Clark State Performing Arts Center will present a separate season
“It’s an exciting new twist on a classic story,” Hunt said.
The PAC will also renew another tradition as the cast and crew of “Fiddler on the Roof” host the show, or set it up through rehearsals and behind-the-scenes work, for about two weeks before it opens here. and a nationwide tour. As shows returned from the pandemic, they quickly filled up in New York City, and “Fiddler” found a convenient alternative here.
“For four or five years, we’ve been the place to go. Our facilities are good for that,” Hunt said. “We have a hotel near the theater and they stay and spend money here while preparing for the show.”
The PAC will host two holiday-themed shows in the fall, one with a familiar brand and the other a different take on a familiar story. The Illusionists, a must-see show here every season for several years now, will return to tech days before beginning its new tour, “The Illusionists – Holiday Magic” here on November 8 as an early seasonal giveaway.
Hunt said that although The Illusionists perform here every year, it’s never the same show twice, with different artists and this one will be holiday-themed.
“Hip Hop Nutcracker” will offer an alternate take on the seasonal favorite with a family-friendly holiday mash-up on December 3. It’s a contemporary dance version of the classic that will feature a dozen top dancers, a DJ, a violinist and MC Kurtis Blow, one of the pioneers of rap and hip hop.
“That show was in Dayton last year and went really well. It’s a way to see another side of the story,” said Hunt, who added that the traditional ‘Nutcracker’ performed by the Ohio Performing Arts Institute, will be performed again later this month.
The new year begins with one of the most beloved childhood characters of all time with the musical “Winnie the Pooh” on January 15th. Pooh and all his friends will come to life through puppets and songs.
Hunt said it’s similar to how “The Lion King” is presented with life-size puppets and everything you love about the characters. It was a recent stunt in New York, he said.
Another familiar band devoted to staging literary classics returns on March 7 when London’s Aquila Theater Company presents “Pride and Prejudice.” Aquila has previously directed productions of literary classics “Sherlock Holmes,” “Frankenstein” and, earlier this year, “The Great Gatsby.”
“It fits a lot with the fact that we’re a higher education program and we’re happy to have these productions,” Hunt said.
As she has done on previous such shows, Clark State President Dr. Jo Alice Blondin will give a pre-show talk on “Pride and Prejudice.” She likes to return to her roots of teaching classic literature for such occasions.
Another new experience will bring a bit of Bollywood to Springfield with Taj Express on March 16, featuring the sounds and hits of Indian culture and Bollywood, including a variety of dance in this musical with colorful costumes, choreography and live music .
“We haven’t had anything on this scale before. We’re excited to bring him to Springfield,” he said.
The Clark State Theater Arts Program will present two shows. “Red Herring”, Oct. 28-Nov. 6 at the Turner Studio Theatre, has three love stories, a murder mystery and a nuclear spy plot in a dark comedy about marriage set in the early 1950s.
The program will return with “Clyborne Park”, from April 14 to 23. This show features two acts fifty years apart starting in 1959 when white community leaders try to stop a black family from buying a house, then the second act takes place in the same house in present day, now a predominantly black neighborhood trying to hold its ground in the face of gentrification.
But that’s not all, as they say in the industry. Hunt said a country music number would also be added and possibly other shows if tour dates and times coincide.
For more season or ticket information, go to pac.clarkstate.edu/.
