thePULSEArts for all
Savage NurseryCenterStage opens its busy season
October 2004 – CenterStage at Fitchburg State College wants to know – what are you doing tonight? This center for the performing arts has a lot to offer in 2004-2005.
CenterStage opened its new season in September with Taylor 2. The fiery modern dance company showcased over four decades of innovative movement by the seventy year old father of modern dance, Paul Taylor.
This month, you can experience film in a way that is uncommon to most pedestrian viewers – with live accompaniment.
CenterStage will showcase The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on Thursday, October 14 at 7 p.m. with accompaniment performed by the Silent Music Ensemble. Directed by Robert Wiene in 1919, the film is a signature piece of the Expressionist movement and is a perfect film for Halloween.
Dark mysticism and an extravagant display of puppeteer prowess. Curious? Erin Orr shows off her work in “The Savage Nursery” on Thursday, November 4 at 7 p.m. The New York City puppeteer incorporates a morbid yet provocative enthusiasm for this classical theatrical medium that combines light, music and sculpture. “The Savage Nursery” is an engaging fairytale sanctioned only for the mature audience.
Not all performances at CenterStage leave you in a cold sweat. Although the name “Count” may excite some feelings of unease, a celebration of Count Basie and the Kansas City Sound promises to excite only swing dancing. The New Life Jazz Orchestra performs “Swinging the Blues,” a homage to Basie’s life and the timeless expressiveness of swing music, on Friday, February 25 at 8 p.m.
Fitchburg State doesn’t stop there when it comes to breaking out in song. Solas, a traditional Irish band featuring the flair of five dynamic young musicians, performs on March 18 at 8 p.m. to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Their sound is a fresh weave of Celtic and New Age sounds that is sure to please even those who are only Irish in spirit.
Taylor 2Also in March, CenterStage presents the “beautifully bizarre” Battleworks Dance Company. One of the country’s best emerging choreographers, Robert Battle brings his eight-man troupe to Fitchburg on Saturday, March 5 at 5 p.m.
The last show of the season serves up a heaping helping of comic relief, leaving audiences still wanting more – even though their sides hurt. The well known masters of quickie theater spoofs, The Reduced Shakespeare Company, dish out a fast paced mockery of the Charles Dickens legacy on Friday, April 29 at 8 p.m. This slapstick epic is based on the well known parts of Dickens’ work, so there is no need to cuddle up with 30,000 pages before attending. “All the Great Books (abridged)” will provide closure to a great season with CenterStage.
The CenterStage series has a number of other events that might peak your interest, including a New England writer’s series and three films from the Boston Jewish Film Festival.
The box office is open Monday through Friday 12:30 to 3:30 and can be reached at (978) 665-3347. Go online to www.fsc.edu/cultural for more information.
