Russell Jonas (M.F.A. in acting, 2014), Aleisha Force (M.F.A. ’12) and Donny Repsher (B.F.A. ’12) have teamed up to produce a new play in New York City titled Barrier Islands. It has been written for Jonas and Force by award-winning playwright Lizzie Vieh, who earned an M.F.A. at Brown University/Trinity Rep. Jonas calls it a “dark comedy, noir murder mystery for two actors playing six characters in nine scenes.”
Mere hours after Back to the Future Day, SMU Meadows went back in time. It was the Meadows Jazz Orchestra and SMU Meadows’ first-ever swing dance concert. We went back to the 1930s and ʼ40s for an evening dancing to the music of the great swing era big bands, including Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and more.
Meadows Jazz Orchestra Director Dylan Smith has been interested in hosting a live dance event at the Meadows School of the Arts for several years. “I have always loved the combination of live music and dancing, and have discovered that in every town there is a cult community of expert swing dancers who jump at the chance to dance to a live jazz band,” he says. “When I was in high school and college, our jazz ensembles held swing dances and they were a blast. I am looking forward to bringing together musicians, dancers, students, staff, faculty and community members for an incredibly fun evening at Meadows!”
The Meadows Jazz Orchestra will return: This year’s concerts will be Sunday, November 22 at 2:30 p.m. in the Bob Hope Theatre at SMU and Tuesday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. in Dallas City Performance Hall, as part of the Meadows Community Series.
Something wicked this way comes. Michael Connolly directed SMU Theatre’s 2015 fall mainstage performance of Macbeth, which is considered one of Shakespeare’s darkest and most powerful works.
The play illustrates the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Scholar and author Marjorie Garber argues that Shakespeare’s work is so mutable that it always exists in the present. In fact, it’s been called the Shakespearean tragedy that best explains the power of the AMC blockbuster Breaking Bad.
SMU Theatre Design students and photographer Linda Blase captured the innovative and electric performance.
Fourteen SMU dance students performed with the Dallas Chamber Symphony (DCS) at a special showing of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film classic Metropolis, the first event of the DCS 2015-16 season and part of Dallas VideoFest 28. The symphony accompanied the film with a new score composed by Brian Satterwhite. The SMU students presented a interactive, multi-dimensional dance performance during the film, choreographed by Associate Professor Christopher Dolder. The event took place at Dallas City Performance Hall on Tuesday, October 13.
At the peak of each season in Dallas, at lunchtime, the Meadows Hope Lobby is packed with an audience rapt in attention. On stage is the Brown Bag Dance Series, 10-15 performances of original, student-choreographed ballet, modern and jazz works, from the Division of Dance.