Edison Theatre announces 2009-10 line-up

May 12, 2009 -- Theater is challenging, educational and inspiring. It is also, lest we forget, fun!

Gary Noel

David Dorfman Dance launches the 2009-10 OVATIONS series with underground Sept. 25 and 26.

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For its 2009-10 season, Washington University's Edison Theatre will present more than a dozen events by nationally and internationally renowned performing artists. Shows range from provocative dance and multimedia rock opera to funk-infused klezmer (or is that klezmer-infused funk?) and whimsical twists on literary classics.

The Edison Theatre OVATIONS Series opens Sept. 25 and 26 with David Dorfman Dance in underground, which takes a subversive look at 1960s activism. Dorfman, a Washington University alumnus, has emerged as one the most celebrated choreographers of his generation, acclaimed for his exuberant and "delightfully oddball" style.

The series continues Oct. 2 and 3 with the theatrical power-pop trio GrooveLily in Sleeping Beauty Wakes, their latest collaboration with Tony Award-winning librettist Rachel Sheinkin. The story — a witty musical theatre take on the timeless Grimm's fairy tale — finds Beauty, awakening after a 900-year sleep, ensconced in a 21st-century sleep-disorder clinic, far from the land far, far away.

Award-winning actor Roger Rees performs his one-man-show What You Will Nov. 20.

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Next up, on Nov. 14 and 15, is the rock opera dance piece Remember Me, a recent collaboration between New York's acclaimed Parsons Dance Company and East Village Opera Company. Olivier and Tony Award-winning actor Roger Rees, a 22-year veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, stops by Nov. 20 with What You Will, a one-man-show combining the Bard's greatest soliloquies with side-splitting accounts of the funniest disasters ever perpetrated on the stage.

The spring semester begins with the return of ScrapArtsMusic Jan. 23. Fusing world and pop sensibilities, this high-energy "action percussion" ensemble employs kinetic, one-of-a-kind instruments built from recycled and salvaged materials such as sewage pipe and artillery shells. Aquila Theatre Company, the foremost producer of touring classical theatre in the United States, takes the stage with Shakespeare's As You Like It (Feb. 12) and Henrik Ibsen's thrilling Enemy of the People (Feb. 13).

Next up, on Feb. 19 and 20, is the trailblazing PHILADANCO, a modern dance company rooted in African-American traditions. Concluding the OVATIONS season March 26 will be the Grammy-nominated Tiempo Libre, known for their incendiary, joyful performances of tibma, an irresistible mix of high-voltage Latin jazz and seductive rhythms.

Lois Greenfield.

Aquila Theatre Company takes the stage with Shakespeare's As You Like It (Feb. 12) and Ibsen's Enemy of the People (Feb. 13).

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Meanwhile, the popular ovations for young people series, which offers specially priced Saturday matinees for audiences of all ages, opens Jan. 16 with the eclectic clown, juggler, balancing artist and poet Jamie Adkins, whose Circus INcognitus transforms everyday objects into outrageous circus routines. The series continues Jan. 23 with Scrap Arts Music and Feb. 20 with PHILADANCO in Rosa, a tribute to civil rights activist Rosa Parks.

The ovations for young people seriesconcludes May 8 with CORBIAN Visual Arts and Dance in Darwin, a unique theatrical experience that employs electroluminescent wire to create crayon-like characters and creatures in a heart-warming tale of a young dinosaur who discovers the true meaning of love.

Tickets to OVATIONS events are $32, $28 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $20 for students and children. Subscriptions are available at the basic level (three, four or five events at $28 per ticket) and at the premiere level (six or more events at $24 per ticket). Ovations! for young people events are $10; subscription are available at $6 per ticket.

Jamie Adkins launches the ovations for young people series Jan. 16 with Circus INcognitus.

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Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. For more information or to order tickets, call the Edison Theatre Box Office at (314) 935-6543, or email Edison@wustl.edu.

Founded in 1973, the Edison Theatre OVATIONS Series serves both Washington University and the St. Louis community by providing the highest caliber national and international artists in music, dance and theater, performing new works as well as innovative interpretations of classical material not otherwise seen in St. Louis.

Edison Theatre programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors. The OVATIONS Season is supported by The Mid-America Arts Alliance with generous underwriting by the National Endowment for the Arts and foundations, corporations and individuals throughout Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL PHOTOS AND ARTISTS' BACKGROUND

Editor's Note: Abraham Inc., originally scheduled for Feb. 27, has been postponed to the 2010-11 Season.