Arcadia is a witty and complex story that switches between two time periods, 1809 and 1999. In the earlier time period, 13-year-old Thomasina makes a startling scientific discovery that will change the way people understand the world. Around her, the adults, including her tutor Septimus, are busy with their illicit passions, intense rivalries, and fast-fired bon mot. In 1999, residents and visitors of the same English estate have similar preoccupations, while they piece together puzzling clues to uncover its past scandals.

Director Kate Ingram has long wanted to bring this play to �鶹ӳ����ý because of how it brings the sciences and mathematics to the stage. “We have such a strong history of sciences at �鶹ӳ����ý. It’s a perfect fit for the university,” she said.

She quotes character Thomasina as she talks about why she appreciates Arcadia. “‘I, Thomasina Coverly, have found a truly wonderful method whereby all the forms of nature must give up their numerical secrets and draw themselves by number alone.’ And I love that because this play combines human nature, and math, and physics all rolled into one. And if that’s not enough to make someone want to come see this play, I don’t know what is.”

Dramaturg Teresa Kilzi has prepared a guide for patrons to read prior to attending the play. The dramaturgy will be on display in the theater lobby, and an abbreviated version will be given to all attendees with their playbill. Patrons can also download the materials in advance and watch some background videos with the cast and director at theatre.ucf.edu.

“Having a background in literature,��physics, and 19th-century England��would certainly enhance the experience of seeing Arcadia, but that’s not a combination that most people have. All the audience really needs is an eagerness to know and to learn,” says Kilzi.

“If there were one key piece of information for audience members to know, it would be for them to have a grasp on the erotic and glamorous nature of Lord Byron. He is central to Arcadia, and yet, he never appears in the play. Byron was revered for his work in literature and lusted after by all who knew him, and he used that magnetism to navigate his way through high society.”

Production at a glance:

Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Directed by Kate Ingram

January�� 29, 30, 31 at 8 p.m.

February 1 at 2 pm

$20 standard, $18 senior, $10 student

Main Stage, Theatre Building 6, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

407-823-1500

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For more information about Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý, visit .

�鶹ӳ����ý Music faculty members David Brunner and Kelly A. Miller will lead the three choruses – ��the University Chorus, the Women’s Chorus, and the Chamber Singers – in a variety of song styles, including folk, American, world, and classical.

The choruses will be joined by several guest artists. Theatre faculty member Kate Ingram will narrate a selection of readings including William Bradford’s Thanksgiving Proclamation and Pablo Neruda’s Ode to Gratitude. Tenor Jeremy Hunt will open the program with Leonard Bernstein’s “Simple Song.” Pianist Per Danielsson will be featured throughout the program. Other instrumentalists will perform throughout the concert. Dancers from Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý will also be participating in four of the pieces.

Brunner points out that the concert is “acoustically and physically immersive” and makes full use of the unique design of the chapel. The program is continuous and will last for 90 minutes, and the singers and dancers will be moving in and out of the audience throughout the concert.

Those attending are asked to bring donations of canned and non-perishable food items to benefit the community food pantry at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.

For more information about �鶹ӳ����ý Music, visit music.cah.ucf.edu.

The play focuses on the human spirit of curiosity and how a small bit of impropriety can cause the biggest scandal. When Theo Maske’s wife, Louise, has an accidental slip of her underpants in public, her respectable husband decides to keep her hidden from public view in hopes of avoiding any further scandal. His plan starts to crumble as witnesses of the event decide that they want to see a little bit more.��

A story originally written by playwright Carl Sternheim, The Underpants was adapted by comedian Steve Martin.

“There is a line in the play that says, ‘Never underestimate the power of a glimpse of lingerie.’ It is probably just as true now as it was when the play was first written,” said director Kate Ingram. “It’s about the voyeuristic tendencies of people, that they like to peek. People may not like it, but it’s true and it may just be a source of power.

“Though it is a play written in 1910 Germany, Steve Martin adapted it, so it feels very modern and contemporary, set in 1910 Germany right before the first World War. One might think it would be dark humor but it’s not bleak—it’s quite funny. It’s silly and funny with a lot of socio-political humor thrown in.”

Leading the troupe of actors taking on this comedy is second year MFA student Jeff Nathan, playing the role of the curmudgeonly Theo Maske. In addition to being cast as a lead in The Underpants, Nathan is balancing his responsibilities as a graduate student while raising his newborn daughter with his wife.��

Of his many time commitments Nathan said, “It’s a challenge to be able to balance being a first-year teacher and being able to take a full course load of grad classes, and also to be cast in a show and also to have a baby, but all in all I chose this career path knowing that grad school was an exhausting yet fantastic journey that I hoped to take.”

Nathan is one of two graduate students that are a part of the cast, the other being Ryan M. Skiles, who is portraying the role of Klinglehoff. Having the two graduate students as part of the cast brings a role of mentoring into rehearsals.

Olivia Grace Murphy, a senior in the BFA Acting class, portrays the role of Louise, Theo’s scandal-causing wife. For an undergraduate student, the opportunity to act alongside graduate students has brought about its own lessons, she said��

“The graduate students are a joy to work with. It’s refreshing to work with them on stage,” she said. “Both Jeff and Ryan have been out in the real world and have so many different life experiences that they can bring to the situation. I really enjoy having the chance to work with actors of varying levels of experience.”��

Rounding out the cast are Courtney Kaye Kirby (Gertrude Deuter), Jesse Hinton (Frank Versati), and Daniel Annone (Benjamin Cohen).

Production at a glance

The Underpants

By Steve Martin

Adapted from Carl Sternheim

Directed by Kate Ingram

8 p.m.: Sept. 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28

���������������� Oct. 3, 4, 5

2 p.m.: Sept. 22, 29

�鶹ӳ����ý Black Box Theater

Price: Standard $20, Senior $18, Student $10; group discounts available

Box Office Phone: 407- 823-1500

Box Office Hours: Monday through Friday:��noon to 6 p.m. and two hours before performances

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The play centers around architect Bernard (Patrick Sylvester), who, with the help of his long-time buddy Robert (Eric Earley) and his surly maid Bertha (Kate Ingram), juggles three fiancées (Emily Schwartz, Danielle Miller, and Kim Hough), all flight attendants with different travel schedules. There is much door slamming, physical and verbal comedy, and sexual innuendo as Bernard’s meticulous timetables fail and the women converge upon the apartment at once.

Comedies such as Boeing Boeing aren’t easy for actors. Director Mark Brotherton focuses his attention on the benefits to the students. “Farces like Boeing help them learn pace and timing—both having to come from incredibly hard active listening,” he said. “And on top of that, it needs to be believable.

“In comedy, the actor has to believe the situation and the stakes. And the best comedies are like this one. They occur when normal people – at least in their own eyes – are thrown into incredibly abnormal situations. Their world has been thrown out of order, and they will all try anything and everything to get it back into order.”

In addition to learning about timing, there are plenty of foreign dialects in the play for the students to master. The play takes place in Paris, so Bertha speaks with a French accent. The three flight attendants are from Italy, Germany and New York.

Miller, who plays the role of Italian flight attendant Gabrielle, transferred to �鶹ӳ����ý this summer and is in her first �鶹ӳ����ý production. “I had never used an Italian dialect prior to my audition, but I watched a lot of movies in order to get the hang of it. I’m channeling Sophia Loren and Penelope Cruz in Nine.”

The practice doesn’t end with rehearsal. “I work at Lazy Moon,” said Miller, “and find myself delivering pizzas with an Italian accent.”

Brotherton agrees that there are benefits for audience members, too.

“Boeing Boeing is just a good time,” he said. “Mad Men is one of the biggest hits on television. And Boeing Boeing, well, it’s like Mad Men without any valium or scotch to calm the characters down.”
Production at a glance:

Boeing Boeing

Written by Marc Camoletti

Translated by Beverly Cross and Francis Evans

Directed by Mark Brotherton

8 p.m.: June 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, July 12, 18, 20

2 p.m.: June 16, June 23, July 14

Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý Black Box

Price: Standard $20, senior $18, student $10; group discounts available

Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

Box office phone: 407-823-1500

Box office hours: Monday through Friday:��noon to 5 p.m. and two hours before performances

For more information about Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý, visit .

No Sex Please, We’re British is directed by Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý department chair Christopher Niess. The show runs June 7-17 in the Black Box Theatre.

As in most farces, the plot is simple: a straight-laced newlywed couple orders Scandinavian glassware and but instead receives an unwelcomed delivery of pornography. Farcical antics ensue as they try to ditch the scandalous contents from friends, parents, bosses and the law, and try to stop the persistent proprietor.

No Sex Please, We’re British is an active play, with doors slamming, characters falling down, and high-stake action. The cast has just three weeks of rehearsal to pull together all of the blocking and timing, but also has another skill to master in that time: Because the characters are British, the cast members have to perfect their dialects.

“It would be such a different play if it weren’t in dialect,” said Maggie Langlais, who is playing Frances Hunter, one of the lead roles. “A lot of the comedy stems from the accents, because the British accent is interpreted as being more reserved. It wouldn’t be as funny if it were ‘No Sex Please, We’re Italian.’”

“Teaching young American students a new dialect is almost trickier than teaching a new language,” said dialect coach Kate Ingram. “They are reading scripted words on the page, trying to act believably, but they are also being asked to speak differently—this can throw an actor—‘I don’t sound like myself, I’m not sure I’m believable.’”.

“I always remind the actor that the character needs to speak this way!��That’s the fun part of working on dialect. We try to find some time away from the on-your-feet-rehearsal business, so that the actors can slow down and live inside the words and remember why they are saying those words.”

Whit Emerson plays the role of Leslie Bromhead, the district manager of a bank. He has one of the few upper-class roles in the show. “Working with Kate not only helped my dialect, but it helped me develop the character. Everyone else in the play is working class, but maybe Leslie went to a private school or talked like Winston Churchill.”

“I can’t read the script without an accent anymore,” said Kristin Shoffner. “The dialect provides a rhythm for the words. It becomes like a song that we are dancing to on stage.” Kristin is cast in the role of Eleanor Hunter.��

Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý is on the �鶹ӳ����ý campus near the intersection of University Boulevard and Alafaya Trail in east Orlando. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.

To purchase tickets or for ticket information call the box office at 407-823-1500. Standard tickets are $17 ($15 for seniors; $10 for students) and group rates are available. It is recommended to purchase tickets in advance, available through the Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý box office. �鶹ӳ����ý offers accommodations to make the theatre more accessible to patrons with disabilities—for assistance, please call the box office in advance.

Summer at a glance:

No Sex Please, We’re British

By Anthony Marriott and Alistair Foot

Directed by Christopher Niess

June 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16 at 8 p.m.

June 10, 17 at 2 p.m.

Black Box Theatre

Price: Standard $17, Senior $15, Student $10; Group discounts available

Subscriptions: $40 standard, $36 senior, $20 student

Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando

Box Office Phone: 407-823-1500

Box Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday: noon to 5 p.m. and 2 hours before performances

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For more information about Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý, visit .

Contact: Heather Gibson, Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý; heather.gibson@ucf.edu; 407-823-1732

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Theatre �鶹ӳ����ý is a program in the School of Performing Arts at the �鶹ӳ����ý. The department’s graduate and undergraduate programs focus on providing a competitive edge to theatre artists seeking professional theatre careers, as well as to future creative intellectual leaders. The program offers theatrical presentations year-round to the public at the east Orlando campus. For more information about attending performances call 407-823-1500 or visit .

Directed by �鶹ӳ����ý Associate Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Acting Kate Ingram, “Into the Woods” tells the stories of characters such as Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella while offering life lessons for audiences of all ages.

The award-winning musical appeared on Broadway, and features music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Lapine.

Performances of “Into the Woods” will be Thursdays through Sundays from March 24 to April 3 on the �鶹ӳ����ý Theatre’s Main Stage. All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for Sunday matinees, which will start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and $12 for students with their ID. Reservations are recommended and available through the �鶹ӳ����ý Conservatory Theatre box office at 407-823-1500. Group rates are available. The box office can assist with accommodations for patrons with disabilities.

Go to for more information.

Albee’s play explores a middle-aged couple whose marriage is on the rocks and seemingly devoid of love and hope. This play contains mature themes and language and is not appropriate for younger audiences.

Directed by Theatre Department Chair Christopher Niess, the production features Mark Brotherton and Kate Ingram, both of who are �鶹ӳ����ý Theatre faculty members. �鶹ӳ����ý Theatre students Robert Svetlik and Lindsay Clemmons are also in the play.

“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” runs Thursday, July 1, through Saturday, July 3, and Thursday, July 8, through Sunday, July 11, in the Main Stage theatre. All shows begin at 8 p.m., except for Sunday matinees, which start at 2 p.m.

Ticket prices are $19 for adults, $17 for seniors and $12 for students with their IDs.

Reservations are recommended and available through the �鶹ӳ����ý Conservatory Theatre box office at 407-823-1500. Group rates are available. The box office can assist with accommodations for patrons with disabilities.