The St. Ambrose Theatre Department launched into a new year with friendly festivities.
The department, led by Chair Daniel Rairdin-Hale, invited all Ambrose students to join an on-stage picnic Aug. 23 in the Galvin Fine Arts Center during Welcome Week. The students came to enjoy hot dogs, brats, veggie burgers, chips, and cookies while learning about the 2017-18 season and its opportunities.
"The main purpose of the picnic is to introduce interested people to our season, our department, and how to get involved," Rairdin-Hale said. "We want to make sure everybody knows they are welcome in our program whether they are a major or not."
About 50 students, including around 30 first-year students and 18 scholarship students, participated in this celebration of a new year. The group filled the stage as department faculty and guests detailed what is to come.
This year's season includes:
• Lonely Planet by Steven Dietz directed by SAU Senior Brian Leibforth- September 7-9
• Picasso at Lapin Agile by Steve Martin directed by Dr. Cory Johnson- October 6-8
• Fresh Face Revue - October 20
• Cinderella directed by alumna Kim Kurtenbach- December 2 and 3
• A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller directed by SAU Senior Sam Jones - February 15-18
• Cabaret by Joe Masteroff directed by Dr. Cory Johnson - April 20-22
• Senior Showcase - April 24
Each director presented a brief overview of their play while mentioning audition dates and open non-acting positions.
The picnic introduced students to opportunities such as working in technical positions or backstage, attending the Kennedy Center American Collegiate Theatre Festival, and the annual award ceremony The Galvins.
Then, Lance Sadlek, director of the Galvin Fine Arts Center, introduced the Performing Arts Series. This year, Giodano Dance Chicago will grace the stage at 7:30 p.m. November 10, and the Akropolis Reed Quintet will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 26.
At the end, students from each year could be nominated for the theatre call board. The call board assists with departmental decisions and can represent their class at departmental meetings. Students could volunteer for nominations or could be nominated by peers.
This year, three first-year students nominated themselves and gave short campaign speeches about why they should be the call board representative. After everyone voted, these were the results:
• Senior Class: Kayla Lansing
• Junior Class: Sarah Goodall
• Sophomore Class: T.J. Green
• Freshman Class: Tyler Hughes
At the end of the picnic, the group stayed and mingled. By the end of the night, technical positions were filled, talk began about auditions, and a fresh batch of students were shepherded into the theatre department.
"I went to the picnic when I was a student and felt welcomed," Rairdin-Hale said. "We hope we are as welcoming to new people. It takes a lot of people to put on a play, and we want to encourage people to come play with us."
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