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September 27, 2005
Hamline Theater celebrates 75 years of plays
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Hamline Theater Department, as well as the fifth anniversary of the dance ensemble and the tenth for the theatre festival. In celebration, there is a full year ahead for the entire department.
The department puts on three main stage performances each year, as well as Until Someone Wakes Up, an informative work about rape and sexual assault that is put on each year for all incoming first-years.
Rehearsals have already started for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a cast of 20 actors. Directed by Jeff
Turner, rehearsals for Dream are already underway and will be ready for audiences in early November.
More Fun Than Bowling will show in March, and will be directed by Carolyn Levy. The musical Jesus Christ Superstar, to be guest-directed by Barbie Marshall, will begin performances in April.
There are also several smaller productions that are slated throughout the year. A student-directed one act play will begin production before winter break in December, and dance ensemble showcases choreographed by students and artistic director Kaori Kenmotsu are set to appear in December and May. Guest speaker Harry Elam, a theatre professor from Stanford University, will also be speaking to the campus community early in April.
“Every year [it] gets bigger,” said CLA senior Leah Starr. The film festivals and the dance ensemble also let “students claim the stage,” Starr said.
The energy and excitement from students is also growing. Theater professor Jeff Turner said the students themselves actually requested Superstar, and there was a very good turnout at auditions for Dream. In addition they have recently added another full-time staff member, Kaori Kenmotsu, to their department.
The theatre has also achieved a lot in not only the past 75 years, but actually the last 90. The first play on campus was performed for commencement in 1910 by seniors. Small productions continued on campus until in 1930, an official theatre department was started when Anne Simley was appointed. Later that year, the campus won several theater competitions, and in 1931, the Little Theatre opened in an old science building.
By 1938, they started a chapter of National Collegiate Players. In 1947, the Little Theatre was closed when the old science building was torn down, and Hamline benefactor Charles Drew donated two quonset huts to temporarily house the theatre. Unfortunately, the two quonset huts would house the theatre for nearly 36 years, until the current Hamline Theatre was built in 1983. The theatre was re-named the Anne Simley Theatre after her death in 1992.
Posted by msveum at September 27, 2005 11:53 AM
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