Theatre and Dance Department Celebrates Senior Students
- May 18, 2016
Cal State East Bay’s 2016 Theatre and Dance Performance Fusion Festival, an annual celebration of original student performances, will take place on May 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. and May 29 at 2 p.m. All shows will take place in the University Theatre on the Hayward campus.
“Fusion” is traditionally a chance for senior and graduating theater and dance students to showcase their work, which they begin crafting in the fall. This year’s Fusion offers an array of performances, ranging from a musical revue to original choreographed dances.
Jerardo Larios will direct a short play he wrote about a promiscuous man, a toxic friendship and a romantic triangle. Caitlin Gardner’s adaptation of James McClure’s “Max and Maxie” is a trip through an aging comic’s memory, based on “The Wizard of Oz” star Bert Lahr’s (the Cowardly Lion) tempestuous partnership with his wife on stage and in life. Lucretia Allen takes the stage in the one-woman piece “Lives of the Great Waitresses” by Nina Shengold, which includes three monologues about working women. The musical revue “Benchmarks,” compiled by Burton Weaver, is an exploration of love’s maturity, scored against five favorite Broadway tunes. Megan Briceño’s “Tears of Grief and Mourning” is an original dance piece inspired by loss and healing, featuring her own choreography. Michael Chan’s original choreography is also on display in “Breakin’ the Barrier,” a dance about manipulation and finding the strength to break free from others. Finally, technical design students Chad Foster and Margaret Adair MacCormick create a silent theater piece in “Turtle House.”
Audiences are encouraged to make reservations for the Fusion Festival by calling the Box Office at (510) 885-3118 or purchasing their tickets . Tickets will also be available at the Pioneer Bookstore on the Hayward campus or at the box office one hour before curtain. Tickets are $15 for general audience, $5 with a CSUEB student ID, and $10 for those eligible for a discount including youth, seniors (60+), military and CSUEB alumni, faculty and staff.