University at Buffalo Theatre and Dance Announces Fall 2022 Season

By CAS Staff

Release Date: August 25, 2022

Join the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance for a unique season of dance, musicals and drama. Nationally recognized directors and choreographers work with esteemed faculty and emerging student talent to produce innovative original productions which both entertain and explore the human condition.

The fall 2022 season consists of live, in-person performances at the department’s home in the UB Center for the Arts, on the UB North Campus, as well as select performances at UB Katharine Cornell Theatre in the Ellicott Complex adjacent to campus.

The UB Theatre and Dance season is sponsored by Fox Run at Orchard Park.

Zodiaque Dance Company
Oct. 13 - 15, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 16, 2022 at 2 p.m.
UB Center for the Arts
Drama Theatre
$20 Adults | $10 Students/Seniors, plus Facility/Service Fees
Tickets for Zodiaque Dance Company

Zodiaque, UB’s pre-professional dance company, will be back on the UB Center for the Arts Drama Stage highlighting the rich versatility and creativity of the UB Department of Theatre and Dance. The 48^th fall program of Zodiaque includes diversified choreography in jazz, tap, modern, commercial and contemporary dance works performed by current UB dance majors. The show is under the co-direction of faculty members Kerry Ring and Michael Deeb Weaver.

Choreographers include Ring, Deeb Weaver and dance faculty members Kurt Adametz, Jenna Zavrel and Tom Ralabate. The concert is punctuated by the contributions of third year MFA candidate Anna Caison Boyd and alumni choreographers Naila Ansari, MFA ‘20, Jen Apter, BFA ’15 and Joe Celej, BFA ’01.

The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Oct. 27 – 29 and Nov. 3 - 5, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, 2022 at 2 p.m.
UB Center for the Arts
Black Box Theatre
$20 Adults | $10 Students/Seniors, plus Facility/Service Fees
Tickets for the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

This Tony-Award-winning contemporary musical about honoring the innocence of everyone’s inner child and the inevitabilities of puberty is sure to be a unique evening at the theatre you’ll never forget. Join local high-hopesters in Putnam County, NY in the most competitive evening of their lives! However, these quirky, young folks will grow to learn life lessons far more valuable than any trophy. "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" calls on friendly audience participation and strong, comedic actors to tell the story of this junior, high-stakes academic competition in upstate New York.

"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is directed and choreographed by award-winning Guest Artist Terry Berliner. Her work has been seen on-and-off Broadway, in regional theatres and universities across the country. Last season Berliner directed the musical "Violet" for the department, after the original production at Off Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons, where Berliner served as assistant director.

Student designers, performers and industry professionals comprise the creative team of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". Musical direction is by Matthew Marco, visiting assistant professor and features lyrics and music by William Finn ("Elegies: A Song Cycle", "A New Brain", "Falsettos" and "Falsettoland"), book by Rachel Sheinkin ("Striking 12, Blood Drive") and was conceived by Rebecca Feldman with additional materials by Jay Reiss. The cast and designers are students from the Department of Theatre and Dance.

Emerging Choreographers Showcase

Nov. 11 - 12, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 13, 2022 at 2 p.m.
UB Katharine Cornell Theatre
$20 Adults | $10 Students/Seniors, plus Facility/Service Fees
Tickets for Emerging Choreographers Showcase

UB Department of Theatre and Dance presents Emerging Choreographers Showcase, directed by Anne Burnidge, associate professor and assisted by graduate student Natasha McCandless and undergraduate student Rebecca Leonard.

Emerging Choreographers Showcase is an annual production featuring new dance works by BA, BFA and MFA dance students Sydney Bowers, Kiara Cieslinski, Alisa Guiffrida, Juliana Guiffrida, Victoria Hyl, Natasha McCandless, Sam Schmeer, Natasha Skidmore and Brennah Woollis, with performance by undergraduate and graduate dance majors.

The concert celebrates diversity in both genre and theme. Pieces range from lyrical ballet, to Hip-Hop, to contemporary modern and jazz styles. Choreographers investigate ideas such as moving from order to disorder, drowning in one’s own thoughts, insomnia and the juxtaposition of connection-tension, calm-chaos, and death-rescue. Other inspirations are drawn from words such as “apricity,” meaning “the warmth of sun in winter,” and “anchorage,” defined in the "Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" as “the desire to hold on to time as it passes.”

The Katharine Cornell Theatre provides a unique opportunity to create dance in a diamond shaped theatre with the audience on two sides, challenging students to rethink the traditional proscenium stage. Students receive close faculty mentorship and collaborate with student lighting and sound designers, costumers and technicians on the final production.

Noises Off
Nov. 17 – 19, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 20, 2022 at 2 p.m.
UB Center for the Arts
Drama Theatre
$20 Adults | $10 Students/Seniors, plus Facility/Service Fees
Tickets for Noises Off

Called “the funniest farce ever written" by Michael Frayn, "Noises Off" presents a manic menagerie of itinerant actors rehearsing a flop called "Nothing’s On". Doors slamming, on and offstage intrigue and an errant herring all figure in the plot of this hilarious and classically comic play. The production will be directed by beloved veteran Buffalo instructor and actor, Greg Natale.

"Noises Off" opened at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City on December 11, 1983, under the direction of Michael Blakemore. Among its accolades it was awarded the 1982 Olivier Award and 1982 London Evening Standard Away for Best Play and Best Comedy, respectively. "Noises Off" also received a Best Play nomination at the 1984 Tony and Drama Desk Awards.

The New York Times describes it as, "The most dexterously realized comedy ever about putting on a comedy. A spectacularly funny, peerless backstage farce. This dizzy, well-known romp is festival of delirium."

Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933. He began his career as a reporter for the Guardian and later the Observer. After leaving the Observer he continued to write as a columnist as well as publishing novels and plays for television and stage. His plays for stage include: "Copenhagen", "After Life", "The Two of Us", "Alphabetical Order", "Donkeys’ Years", "Clouds", "Balmoral (Liberty Hall)", "Make and Break", "Noises Off", "Benefactors", "Alarms and Excursions", "Look Look", "Here and Make and Break".

MFA Fall Showcase
Dec. 2 - 3, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.
UB Katharine Cornell Theatre
$5 All seats, plus Facility/Service Fees
Tickets

The MFA Fall Showcase offers a peek into the creative process of dancemaking, featuring works in various stages of completion from current MFA Dance students. The works are often generated collaboratively with other artists, and the Showcase offers a space for choreographers to experiment and innovate movement-based performance. The concert is under the direction of MFA students, with faculty supervision by Ariel Nereson, director of graduate dance.

UB’s dance program is built on the belief that dance is a fundamental expression of humanity with the ability to inform, transform, reflect upon, and lead local and global change in the 21st century. With close faculty mentorship and numerous opportunities to create and present work, MFA Dance students engage in advanced practical, theoretical and critical inquiry while honing their abilities as artists, dance makers, educators, writers, innovators, scholars, policy makers and leaders.

Tickets for Performances at the UB Center for the Arts
Information or charge by phone: 716-645-6915
Online purchase: ubcfa.org (select Events and Exhibitions/Calendar)

Tickets for Performances at UB Katharine Cornell Theatre
Information: 716-645-6921
Charge by phone: 716-645-6915
Online purchase: ubcfa.org (select Events and Exhibitions/Calendar)

Directions to Venues

Group Sales
Mike Formato
(716) 645-0611
formato@buffalo.edu

Press Inquiries
Rob Falgiano
(716) 645-6921
rjf3@buffalo.edu