Each year, the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series highlights music, theatre and dance by a variety of nationally and internationally acclaimed performing artists.
The 2006-07 season — the Edison’s 34th — will include more than a dozen events, ranging from returning favorites to St. Louis and world premiers to the popular ovations! for young people series, which offers specially priced Saturday matinees for audiences of all ages.
The OVATIONS! season will open Sept. 30 with a special one-night-only performance by Dianne Reeves. Widely regarded as one of today’s finest jazz vocalists, Reeves is a four-time Grammy Award winner (for each of her last four albums) and is featured in George Clooney’s Oscar-nominated film Good Night and Good Luck (2005).
The season continues Oct. 6 with Inti-Illimani, the renowned Chilean wind, string and percussion ensemble, which weds European styling with traditional Latin American roots. Music lovers also can look forward to Civil Rights Reader — a genre-defying tribute to figures such as such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Maya Angelou — by African-American composer Daniel Bernard Roumain and his string quartet, The Mission SQ Unit, which comes to campus Jan. 26.
Meanwhile, theatre lovers will be treated to the U.S. premier of Emil Sher’s Hana’s Suitcase, which runs Jan. 11 to 21. Presented by St. Louis’ own Metro Theater Company, this special (and specially priced) two-weekend engagement is adapted from the book by Karen Levine. It tells the true story of a group of Japanese schoolchildren who, along with their teacher, attempt to uncover the mystery of Hana Brady, a Jewish child whose name was painted on an old battered suitcase found at Auschwitz.
Other theatrical offerings include The Flying Karamozov Brothers, those comic jugglers extraordinaire, who will take the Edison stage Oct. 13 and 14 with Life: A Guide for the Perplexed. On Feb. 16 and 17, Los Angeles renegades The Actor’s Gang — led by artistic director Tim Robbins — will present a new stage adaptation of George Orwell’s classic 1984.
On March 30 and 31 Edison will present Leftover Stories to Tell: A Tribute to Spalding Gray. The evening will feature an all-star cast reading previously unheard stories and writings by the famed monologuist and frequent OVATIONS! guest, who died in January 2004.
Once again OVATIONS! and Dance St. Louis will co-sponsor performances by some of today’s most cutting-edge dance companies. Shapiro & Smith Dance will return to the Edison Nov. 17 to 19 with Anytown: Stories of America, an evening of original choreography based on the music of Bruce Springsteen. DanceBrazil will showcase their signature mix of traditional and contemporary Afro-Brazilian dance — including capoeira, a form inspired by martial arts — Feb. 23 to 25.
The OVATIONS season concludes April 27 to 29 with the St. Louis debut of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, a classically trained ensemble whose eclectic repertoire includes works by many of today’s foremost choreographers.
Meanwhile, the ovations! for young people series will open Oct. 14 with The Flying Karamazov Brothers and continue Feb. 24 with DanceBrazil. The series concludes May 5 with the Grammy-nominated acoustic duo Trout Fishing in America.
Tickets to OVATIONS! events are $30, $25 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $18 for students and children. Subscriptions are available at the basic level (three, four or five events at $25 per ticket) and at the premiere level (six or more events at $20 per ticket). Ovations! for young people events are $7 each or $15 for tickets to all three events. Tickets to Hana’s Suitcase are $15 for adults and $10 for children.
Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information or to order tickets, call the Edison Theatre Box Office at (314) 935-6543, or email Edison@wustl.edu.
Founded in 1973, the Edison Theatre OVATIONS! Series serves both Washington University and the St. Louis community by providing the highest caliber national and international artists in music, dance and theater, performing new works as well as innovative interpretations of classical material not otherwise seen in St. Louis. Focusing on presentations that are interdisciplinary, multicultural and/or experimental, Edison Theatre presents work intended to challenge, educate and inspire.
Edison Theatre programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors.
OVATIONS! 2006-07 Season
September 30
Dianne Reeves
www.diannereeves.com
October 6
Inti-Illimani
www.gamisim.com/index_illimani.htm
October 13 and 14
The Flying Karamozov Brothers
Life: A Guide for the Perplexed
www.fkb.com
November 17 to 19
Shapiro & Smith Dance
Anytown: Stories of America
Co-presented by Dance St. Louis
www.shapiroandsmithdance.org
January 11 to 21
Metro Theater Company
Hana’s Suitcase
www.metrotheatercompany.org
January 26
Daniel Bernard Roumain & The Mission SQ Unit
Civil Rights Reader
www.dbrmusic.com
February 16 and 17
The Actor’s Gang
1984
www.theactorsgang.com
February 23 to 25
DanceBrazil
Co-presented by Dance St. Louis
www.dancebrazil.org
March 30 and 31
Leftover Stories to Tell: A Tribute to Spalding Gray
April 27 to 29
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Co-presented by Dance St. Louis
www.aspensantafeballet.com
ovations! for young people
October 14
The Flying Karamazov Brothers
February 24
DanceBrazil
May 5
Trout Fishing in America
www.troutmusic.com