September 21, 2008

Performing Arts is hosting a reception showcasing this year’s Mandell Professionals in Residence Project (MPiRP), BLUE, from award-winning companies EgoPo Productions and Orchestra 2001. MPiRP will afford Drexel students the opportunity to work alongside theater and musical artists during this year-long residency that will culminate with the world premiere of BLUE in the spring 2009.

Based loosely on Maurice Maeterlink’s The Bluebird, BLUE is a modern fairytale of two children sent on a journey through fantastical worlds in search of the ‘Blue Bird of Happiness.’ This will be the first time students participating in MPiRP will collaborate with musicians as well as with a theatrical company.  

EgoPo will teach students choreography highlighting their expertise in movement-based versions of classic theater. Representing EgoPo at the reception will be Lane Savadove, Artist Director. Also attending will be Orchestra 2001’s Executive Director Ron Vigue and Artistic Director James Freeman, and Pulitzer Prize and Grammy Award winning classical composer George Crumb. Mr. Crumb will compose music for BLUE to be played by members of Orchestra 2001, and he'll attend music rehearsals and guest-lecture. Molly Rice, a playwright and composer who is adapting BLUE will also be in attendance. Please join us for the free reception on September 25th at 5 PM in the Mandell Theater (33rd & Chestnut St.).

Originally from New Orleans, EgoPo is a repertory theater company devoted to a vocal and physical style of acting. Nationally, they have staged over two-dozen shows in New York, New Orleans, Chicago and Washington, D.C. and internationally in Indonesia and Croatia. Founded in 1988, Orchestra 2001 is dedicated to contemporary American music.

DETAILS:

• MPiRP BLUE Kick-off reception
• Mandell Theater (33rd and Chestnut St.)
• Thursday, September 25, 5 PM
• Free and open to the public
• For more information, please visit www.drexel.edu/westphal.