The Dean Performing Arts Series

Each semester, the University Honors Center provides opportunities for students to attend local and visiting performances complete with a special academic pre-performance seminar or lecture. Past events have included the Austin Lyric Opera’s performance of La Traviata, Zach Scott Theater’s production of Fiction, and Broadway Across America’s presentation of West Side Story.

Availability of tickets is announced via email to the honors community, and tickets are available on a first come, first served basis. The Dean Performing Arts Series is made possible through the generous support of the L.L. and Ethel E. Dean Endowment.

Recent Performances

Wicked

Broadway Across America
Bass Concert Hall

The “defining musical of the decade” Wicked was the topic for our spring performances. Our academic seminars put the context behind this cultural phenomenon.

Our first evening began with a special pre-performance talk on “Wicked Appeals and the Pleasures of Popular Genre” by Rachel Schneider of the Department of English. A Ph.D. candidate and an assistant instructor, she currently teaches a class on popular genre. She also writes about musicals and other forms of visual rhetoric for the Digital Writing and Research Lab’s blog viz.

Our second evening featured Lyn Koenning, one of UT’s College of Fine Arts Theatre and Dance faculty members. Professor Koenning teaches courses in musical theatre audition and performance practices and musical theatre acting and vocal technique. Her presentation focused on the creative journey behind the development of Wicked – the musical, including sharing personal anecdotes from composer-lyricist, Stephen Schwartz.

The Nutcracker

Ballet Austin
The Long Center

The longest running holiday dance production in Texas was the scene for our December performance. Based on the children’s story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” by E.T.A. Hoffman, the Nutcracker ballet premiered in 1891 at the Maryinsky Theater in Moscow, with choreography by Marius Petipa, who commissioned the score from Tchaikovsky.

Our special pre-performance seminar was presented by Holly Williams, UT’s Department of Theatre & Dance MFA Dance Program Head. Ms. Williams presented an alternative vision of the Nutcracker entitled The Hard Nut choreographed by Mark Morris.

Plan II Chamber Music Recital

The Plan II Chamber Music Society hosted an evening of beautiful chamber music, performing works by Mozart, Shostakovich, Brahms, Prokofiev, songs from Wicked, and more! This event was sponsored by the L.L. and Ethel E. Dean Endowment.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

The Department of Theatre and Dance
B. Iden Payne Theatre

The UT Department of Theatre and Dance performance of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde directed by current UT Directing M.F.A. student, Daria Davis was the subject of our fall presentation.

Our special pre-performance talk was led by Dr. Elizabeth Richmond-Garza of the Department of English and consultant to this production. Trained in Greek as well as modern aesthetics, she works actively in eight languages. Her research concentrates on Orientalism, the Gothic, Cleopatra, Oscar Wilde, and European drama. She is currently finishing a study of decadent culture at the end of the nineteenth century.

Holst’s The Planets

Austin Symphony Orchestra
The Long Center

Austin Symphony Orchestra presented a musical space odyssey featuring the Austin Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Debussy’s “Nocturnes” and Holst’s “The Planets”. The performance included a special multimedia film presentation of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets”, complete with dramatic film and photo images from NASA’s unmanned spacecrafts and narration by NASA astronaut Col. B. Alvin Drew, USAF (Ret.).

Our intergalactic evening began with a special pre-performance seminar by Sally Dodson-Robinson, Ph.D., of the Department of Astronomy. Sally works on planet formation as well as more traditional astronomy topics, and set the planetary stage for our musical journey.