Get it started: Two university departments kick off the season

In putting together a season of performing arts, few things are more important than a strong start.

The season's first show or concert sets the tone for what's to come and drives up the interest among audiences who have many options on which to spend their entertainment budget.

This week, Southeast Missouri State University's performing arts hope to give their audiences that strong start. The Department of Theatre and Dance opens its season today with the acclaimed British farce "Noises Off" by Michael Frayn. A few days later, the Southeast Missouri Symphony Orchestra will open its season with a concert featuring Grammy award-winner, flutist Rhonda Larson on Tuesday.

Already the buzz surrounding the season has driven strong ticket sales. Perrey Lee, marketing manager for Southeast's performing arts, said so far theater and dance season ticket sales are twice what they've ever been, and sales for the symphony orchestra opening concert are picking up quickly as the concert date approaches.

Symphony orchestra artistic director Dr. Sara Edgerton said she expects the Larson performance to generate strong interest in the community. Larson's appearance carries on the tradition of opening the concert season with a high-profile special guest, like Judith Farris did two years ago. However, Edgerton said Larson's appearance may have more widespread appeal.

"Her music is very diverse," Edgerton said. "I wanted to do this for a long time, to have a program that is not just classical music." Like other symphony orchestras, Edgerton said the Southeast group is trying to branch out by performing more popular styles.

Larson's music combines ethnic styles and even some jazz influence with traditional classical music to create a hybrid that both Larson and Edgerton say are more accessible to a broad range of music lovers. She has the classical music credential as a flutist, performing in hallowed venues like Carnegie Hall, but won a Grammy for her work with the jazz ensemble Paul Winter Consort. On Tuesday, Larson will appear with her ensemble Ventus.

They'll play two classical works with the orchestra to start the program, with the second half of the concert made up of Larson and Ventus performing Larson-penned compositions. Those compositions include Celtic and Armenian-inspired tunes on which Larson will play a glass flute and a wooden flute.

"I'd have to say, it was always like a quiet pain for me, only if you already loved classical music did you love it," Larson said. "The most wonderful thing for me is the fact that our music is accessible; people who love classical and who don't will also like it."

Larson characterizes her compositions as an update to classical styles.

"It's not music from 100 years ago from some dead person, even though I love that," Larson said. "It's music from me, from my time."

In keeping with the commitment to accessibility, Edgerton said Larson will also lead a master class Thursday at noon in Brandt Hall on the university campus.

Starting with laughs

Meanwhile theater and dance is kicking off its season with what might be the most accessible form of theater, a fairly modern comic farce.

"Noises Off" premiered in 1982 and quickly gained the attention of those in theater circles. The play was later made into a movie starring big names like Christopher Reeve, Michael Caine, Carol Burnett and John Ritter in 1992.

Dennis Seyer, the Southeast theater professor who's directing "Noises Off," said few styles are better to open a season with than comedy.

"God knows we all need to laugh these days," said Seyer.

The laughs come easily in "Noises Off," a show that is packed wall-to-wall with jokes tailor-made to solicit belly laughs in its adult audience. Even though the show is a comedy, Seyer said it's also a study of the human condition dealing with jealousy, deceit and insecurity, giving audiences something to think about between the humor. Through the two-hour, three-act play, the audience follows a touring production of a fictional farce called "Nothing On," and the breakdown of the characters and the play that depends on them.

"It deals with human nature, and it just so happens that it's set in the context of a theater company," Seyer said. "This play could have been set within a big corporate office, too."

Seyer's production will lead off a season filled with drama and musicals like "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "42nd Street" -- big names that are driving the strong ticket sales, Lee reported.

For the university's performing arts, the 2006-2007 season could be one of their most important to date. Next year the River Campus is expected to open, with new and improved facilities for the performing arts. Both theater and dance and the symphony orchestra hope to gain momentum this season to carry them over into their new facilities with a strong start next year.

msanders@semissourian.com

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