Kandace Springs
Ovations Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Gorell Recital Hall, second floor Sutton Hall
8:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, 2022
Once described by the late musical icon Prince as having “a voice that could melt snow,” Kandace Springs will present an evening of jazz not to be forgotten. This singer, songwriter, and keyboardist’s refined mix of R&B, jazz, and pop has been showcased on three albums released on the legendary Blue Note record label.
Germán López
Ovations Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Gorell Recital Hall, second floor Sutton Hall
8:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, 2022
Brilliant young star of the “timple,” Germán López touches audiences with original instrumental music from the Canary Islands. On stage with guitarist Antonio Toledo, Germán López harnesses the grit of Spanish flamenco, the structure of West African rhythms, the flourishing spirit of jazz, and an innovative twenty-first-century approach to performing “island music.” His principal instrument is one of the grandfathers of the ‘ukelele’, and part of the same instrumental family that includes the cavaquinho, the cuatro, and the charango. Germán López’s music has been praised for “entrancing” performances of “delicately rippling notes” (Huffington Post), notes that flow from musical traditions uniting Spain, Africa, and the New World.
Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater Presents: An Evening of Traditional Japanese Puppetry
Ovations Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Fisher Auditorium
8:00 p.m. Friday, April 8, 2022
Company members from Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater will be presenting an evening of traditional Japanese Bunraku puppetry. Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater is the only theater in the United States that performs the traditional Japanese puppetry known as “ningyo joruri” or Bunraku.
The performers of the Bunraku Bay Puppet Theater have been trained in Japan by artists from the 170-year-old Tonda Puppet Troupe of Biwa-cho in Shiga Prefecture, northeast of the old capital of Kyoto, and the Imada Puppet Troupe and Kuroda Puppet Troupe—both more than 300 years old—of Iida City in Nagano Prefecture in central Japan.
Also planned for during their visit will be a screening of their short film Kaiju Bunraku, which premiered at Sundance in 2016 and has been well received at film festivals around the world.
PUSH Physical Theatre
Ovations Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Gorell Recital Hall, second floor Sutton Hall
8:00 p.m. Thursday, April 21, 2022
Intense athleticism, gravity-defying acrobatics, and soulful artistry are the trademarks of award-winning, genre-defining PUSH Physical Theatre.
Seeing award-winning PUSH Physical Theatre is like watching a live-action movie. This talented group of performers inspires awe with physical illusions and gravity-defying, dance-infused, acrobatic high-jinx. It’s cool, it’s athletic, it’s a perfect metaphor-in-motion; the narratives of our lives played out with hope, strength, and optimism. These masters of physical storytelling captivate the audience's attention and ignite their emotions. Once you’ve experienced the myth and magic of PUSH you will know the strength of the human soul expressed by the power of the human body.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Music by Richard Rodgers
Book and Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Based on Ferenc Molnar’s Play Liliom
As adapted by Benjamin F. Glazer
Original Choreography by Agnes de Mille
Directed by James Beaudry, Music Direction by Oliver Lo, Conducted by Alexandra Dee, Choreography by Joan Van Dyke.
Sound Choices Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Fisher Auditorium
7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, 2022
7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, 2022
The second hit musical by the acclaimed writing team after their tremendous success with Oklahoma!, Carousel includes the well-known songs "If I Loved You", "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" and "You'll Never Walk Alone." Set in late nineteenth-century coastal Maine, Billy Bigelow, a swaggering, carefree carnival barker, falls in love with and marries the sweet but naive millworker Julie Jordan. After the marriage costs them both their jobs, and dwarfed by the immensity of their situation, Billy’s tragic effort to provide for his wife leads each of them on a different and difficult path toward forgiveness. A story about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
"Oklahoma! is about a picnic, Carousel is about life and death." —Stephen Sondheim
Carousel is presented by arrangement with on behalf of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization.
IUP Jazz Festival
Sound Choices Series
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Gorell Recital Hall, second floor Sutton Hall
7:00 p.m. Saturday, April 23, 2022
The twenty-first annual IUP Jazz Festival features the IUP Jazz Band and the IUP Jazz Ensemble. The IUP Jazz band is led by James Flowers, as Kevin Eisensmith directs the IUP Jazz Ensemble.
This event will be streamed on the
Acorn Projects
Theater-by-the-Grove
Live, in-person events
Masks required
Waller Studio Theatre
7:30 p.m.
Acorn Project 1: Canceled
Acorn Project 2:
February 25–26
Acorn Project 3:
March 25–26
From tiny seeds, mighty oaks do grow! The Acorn Project incubates and showcases theater and dance student creativity by providing opportunities to perform, produce, direct, write, and design. (Please note that Acorn Projects will be produced by a student board and determination of specifics such as title and even performance times in these "windows" will be determined sometime after the second week of classes. Some of these held weekends might not be used.)
Acorn Project 4: May Actions Yield Auspicious Befitting Change
April 22–24
Out of the protective bubble of life causes us as human beings to experience trials and tribulations. What we tend to forget is that it is humane to make mistakes and that is not the end of your fairytale journey. Written and directed by Maya Catoe.
New Works Festival
Theater-by-the-Grove
Live, in-person event
Masks required
Waller Hall Mainstage
7:30 p.m. April 6-9 and 2:00 p.m. April 10, 2022
The New Works Festival is fresh! It features new voices, new stories, and new plans from IUP students and alumni. Theatre-by-the-Grove presents a series of short pieces that will surprise and delight our audiences, and perhaps inspire some thoughtful discussions as well. Up close and personal, the festival represents the origins of live-action storytelling. The emergence of characters crawling off their author's pages and coming to life on stage before your very eyes. You set the standard by responding to these imaginary places and people never before seen on stage. Cheers to the New! Directed by Michael Schwartz in collaboration with Mark Clayton Southers of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre and student and guest directors.