On Thursday, Sept. 21 at 6:30 p.m., Eric Prince, director, and Wes Kenney, conductor, will give a pre-show discussion as part of a College of Liberal Arts-wide initiative to expand awareness of issues of diversity, inclusion, and free speech. We hope you’ll join us!
CSU Theatre and the University Symphony Orchestra present Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, the brilliant effort between composer Andre Previn and the fecund playwright Tom Stoppard. Not often produced due to the challenge of staging a play requiring a full orchestra, the production — conducted by Maestro Wes Kenney and directed by Dr. Eric Prince — celebrates the collaborative capabilities of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. The story concerns dissident Alexander Ivanov; imprisoned in a Soviet mental hospital, he will not be released until admitting that his statements against the government were caused by a (non-existent) mental disorder. In the hospital, he shares a cell with a genuinely disturbed schizophrenic, also called Ivanov, who believes to have an orchestra under his command. The play satirizes the Soviet practice of treating political dissidence as mental illness, and its title will be recognized as the classic mnemonic used by music students to remember the notes on the lines of the treble clef.
To add to the intrigue, CSU faculty member Dr. Wesley Ferreira joins the orchestra on David Schiff’s Canti di Davide, a mesmerizing clarinet concerto in homage to the late pianist David Golub. Sergei Prokofiev’s score to the film Lt. Kije rounds out this provocative evening.
Read the EGBDF Program
Videos
CSU's 2005 production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor by Tom Stoppard.
