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School Department News

Theatre and Communication

Auditions for Carey Dinner Theatre March 23
Wednesday, February 27, 2013 - 4:27pm

Hattiesburg, Miss., February 27, 2013 - Auditions for cast and interviews with crew for the 38th season of Carey Dinner Theatre (CDT) are Saturday, March 23 beginning at 10 a.m. in the Joe and Virginia Tatum Theatre on the Hattiesburg campus of William Carey University.
            CDT presents two musicals in June and July. Each member of the company, both performers and staff, is paid. The financial package includes salary, tips (company members serve during dinner), and housing.

 Those auditioning as performers will present a one-minute monolog from a modern prose play (no dialect), a one-minute vocal selection from a Broadway musical, and will participate in a dance audition. An accompanist will be available, but will not transpose. Taped accompaniment may be used. Each person who auditions should bring comfortable clothes for the dance audition.

            Audition requirements for pianists include a prepared two-minute selection from a Broadway musical. Sight reading will be required.
Interviews will be held for technicians, costume assistants, house-box office managers, and office assistants. Each person will complete an application and interview with staff. Portfolios are invited. Performers may also apply for staff positions.

            Each applicant should bring a head shot to the audition/interview. For more information call 601-318-6218 or email cdt@wmcarey.edu.  Contracts are offered only to those who have graduated from high school by May 27, 2013. The company commitment is May 27 through July 22.
 

Christmas Edition of the Cobbler
Sunday, December 23, 2012 - 9:09pm

 

The Christmas edition of The Cobbler is now available. This edition features a year-in-review look at 2012 and many other exciting stories and features.

WCU to Host Dance and Theatre Workshop with Jonathan Sharp
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - 1:46pm

Hattiesburg, Miss., December 5, 2012 - William Carey University will be hosting an introduction to dance and musical theatre workshop with Jonathan Sharp from January 7-11 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in Carey’s Smith Auditorium in the Thomas Fine Arts Center. Non-Carey students, ages 16-25, are welcome to attend. Cost of the workshop will be $200 for non-credit students. Students do not need prior dance experience to participate.

The workshop is an intense look at dance and how it is used to help performers understand their bodies and mind. It will focus on body conditioning, basic ballet technique, jazz technique, choreography retention, basic improvisation, and musical theatre dance and the art of creating strong characters. At the end of each day, the class will focus on theory and the history of dance in theatre. Basic vocabulary for dance will be reviewed and videos will be shown to chart the historic progression for how dance has instructed theatre over the ages.

Sharp was trained at National Academy of the Arts and the School of American Ballet which is the official school of the New York City Ballet. After finishing his training, he danced professionally with the Boston Ballet, the Pennsylvania Ballet, and was a member of Stars of American Ballet, a touring group headlined by Robert LaFosse and Darci Kistler. He returned to NYC and has appeared in the Original Casts of five Broadway shows - The Red Shoes, Carousel, The Rocky Horror Show Live, The Dance of the Vampires, and Fiddler on the Roof. Sharp has also appeared on television as a contract player on the daytime drama Another World, and has guest starred on the hit shows Law and Order and Gilmore Girls.

Sharp teaches and directs all over southern California, and has been on faculty at Idyllwild Arts Academy for six years. He is also currently on faculty at the California Dance Theatre, Inland Pacific Ballet, and the EDGE Performing Arts Center.

For more information, call (601) 318 – 6218.
 

November print edition of The Cobbler
Friday, November 2, 2012 - 9:01am

The November print edition of The Cobbler, the newspaper of William Carey University, is now available online by clicking here.

 

The November edition features stories about the new Miss William Carey University, the new women's dormitory under construction on campus, remembrances of Dr. Ralph Noonkester, the revival of Carey's instrumental department, cross-country star Joash Osoro, Dr. Daniel Browning and his path to Carey, and many other great stories and features. There is also a full page spread of Costume Ball photos!

WCU To Present 1940's Detective Noir
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 - 3:23pm

The William Carey University Theatre will present the original 1940’s detective noir “Crimson,” by Amanda Walley, October 11-13 and 18-20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Joe and Virginia Tatum Theatre in Hattiesburg.
The play takes place in 1947 New York. Ex-cop and current private detective Hal (Cameron Moesta of Carriere) comes face to face with his old foe Frank (Kevar Maffett of Olive Branch), the gangster who controls the city. It is at the Crimson Palace Hotel where their past catches up to them. Meanwhile, some innocent and some not so innocent hotel employees get caught in the cross fire. Frank rules with an army of henchmen including his right hand man Bugsy (Zach Lancaster of Picayune), Roy (David Regan of Hattiesburg) and Joe (John Tyler Robinson of Greensburg, La.). Showgirls Ruby (Ashlyn Watts of Picayune), Amber (Catherine Kennedy of Meridian), and Scarlet (Sarah Fox of Poplarville) dance their way through the colliding worlds of Hal and Frank. Hotel employees receptionist Marian (Katie Hardeman of Southaven), bartender Paulie (Billy Burkes of Meridian), and bellhop Dave (Jason Piglia of Picayune) contribute to this stylized crime drama.
Tim Matheny is chair of the theatre and communication department, and Dewey Douglas, technical director and assistant professor of theatre and communication, is the director. The play is entirely student-designed. The scenic designer is Jana Barkley of Picayune, the lighting designer is Billy Burkes, and the makeup and hair designer is Catherine Kennedy. Zach Lancaster is sound designer and Chris Permenter of Oak Grove is costume designer. Bethany Bonin of Biloxi is properties master, Alisha Fishel of Olive Branch is stage manager, Sydney Dedeaux of Pass Christian is light board operator, and Ben Salters of Poplarville is sound board operator.
“‘Crimson’ is an homage to the 1930’s and 40’s detective stories made popular by writers such as Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and actors like Humphrey Bogart and William Powell,” Douglas said.
  Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for military and senior citizens, and $5 for students. Reservations can be made by calling 601-318-6221. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. beginning October 8.
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