University of St. Thomas-College of St. Catherine Theater Department to host open house Sept. 9, announces 2005-2006 performance season

University of St. Thomas-College of St. Catherine Theater Department to host open house Sept. 9, announces 2005-2006 performance season

The joint Theater Department of the University of St. Thomas and the College of St. Catherine will host an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, in Foley Theater.

Meet theater students, directors and faculty; learn about auditions, sign up for backstage work; have pizza and pop; make new friends and get together with old ones.

The department has announced its 2005-2006 performance season; be sure to check out the audition schedule. Students of all majors are welcome!

All performances begin at 7 p.m. on dates listed below. Tickets are $5 for general admission and free for students, faculty and staff with ID from the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (St. Thomas, St. Catherine, Augsburg College, Macalester College and Hamline University). For reservations call (651) 690-6700.

  • Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 19-22, in St. Catherine’s Frey Theater, located adjacent to The O’Shaughnessy, 2004 Randolph Ave. , St. Paul: “An Inspector Calls,” J.B. Priestley’s award-winning 1945 drama. A successful 1954 British film version and a more recent theatrical revival have made the play a classic. 

The plot centers on the visit by a mysterious police inspector to a wealthy and apparently respectable family in pre-World War I England. Investigating the death of a poor and unknown girl, he uncovers their secrets and hypocrisies and shows that they all had a hand in the girl's abandonment and eventual suicide.

  • Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 16-19, in St. Thomas’ Foley Theater, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul: “Voices of Women From the Abrahamic Faiths,” three short plays by women about Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Works include “Sapientia” by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, a 10th-century Saxon nun believed to be the first recorded European dramatist following the Dark Ages; “The Royal Jewess,” from an 1835 work by Elizabeth Polack, credited as the first Jewish woman melodramatist in England; and “Baghdad Burning,” based on the Web log begun in 2003 by a young Iraqi woman who calls herself Riverbend. She is known as the only Iraqi blogger writing from a woman’s perspective.

  • Wednesday through Saturday, March 8-11, 2006, in Foley Theater: “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” the 1967 musical comedy based on the characters created by cartoonist and St. Paul native Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip, “Peanuts.”

Clark Gesner provided the music and witty lyrics for the songs, including standards such as "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," "Little Known Facts," and "Happiness." Andrew Lippa contributes additional songs for this 1999 revival version.

  • Wednesday through Saturday, April 26-29, 2006, in Frey Theater: The ancient Greek comedy “Lysistrata,” written by Aristophanes in 411 B.C., is both a tale about war and sex and about the war between the sexes. Its female characters, led by Lysistrata, barricade the public funds building and refuse their husbands in order to secure peace and end the Peloponnesian War.

For additional information about the plays, please call the UST-CSC Theater Department, (651) 690-6680.