School of Fine Arts

Murphy Hall 50th Anniversary

A two-week Festival of the Arts celebration is planned for April 13-27, 2008. The following events are included in the Festival of the Arts celebration, so mark your calendars!

Performances of “Picnic,” the opera, a new adaptation based on the Pulitizer-Prize winning play by KU alumnus William Inge, on April 3, 5, 8, 10 12, 2008, at the Robert Baustian Theatre in Murphy Hall.
$20/general admission and $10/students & seniors

Lied Center performances by the University Dance Company featuring works by guest choreographers Karole Armitage and Bill Evans and a tap dance solo by dance luminary Bill Evans on April 17-18, 2008, to commemorate Murphy Hall and the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Centennial.
$10/general admission and $7/students & seniors

Rededication Ceremony of the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Theatre by Bill Evans.
2:30 pm, Elizabeth Sherbon Theatre, Robinson Center
Advanced registration required. Call 864-4264.

Additional band, jazz, choir, orchestra and alumni activities to be held April 13-27, 2008: choral concert on April 6 at the Lied Center, Jazz concert on April 22 at the Lied Center, Symphony Orchestra concert on April 26 at the Lied Center and Wind Ensemble concert at the Lied Center on April 27. This Wind Ensemble concert will be the final event for the Murphy 50th anniversary, and a reception will follow the concert. For more detail on each event, visit SFA Events Calendar.
Faculty Recital Series, Joyce Castle, mezzo-soprano
April 24, 2008
Crafton-Preyer Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
$20/general admission and $10/students and seniors

We are offering various package deals on the Murphy 50th events. Package deals are as follows:

Package A: For Lied Center 50th Anniversary events on Apr. 6th (KU Choirs), either Apr. 17th or 18th (UDC), Apr. 22nd (KU Jazz), Apr. 26th (KUSO), and Apr. 27th (KU Wind Ensemble) tickets may be purchased individually for $10 adults/ $7 students & seniors or all five events may be purchased for the package price of $45 adults/ $30 students & seniors. Tickets for all of these events are for reserved seating. If the package is bought the same reserved seating will be valid for all 5 events.

Package B: For Murphy Hall 50th Anniversary events on Apr. 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 for KU Opera "Picnic" (only ONE date may be chosen) and Apr. 24th Joyce Castle, tickets may be purchased individually for $20 adults/ $10 students and seniors or both may be purchased for the package price of $35 adults/ $15 students and seniors. Tickets for both events are general admission.

The Department of Theatre and Film and University Theatre present Alums Comes Home, a series of events created to welcome KU theatre and film students back to Murphy Hall, April 24-27. This includes:

Friday, April 25

7:30 p.m. – The Shape of Things by alumnus Neil LaBute, Crafton-Preyer Theatre

Saturday, April 26

7:30 p.m. - Friends of the Theatre Fundraiser, Crafton-Preyer Theatre

Sunday, April 27

2:30 p.m. – The Shape of Things, Crafton-Preyer Theatre

The KU dance division in the Department of Music and Dance celebrates the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Centennial in conjunction with Murphy Hall’s 50th anniversary.

Celebration highlights include:

7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, and Friday, April 18, 2008:
University Dance Company (UDC) Concerts at the Lied Center featuring

Solo performance by dance luminary Bill Evans
Dance choreographed by Bill Evans for members of the UDC
Restaging of Karole Armitage’s 2001 work for the UDC, Power Surge

Two alumni who performed in the work, Beau Hancock and Deanna Doyle Hodges, will reprise their roles. They are currently performing professionally in New York City and Kansas City respectively. Beau also was the 2004 Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Award recipient. To read more about guest choreographers Karole Armitage and Bill Evans, visit http://www.dance.ku.edu.

Saturday, April 19, 2008:

Rededication of the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Theatre by Bill Evans, who performed in Sherbon’s honor at the dedication in 1985
Informal performance by KU faculty, Bill Evans and Beau Hancock in the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Theatre following the rededication
Panel discussion on Dance in a Global Society with KU faculty and Bill Evans
Art of Dance exhibit in the Teaching Gallery at the Spencer Museum of Art highlighting the Martha Graham Dance Company and other images of dance and dancers as seen through photographs, prints, and drawings
Book display in the KU Music and Dance Library throughout the month of April of Sherbon’s On the Count of One and books from her collection signed by Martha Graham and Louis Horst