Brandon A. Wright on ‘The Color Purple’: There really is a piece of take-away for every single person and it may not be in the big or popular moments. That’s the beauty of it: If you come with an open heart and mind, you will find your moment, and it will feel as fulfilling as it’s supposed to.”
Hancher
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Five questions with: Director Anne Bogart
Director Anne Bogart has influenced decades of actors and directors as one of the most formidable minds in American theater. She trained at Bard College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Bogart currently serves as one of three co-artistic directors of SITI Company, which she founded in 1992 with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki. SITI Company is currently
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Urban Bush Women to explore issues of body image, race and gender in Hancher performance, dance workshop
“This process … really predates us all.” Chanon Judson, one of the artistic directors of Brooklyn, New York-based dance company Urban Bush Women, is speaking of the company’s practice of applying culture to dance. “We are all part of a lineage that has been doing that since the beginning of time.” Urban Bush Women was founded in 1984 by dancer and choreographer Jawole Willa Zollar, who still holds the title of Chief Visioning Partner of the group.
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Hancher announces 2019-20 season featuring Diana Ross, Audra McDonald, ‘Rent’ and more
Hancher 2019-20 general public season tickets on sale Monday, July 1 Hancher announced today the lineup for its 2019-20 season, and it’s a thrilling one. The voices of some amazing women anchor the offerings, including singers, ensembles, poets, comedians and plays by and about women. The season also includes the inaugural events of Hancher’s new […]
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Nothing sweeter: Luisa Caldwell finds art in candy wrappers
Composed of two separate pieces, Curtain Call and Folly, Caldwell’s installation showcases the intricacies of movement, composition and highly textured sculpture in three-dimensional space. Her work for this installation was largely done using candy wrappers, collected with the help of friends, family and city street litter.
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Five questions with: Muireann Ahern, director of ‘They Called Her Vivaldi’
Sunday, March 10 will bring an exciting, one-day-only performance to Hancher Auditorium. Irish theater company Theatre Lovett will make their Iowa City stop, one of just seven on their North American tour, sharing their original production ‘They Called Her Vivaldi,’ a playful narrative full of adventure and magic.
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Five questions with: composer and performer Damien Sneed
On Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. at Hancher Auditorium’s Hadley Stage, Damien Sneed — an award winning composer, conductor, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist — will present We Shall Overcome — A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tickets range from $10 for youth to $35 for adults.
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‘Les Misérables’ — An Iowa City favorite returns to the Hancher stage
‘Les Misérables,’ the epic musical based on Victor Hugo’s expansive 1862 novel, returns to Hancher this week. The play has a long and popular history in Iowa City. Now, after almost 18 years (just shy of Jean Valjean’s 19 year imprisonment for stealing a loaf of bread), ‘Les Miz’ is back.
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‘Les Misérables,’ Kristin Chenoweth and ‘Letters from Iraq’: Hancher announces 2018-19 season
Hancher Auditorium has announced its 2018-19 season, and it’s jam-packed with the most prestigious music, theater and dance touring the region. Tickets go on sale to the general public Aug. 1, but donors who gave over $100 to Hancher in the last year should watch their mail for the season brochure with early ordering instructions. A full season schedule can be found on the Hancher website.
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‘Kinky Boots’ struts its stuff into Hancher, courtesy of the nimble Jos N. Banks
Based on a BBC documentary series that featured the true story of a struggling heir of a failing shoe-manufacturing company that rebooted itself by designing footwear for drag performers and the fetish market, Kinky Boots was adapted into a Broadway musical by a trifecta of talent, with multi-Tony winning Harvey Fierstein writing the book, lyrics by Grammy-winner Cyndi Lauper and Tony-nominated Jerry Mitchell as choreographer and director.
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Cities of Literature take over Thursday Nights at Hancher
Cities of Literature representatives from around the world arrived in town on April 3 and will be here through April 6. Although the majority of their event is private, the gathering will offer one event to the public.
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Bassem Youssef, the ‘Egyptian Jon Stewart,’ is taking on Trump’s America
Media outlets tend to tout Bassem Youssef as “the Egyptian Jon Stewart,” due to the popularity of his political satire in Egypt. Yet whereas Stewart got into the comedy business through comedy, Youssef’s rise to prominence came through a more circuitous route: political revolution.
