Rozsa, McArdle Theatre to host events this weekend

ANCHORAGE WORLD PREMIERE will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, at the Rozsa Center. (Photos courtesy Rozsa Center)

HOUGHTON --  This weekend you are invited to a World Premiere at the Rozsa Center and Michigan Tech's first play in 18 months at the McArdle Theatre on campus.

A London composer and New York choreographer met on Rabbit Island, a tiny island off the coast of the Keweenaw, where they were inspired to create ANCHORAGE WORLD PREMIERE, presented in collaboration with Rabbit Island Foundation, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13, at the James and Margaret Black Performance Hall in the Rozsa.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for youth. Michigan Tech students can attend for free and bring a friend with the Experience Tech Fee.

The Arsonists will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 11-13 and Nov. 17-19 in the McArdle Theatre in Walker Arts and Humanities Center.

Firebugs have been setting homes aflame. Will businessman Biedermann be prepared for the cunning arsonists at his door? This dark political satire, written in the 1950s about the spread of communism, is reimagined in modern times by director Kristy Dodson.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for youth. Michigan Tech students can attend for free and bring a friend with the Experience Tech Fee.

Tickets are available by phone at 906-487-2073, online and in person at the Central Ticketing Office in the Student Development Complex. The Rozsa Box Office will also be open for ticket purchases two hours prior to performances.

Click here for information about Live Streaming Events.

Note: Face coverings are required for volunteers, staff and audience members at these events. Please visit the Rozsa COVID-19 Policies for the most up-to-date information.

Superior Wind Symphony to present "In the Throes of Radios" concert Apr. 24

HOUGHTON -- At 7:30 p.m. this Friday, April 24, in the McArdle Theatre, Michigan Tech’s Superior Wind Symphony, under the direction of Mike Christianson, will present their final concert of the 2014-15 Season, titled "In the Throes of Radios."

The audience will experience music that owes a debt to the invention of radio. This world-premier event features music by Michigan Tech's resident composer, Elizabeth Meyer, as well as music by George Gershwin, Ottorino Respighi, Morton Gould, and John Philip Sousa.

Also available, the night of the performance is a "VPA Livestream" of the music, at http://vpa-live.mtu.edu, for those who are not able to be present for the event. (Please note: this link will not be active until the time of the event.)

Tickets are $13 for adults, $5 for youth (17 and under), and free for Michigan Tech Students. To purchase tickets, call (906) 487-2073, go online at rozsa.mtu.edu, or visit Ticketing Operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton. SDC box office hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday and noon - 8 p.m. Sunday. Please note the Rozsa Box Office is closed during regular business hours and will only open two hours prior to show times.

Tech Theatre Company to present modern fairy tale with dance, music Feb. 6-8, Feb. 13-15

HOUGHTON -- The Tech Theatre Company presents Rose and the Rime, a spectacular modern fairy tale of courage and hope in the face of adversity and fear. The fable features Rose, a very special girl who embarks on an adventure to save her town, Radio Falls, Michigan, from perpetual winter. The play will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 6, 7, 8 and Feb. 13, 14, 15 in the McArdle Theatre, in the Walker Center for Arts and Humanities at Michigan Technological University.

The play includes dance, and original music composed by students. For younger audiences (5 and under) the Saturday performances include a backstage tour with the cast and crew to help children become more comfortable with potentially scary content.

According to Director Patricial Helsel, "Welcome to the world of Rose. Her town has fallen under a spell cast by the Rime Witch leaving its residents in perpetual winter. With the actors and production crew, the directing and design staffs have collaborated in bringing to life Rose’s adventure to save her town. The production includes a corps of 'sprites' who facilitate the transformation of locations and moods. 

"Tech’s production incorporates aerial silk dance as a binding element allowing the set to come to life. Rose’s world is further formed and transformed by original music and sound effects that take the audience on a journey across glacial cliffs, into mysterious ice caves, and into the belly of the Rime Witch. The mood moves from silly yet mysterious, to edge-of-your-seat frightening, to victorious glory and painful sorrow, and back again to light-heartedness. Some scenes may be scary for young children. Tech Theatre is offering pre-show tours before the Saturday performances, at 6:30 p.m., in an attempt to prepare and acclimate youngsters by experiencing the environment through 'touch,' 'see,' and 'listen.' Families with tickets for the Saturday performances should meet in the lobby of the McArdle Theatre, Walker 2nd floor."

General admission is $13, youth tickets (17 and under) are $8, and Michigan Tech student tickets are free with the experience Tech fee.

The play is presented by the Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts.  To purchase tickets, call (906) 487-2073, go online at rozsa.mtu.edu, or visit Ticketing Operations at Michigan Tech’s Student Development Complex (SDC), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton. SDC box office hours are 8 a.m. - 9 p.m., Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. Saturday; and 12 noon - 8 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets will also be available at the McArdle Theatre box office, located on the second floor of the Walker Center for Arts and Humanities, two hours prior to the show.

Tech Theatre Company to present Neil Simon play Oct. 17-19, 24-26

HOUGHTON -- The Tech Theatre Company will present Brighton Beach Memoirs, by playwright Neil Simon, at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17 to 19 and Oct. 24 to 26, in the McArdle Theatre, in the Walker Center on the Michigan Tech campus.

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a witty, yet poignant recollection of growing up during the Depression. Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical play features a 15-year-old Eugene Jerome, an aspiring writer coming of age in a loving, yet crowded home in Brooklyn, New York, in 1937. Eugene struggles with his desire to hold onto childhood dreams (like pitching for the New York Yankees), while trying to understand puberty as he turns the corner into manhood, helping his older brother to provide for the family. Note: Strong language and adult content may not be suitable for young children.

Tickets are $13 for adults and $8 for youth. Click here to purchase tickets on line. Tickets will also be sold at the door at McArdle Theatre.

Tech Theatre Company to present "Romancing Horror: Four Stories By H.P. Lovecraft!" Nov. 29 - Dec. 1

HOUGHTON -- The Tech Theatre Company will present "Romancing Horror: Four Stories By H.P. Lovecraft!" at 7:30 p.m., this Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, in the McArdle Theatre on the Michigan Tech campus. Join the Tech Theatre Company as they present the literary works of H.P. Lovecraft, "devised" for the stage, in an original theatrical production!

Growing from the fertile soil of the romantics and the symbolist poets, HP Lovecraft surpassed his predecessor, Edgar Allen Poe, in perfecting the classic horror story. Since then, every horror film concocted in Hollywood, from the subtle and intrigue of Hitchcock to the evil of "Chucky," has followed Lovecraft's mystery mantra. In the sedate salon of their New England home, Professor Rodney C. Phillips, world authority on horror fiction, and his somewhat eccentric but charming wife, Edith Abigail, conjure theatrical life into Lovecraft's tales for their friends. Of course, there will be a surprise ending!

According to Director Roger Held, Chair, Department of Visual and Performing Arts, "'Devising' is the contemporary expression for the common theatrical practice of creating a performance from non-dramatic literature, or a script developed through the improvisations or written contributions of the actors. Such theatre pieces also provide design and performance challenges students don’t usually experience in educational theatre programs."

Tickets are $12.75/General Admission. Michigan Tech students are free. To purchase tickets, call 487-2073, click here to buy online at Rozsa, or visit Ticketing Operations at the SDC (Student Development Complex), 600 MacInnes Drive, in Houghton.

SDC box office hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday; and noon to 8 p.m., Sunday.