University stages around the metro area raise the curtain on a variety of shows, from musicals to vintage absurdist works.
Waking up at Loyola
Loyola University’s Department of Theater Arts and Dance mounts a new play by a professor that features a veteran of “The Walking Dead” opening Thursday.
Ann Mahoney
Nadine Marissa
Ann Mahoney, also a “Walking Dead” vet, and Gillian Shelly have penned “God Help Them If We Wake Up,” a feminist drama about a woman in search of a better world who sparks a revolution.
Nadine Marissa, the actor known as Nabila on “Walking Dead,” takes the role of Hannah Green.
“I recently found myself watching fundamental human rights taking a huge step backward in this land of the free, home of the brave,” Mahoney said in media information about the show. “I knew I didn’t have the political prowess to make a statement that would matter, so I returned to my roots in the theater.”
The show, with original music, features a cast of 25 women, including Marissa, Alex Armstrong, Amanda Greenebaum, Milo Howell, Jenevieve Bolen, Aidan Caliva, Alunda Chikawe, Layah Chouest, M. Hui, Gaby Hawk, Enne Samuel, Kaylee Gomez, Laura Hamilton, Lizzy Messinger, Riley Hobbs, Lucy McCain, Kelsey Breau, Aolani Scaife, Taryn Ebright, Taylor James and Ana-Claire Perkins.
The show is 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays plus Nov. 15, and at 2 p.m. Sunday; Marquette Theatre, Marquette Hall, 6363 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. Tickets start at $15. Visit cmm.loyno.edu/loyola-presents
Two on tap at Tulane
“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” a Tony-winning musical, opens Thursday at Dixon Hall to run for three performances, joining “Ubu Roi” (see below) in the smaller Lupin Theatre in the performing arts center on the Uptown campus.
The university’s Musical Theatre Workshop of the Newcomb Department of Music production looks at six fierce competitors in a spelling competition. As the youngsters spell their way through the bee, the audience finds out about their hopes, dreams and fears.
Directed by Belinda Andrews-Smith, the show features the talents of Nora Feinberg, Simon Rucker, Caitlin Caufield, Eliza Mullins, Ben Longo, Kayla Rutner, Hadley Magaziner, Ben Kolitch, Joseph Benefiel, A.K. Scott, Charlotte Chase, Kuper Zahn, Rosalie Ludena, Madison Sukenik, Katie Spartz and Alexa Theriot.
The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $10. Visit liberalarts.tulane.edu/departments/music/news.
‘Blood’ at UNO
“Blood at the Root” is a fictionalized look at real events in Louisiana in 2006 in the small town of Jena in LaSalle Parish, written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by R’Myni Watson.
In the play, high school students are embroiled in racial tensions that are layered with social injustice and social equity. There are also elements of family, warmth and unity. Discretion is advised for explicit content and abusive language.
Taking roles in the show are J’aiLa Price, Emani White, Torie “T” LaCaze, Walter Dixson IV, Sam Cooley, Justin William Davis, Quivonne Carr, Chad Roberts, Bryant Berry, Emma Cox and Seth Mouton.
The show takes to the stage of the Robert E. Nims Theatre in the UNO Performing Arts Center on the lakefront campus, 2000 Lakeshore Drive, in New Orleans. The show runs 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays through Nov. 18, plus a 2 p.m. Sunday. Visit sotaperformances.uno.edu.
Opening this week
Tallulah Bankhead is played by Leslie Castay in ‘Looped’ by Jefferson Performing Arts Society.
“LOOPED”: Opening 7:30 p.m. Thursdays to Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 19, Westwego Cultural Center, 177 Sala Ave., Westwego. Leslie Castay stars as Tallulah Bankhead in this Jefferson Performing Arts Society show about the studio session in 1965 when the inebriated actress was trying to dub a single flubbed line from her final movie, “Die! Die! My Darling!” Tickets start at $25. jpas.org.
In production
‘MJ The Musical’ with Roman Banks in the lead looks at the preparations for Michael Jackson’s 1992 ‘Dangerous World Tour’ as a means to examine the late ‘king of pop.’
“MJ: THE MUSICAL”: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday; Saenger Theatre, 1111 Canal St., New Orleans. As the late Michael Jackson prepares for his “Dangerous World Tour” opening just days away, he encounters a reporter and opens up about his past and his craft. And he also wants to make changes to the show despite objections from management. Tickets start at $39. saengernola.com.
“ONEPIECE”: 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday; Ty Tracy Theatre, Gallier Hall, 545 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans. Randy Bibb’s story of a fading swimming star, part of a traveling water show, who arrives in a small town. Her manager, eager for a romance, finds a local lifeguard with tap talent and threatens to make her the next “million-dollar mermaid” if the star won’t marry him. Tickets start at $25. onepiecemusical.com.
Sydney Schneider is Pa Ubu in ‘Ubu Roi’ at Tulane University.
“UBU ROI”: 7:30 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; Lupin Theatre, Dixon Hall Performing Arts Center, Newcomb Circle. Tulane’s Department of Theatre and Dance presents Alfred Jarry’s absurdist work about Pa Ubu, who kills the king of Poland, launches a reign of terror and lets ambition and greed become his downfall. Tickets start at $10. purplepass.com/TULANETD.