Imagine a world in which arranged marriages were still common in the 21st century. The cast of “Big Love” uses this idea to make evident the deep seeded fears and mistrust towards the opposite sex that secretly lies in each of our hearts. Directed by Christine Menzies, “Big Love” was written 10 years ago by Chuck Mee as an adaptation of the oldest play in the Western world, “The Suppliants” by Aeschylus, written sometime after 470 B.C. “I figure I’m… Read more

The performance lineup for the new Valley Performing Arts Center (VPAC) will be announced Thursday. Performances for the new VPAC are set to cover a wide range of styles, further demonstrating the versatility of the new space. VPAC insiders have remained tight-lipped about the lineup of performances for the Spring 2011 season, which will begin Feb. 5. Pamela Bock, VPAC director of marketing and strategic communications, said that although she cannot disclose the lineup, she can promise a season with… Read more

CSUN’s Teenage Drama Workshop has won an award for cultivating  theatre programs at local high schools for budding theatre majors. The California Educational Theatre Association (CETA) awarded CSUN’s Teenage Drama Workshop (TADW) with the Professional Artist Award at their annual conference in Long Beach, earlier this month. Doug Kaback, executive director of the TADW, said the Professional Artist Award was presented as a result of CSUN’s assistance to the theatre community. “This year the drama workshop at CSUN was singled… Read more

Ten CSUN students will be traveling to Shanghai to participate in the 2010 World Expo this summer. Peter Grego, the theatre department chair, said on Tuesday evening, they received confirmation from the U.S. producers that the CSUN students will be performing with their Chinese sister university, Shanghai Normal University, at the USA Pavilion. “Being invited to perform at the World Expo is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity and as a graduating senior this is the best opportunity that I… Read more

Tommy Tune, legendary star of screen and stage taught a master class on Friday November 20 to students in the theatre and music departments. The 6 foot 6 singer/actor/dancer extraordinaire was welcomed with warm applause from the eager students. Structured as an audition, the participants had the opportunity to perform their audition songs for him in exchange for some down to earth and constructive feedback. With his musical director by his side, Tommy imparted some pearls of wisdom to the… Read more

The Getty Villa presents Peace, but not as one might expect. Culture Clash is a Chicano/ Latino sketch comedy troupe, which was founded in San Francisco in 1984.  This is probably one of the last theater companies one would expect to be performing a classic Greek play; or is it? Peace is a comedy by the Greek playwright Aristophanes that deals with mans greatest folly, war. In the tradition of Greek comedies, the play is vulgar, satirical and at times… Read more