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FREDONIA, N.Y. — Jan. 20, 2009 — SUNY Fredonia will present a lecture-performance with Dr. Jessica Hillman, award-winning assistant professor within the Department of Theatre and Dance, together with several SUNY Fredonia students, at noon on Wed., Feb. 4, in Room S104 of the Williams Center.
Part of the university’s Brown Bag lecture series, this event will illustrate the directing process for the musical stage, covering the full journey from show selection to opening night. The event is free and open to the public; classes are also welcome.
Performances by the cast of the department’s production of “Urinetown: The Musical” (music by Mark Hollman, book by Greg Kotis) will be included, highlighting the moment-to-moment work involved in the director-actor relationship. Several musical numbers will provide a sneak-peak of the hilarious upcoming show, running from Feb. 20 to 28 in Bartlett Theatre within the campus’ Rockefeller Arts Center.
Dr. Hillman teaches such classes as Musical Theatre Styles, Musical Theatre History, Script Analysis, Acting, and Audition Techniques. An Actors' Equity Association member, she has performed professionally on tour, in regional theatres across the country, and in new musicals in New York City. Her acting credits include Tess in the 2001 national tour of “Crazy for You” and lead roles in shows such as “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cinderella” and “The Last Five Years.”
She has directed and/or choreographed musicals and plays at the University of Colorado, University of Denver, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Colorado Light Opera and the Fort Salem Theatre. For her production of “Company,” she received a Meritorious Achievement Award in Direction from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
She received her bachelor’s degree in Theatre History from Cornell University, and her master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she was the recipient of the Chancellor’s and Devaney Fellowships.
She has published in journals such as Theatre History Studies, Studies in Musical Theatre and in the upcoming Encyclopedia of Broadway and American Culture.
The Brown Bag Lecture series, sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities, offers informal talks on the first Wednesday of each academic month, October through May, featuring new creative and scholarly work by members of the SUNY Fredonia faculty. Each talk and/or presentation is followed by a brief discussion. Refreshments are served and all members of the campus and community are welcome to attend.
For more information on the lecture series, please contact Natalie Gerber, series director, at 716-673-3855 or natalie.gerber@fredonia.edu. For tickets to the upcoming presentation of “Urinetown,” call 716-673-3501 (toll-free: 1-866-441-4928), visit www.fredonia.edu/tickets, or go to the SUNY Fredonia Ticket Office in the Williams Center on campus.
