The Walter Gloor Mainstage Series by the Department of Theatre and Dance will return with five productions as part of the 2023-24 performing arts season at SUNY Fredonia.
The series opens with the award-winning musical “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” from Oct. 20 through 28 in the Robert W. Marvel Theatre.
The production is described as “an electropop opera ripped from a slice of Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’.” It was lauded during its Broadway run in 2017 for “expanding the possibilities for the musical genre with its daring score and bold storytelling.”
Main character Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines of the war with France. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation.
Composed by Dave Malloy, “Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812” has earned two Tony Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards and the Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.
The second offering of the season will be the premiere performance of a brand-new work “Mason Wright is NOT a Mother.” It will run from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 in the Alice E. Bartlett Theatre.
The first production of the spring semester will be “Edges,” a contemporary song-cycle about young adults at the metaphorical edge of their lives, from Feb. 23 through March 2 in the Alice E. Bartlett Theatre.
Written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“Dogfight,” “James and the Giant Peach”), “Edges” is described as a “charming, witty and honest examination of adulthood explores what happens when we are teetering on the edges of our lives.”
The songs cover such universal issues as love, commitment, identity and meaning. Characters deal with confronting emotions, escaping expectations and deciphering complicated relationships.
The season concludes with “The Crucible” and “Abigail/1702,” which will alternate performances from April 26 through May 2 in the Robert W. Marvel Theatre.
Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Arthur Miller (“Death of A Salesman”), “The Crucible” is a drama that tells the story of a young farmer, his wife, and a young servant-girl who maliciously causes the wife's arrest for witchcraft. The farmer brings the girl to court to admit the lie — and it is there that the monstrous course of bigotry and deceit is terrifyingly depicted.
“Abigail/1702” was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, picking up where Miller’s tale left off.
Set 10 years after witch trials in “The Crucible,” main character Abigail Williams, the accuser in the who sent 20 people to their doom, lives under an assumed name striving to atone for her sins.
When a handsome stranger arrives claiming to be a sailor in need, Abigail takes him in, and long-dormant passions awaken within her. However, the Devil also comes looking for Abigail — demanding her soul.
Tickets for the 2023-24 Walter Gloor Mainstage Series will go on sale in late August through the Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center.
