Performing Art

Sour Kangaroo, the Cat in the Hat, Horton and Jojo. Photo BY Mark Mangiaracina COURTESY SPRINGFIELD MUNI OPERA Springfield’s Muni Opera was blessed with a dry, comfortable evening for opening night of Seussical the Musical July 10. The show, based on Dr. Seuss’ popular books including Horton Hears a Who and Miss Gertrude McFuzz, has […]

The holiday-themed Elf: The Musical hits the stage Nov. 6. PHOTO COURTESY SANGAMON AUDITORIUM The 2015-2016 season for Sangamon Auditorium, UIS has been announced, and at the risk of an internal contradiction, the shows, beginning in September, are typically eclectic. Auditorium director Robert Vaughn has built a roster that manages to address the very young, […]

Back row, left to right: Makari Robinson-McNeese, Vincent Hill, Rhinodda Webb, Patricia James-Davis, Betty White, and Betty Waters. Front row, left to right: Cydney Williams, Clinton Horton, Jr., Danielle Gibson, Miracle Drake-Smith and Amir Upshaw. Not pictured are: Cheynnne Banks, Denise Gibson, Caleb Crawford, Jonathan Davis, Zakiya Hill and Cameron Smith. Photo by DAVID HINE […]

Deanna Langheim delivered a lively performance of “I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning” at the Mature Mob’s practice. PHOTO BY GINNY LEE Signs that fall is approaching: cooler weather, the beginning of football season, this year’s Mature Mob show…. Okay, that last one may not be an annual rite of the season for you, […]

D.J. Schultz as Edward Hyde. PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY The mercurial weather on what would have been Jekyll & Hyde’s opening night at the Springfield Municipal Opera mirrored well the play itself. A violent, Hyde-like thunderstorm forced a cancellation of the Sept. 5 showing, but the following evening was calm and cool, with the nearly […]

Donkey (Andrew Wheaton), Shrek (Brad Barding) and Fiona (Hannah Siehr). PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY ShrekAug. 14-16 and Aug. 21-23, 8 p.m.The Muni, 815 E. Lake Shore Drive, SpringfieldTickets: 793-6864 or online at themuni.org Looking for a place where you can see a wisecracking gingerbread man, an enormous singing dragon, a talking donkey and a diminutive […]

The April Verch Band performs Jan. 16 PHOTO COURTESY SANGAMON AUDITORIUM From singer-songwriters to international cultural ambassadors, from children’s entertainment to the blues, from gritty rock to glitzy musicals to a beloved comedian, the 2014-2015 season at Sangamon Auditorium runs the gamut. AmericanaSeveral of this year’s musical acts fit neatly in the very popular Americana […]

Featured dancers perform “Jailhouse Rock,” the show’s opening number. PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY “I vote for ‘Fat-Bottomed Girls,’” I hear someone say as I walk backstage at the Springfield Muni Opera. I look up and see director Anna Bussing caught in a brief debate with a member of her cast. They compromise, and moments later […]

Mary Harmon as Maria in an early scene. PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY I guess I just assumed I wouldn’t like the Sound of Music. Until last Friday, I’d never actually seen the play, but I was certain I had enough information to make what seemed like an easy decision. I can remember walking through the […]

Andrew Willmore as the Rev. James Howard, with Tom Heintzelman, who plays a Catholic priest. In the theater class he teaches at Robert Morris University, George A.M. Heroux advises students to look for plot details from one’s life. “I’ve done that with the plays I’ve written,” he says. He’s definitely taken that advice in his […]

Other cast members look on as Henry Drummond (Jim Dahlquist, right) questions Matthew Brady (Rich McCoy, left) PHOTO BY DONNA LOUNSBERRY Is it timeless or just old? Inherit the Wind may be a staple of community theater, but can a fictionalized account written 58 years ago about something that happened 88 years ago resonate with […]

If anyone can lay claim to being the “father” of The Mature Mob, it’s Jim Myers. It began in the early ’90s, when Jim, at age 76, began taking tap dance lessons at the Springfield Senior Center, located at the corner of Walnut and Mason streets. But his teacher, Dorothy Irvine, surely had something to […]