret.

The 10-member student cast includes Braydon Hoover, Elizabethtown, Pa., as the emcee, Charlotte Wenger, Lancaster, Pa., as Sally Bowles and Steve Kniss, Chicago, Ill., as Clifford Bradshaw.

Assisting the director are Sarah Harder, stage manager; Ingrid Johnson, choreographer; Phil Grayson, set designer; Erin West, costume designer; and David Vogel, light designer.

“It’s a testament to ‘Cabaret’ that during its four decades of production this classic American musical has taken on so many shapes and supported so many different interpretations,” Reynolds said. “What attracted EMU Theater to the show – aside from the wonderful music and dancing – is the setting of the story on the very cusp of the Nazis coming into power.

“It’s a musical about incandescent good times in danger of consuming the most innocent people in society,” Reynolds added. “In that, it’s a pretty rare show, and one beautifully suited to the concerns of the program and the university.”

“Cabaret is a story that doesn’t shy away from mature themes that affect both the characters in the play and those in the audience,” said Heidi Winters Vogel, director of theater operations. “The hatred and fear endemic in the Weimar Republic of Germany between the wars resulted in conflict, racism and sexual exploitation that allowed the Nazis to emerge and flourish. Parents should consider the age and maturity level of their children before bringing them to this production.”

Tickets are $10 advance, $12 at the door; seniors and non-EMU students $8 advance, $12 at the door. Tickets are available by calling the EMU box office, 540-432-4582 or on-line at www.emu.edu/boxoffice. Information regarding age appropriateness is available through the box office.