Theater | Music | Film | Lectures | Dance

Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans
The USC School of Theatre’s Fall 2000 season opens with tales of love and loss in suburban America – as perceived and told by a misguided group of extraterrestrial visitors. The play, which also features an appearance by Elvis, is performed by the senior BFA class. (213-740-2167)
Oct. 5-8, 7 p.m., Scene Dock Theatre, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman
Lillian Hellman’s first play was written, the story goes, at the suggestion of her longtime companion Dashiell Hammett. Adapted from an episode in William Roughead’s Bad Companions – detailing a scandal at a Scottish boarding school when a student accused two teachers of a lesbian affair – the play shocked 1930s Broadway audiences with its frankness and enjoyed a 691-performance run. (213-740-2167)
Oct. 12-15, Bing Theater, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Disappeared by Phyllis Nagy
One of the prize-winners at the 1992-93 Mobil International Playwriting Competi-tion, this two-act dark comedy and spine-tingling murder (or non-murder) mystery becomes the second senior BFA show of the season. The ostensible plot? A woman disappears after having a few drinks in a Hell’s Kitchen bar. (213-740-2167)
Oct. 19-22, Scene Dock Theatre, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Christopher Madsen’s Null Hypothesis
Alicia Grosso directs this ACTF/MFA Playwright entry by Christopher Madsen. (213-740-2167)
Nov. 2-5, Massman Theatre, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Sueño by Jose Rivera
Adapted from Calderón de la Barca’s 17th-century classic Life Is a Dream, Jose Rivera’s Sueño is a theatrical fairy tale: A prince, who has been exiled by his superstitious father for two decades because he was born during a total eclipse (portending disaster), returns and becomes king for one anarchic day. An award-winning playwright, Rivera has also worked for television, including a spell as co-creator and producer of the series “Eerie, Indiana.” The USC production of Sueño, directed by Paul Backer, is performed by the junior BFA class. (213-740-2167)
Nov. 9-12, Scene Dock Theatre, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Music

USC Spectrum Chamber Music Series Vermeer String Quartet
The USC Spectrum Chamber Music Series premieres with the world-renowned Vermeer String Quartet – two violins, a viola and a cello – performing Schubert’s Quartet in B flat, Bartók’s Quartet No. 6 and Tchaikovsky’s Quartet No. 3 in E flat minor. (213-740-2167)
Sept. 6, 7 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $20 general, $10 seniors.

Eliot Fisk
The second concert in the series features guitar virtuoso Eliot Fisk. With intricate fingerwork that rivals the skills of violinists, Fisk was called “one of the most brilliant, intelligent and gifted young musical artists of our time” by his mentor Andrés Segovia. (213-740-2167)
Nov. 10, 7 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $20 general, $10 seniors.

Note: The series continues with the Hilliard Ensemble and pianist Ursula Oppens, performing in January and February, respectively. For information, call (213) 740-2167.

The Upbeat Goes On
USC Thornton School of Music faculty kick off the weekly jazz jams. Pianist Shelly Berg, percussionist Ndugu Chancler, trombonist Bill Watrous, trumpeter Bobby Shew, vocalist Tierney Sutton and many more outstanding Thornton jazz faculty present an evening of straight-ahead and envelope-pushing jazz. (213-740-2584)
Sept. 7, 8 p.m., GroundZero Coffee House, free.

The eleven-member ELF Jazz Ensemble, directed by Shelly Berg, is dedicated to the exploration of new and improvised music, while the ALAJE, directed by Aaron Serfaty, explores African and Latin influences in the jazz idiom. The ensembles will perform separately and in combination. (213-740-2584)
Nov. 9, 8 p.m., GroundZero Coffee House, free.

President’s Distinguished Artist Series
The Wayne Shorter Quartet with the Thornton Symphony
Two sets of new music from an innovative quartet, led by tenor and soprano sax player Wayne Shorter, with Alex Alcuna on percussion, Danilo Perez on piano and John Pattitucci on bass. In the second set, USC’s Thornton Symphony joins the quartet for a performance of music composed and orches-trated by Shorter, who has been described by Jazztimes as “the most influential living jazz composer.” (213-740-2167)
Sept. 8, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $25 general, $10 seniors.

Music Masters Series
Pianist John Perry begins the faculty and friends recital series with an all-Beethoven program. (213-740-2584)
Sept. 12, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Pianist Gale Niwa. (213-740-2584)
Sept. 25, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Acclaimed jazz vocal stylist Tierney Sutton joins Shelly Berg, chair of USC Thornton jazz studies, for an evening of jazz standards and original compositions. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 5, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Pianist Alan Smith. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 17, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Guitarist Brian Head. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 29, 7 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Cellist Ronald Leonard. (213-740-2584)
Nov. 12, 3 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Thornton Chamber Orchestra
Conducted by the orchestra’s artistic director Yehuda Gilad, the performance features cellist and Thornton faculty member Ronald Leonard in a program of Rossini’s Cener-entola Overture, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 and Wiesenberg’s Concerto for Cello and String Orchestra. (213-740-2584)
Sept. 22, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

The Thornton Chamber Orchestra’s second concert features violinist Yang Li in Barber’s Violin Concerto and Mendel-ssohn’s Symphony No. 3. Yehuda Gilad directs. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 27, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Thornton Jazz Orchestra
“Separate Traditions, One Voice”: an innovative program of original music by the faculties of the Thornton classical composition department and the Thornton jazz department. All the pieces will be performed by Thornton’s newest ensemble, the Thornton Jazz Orchestra, directed by Shelly Berg. (213-740-2584)
Sept. 26, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Thornton Contemporary Music Ensemble
Guest composer and pianist Joan Tower presents the West Coast premiere of her “Rainwaves.” Also on the program are Tower’s “Très Lent” and “Noon Dance.” The Thornton Contemporary Music En-semble is directed by Donald Crockett. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 3, 8 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

Thornton Symphony
Sergiu Comissiona, principal conductor, leads the symphony in a program featuring works by Shostakovich, Dvo&Mac255;rák and USC Thornton School composer-in-residence Joan Tower. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 6, 8 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Featuring world-renowned pianist Daniel Pollack in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and the Brahms/Schoenberg Piano Quartet in G. Sergiu Comissiona, principal conductor. (213-740-2584)
Nov. 3, 8 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $5 seniors and students.

Ensemble Haydn-Berlin with Emmanuel Pahud
Thirty-year-old Emmanuel Pahud, who was trained in the French school of flute playing and has been principal flutist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the past six years, joins the renowned Ensem-ble Haydn-Berlin for an evening that includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 22 in E Flat and Concerto for Flute and Orchestra, Honneger’s Concerto da Camera for Flute and English Horn and Mozart’s Symphony No. 28 in C. (213-740-2167)
Oct. 11, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $15 general, $8 seniors.

Thornton Early Music Ensemble
James Tyler directs “Musica Dolce e Stra-vagante,” a program of Roman and Nea-politan songs, dances and chamber music from the early 17th century. The ensemble comprises 21 musicians playing on period instruments. (213-740-2584)
Oct. 13, 8 p.m., Newman Recital Hall, free.

Fall Festival of Choirs
The Church, Concert and Oriana choirs – conducted by William Dehning, Lynn Bielefelt and David Wilson. (213-740-7418)
Oct. 22, 4 p.m., call for location, free.

Thornton Percussion Ensemble
Directed by Erik Forrester, the acclaimed ensemble performs a wide variety of modern works – ranging from Chinese opera to Hindu burial rituals – on special microtonal instruments. (213-740-2584)
Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., Alfred Newman Recital Hall, $7 general, $4 seniors and students.

USC Thornton School of Music Composition Department Recital
An evening of chamber music by USC
student composers. (213-740-2584)
Nov. 8, 8 p.m., Newman Recital Hall, free.

Hitch 101
The USC School of Cinema-Television and the USC Arts Initiative celebrate the filmic master of suspense and father of the thriller – who else but the inimitable Alfred Hitchcock? – on the 101st anniversary of his birth. A retrospective festival showcases his œuvre and runs concurrently with a Hitchcock class taught by Drew Casper, holder of the Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Chair in American Film. Between the course and the festival, nearly every extant Hitchcock film will be screened, from the early silent films made in Britain in the ’20s to the cult classics and masterpieces produced at the height of his career. (213-740-2167)
Aug. 30-Dec. 6, call for specific screening times, Norris Cinema Theatre and Lucas 108, free.

Responsible Capitalism: Bill Drayton
“Responsible Capitalism: How to Laugh All the Way to the Bank Without Becom-ing Morally Bankrupt,” a lecture series
co-sponsored by USC Spectrum and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, begins with Bill Drayton, founder of the Ashoka Foundation, discussing the concept of “social entrepreneurs.” (213-740-2167)
Sept. 20, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $7 seniors.

Responsible Capitalism: Amory Lovins
Energy conservation expert Amory Lovins has been dubbed by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “People Most Likely to Change the Course of Business in the Future.” Beginning his career at age 21 as Oxford’s youngest junior faculty member in 400 years, Lovins left academe to pursue research on his own and has, in the process, revolutionized how corporations and governments think about energy consumption. (213-740-2167)
Sept. 26, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $7 seniors.

Responsible Capitalism: Adele Simmons
Adele Simmons is the former president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (213-740-2167)
Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $7 seniors.

Responsible Capitalism: Bill Brock
Bill Brock served as secretary of labor in the Reagan administration. (213-740-2167)
Nov. 14, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $10 general, $7 seniors.

Santiago Calatrava
The USC School of Architecture hosts Santiago Calatrava (Valencia, 1951), who imbues his functional projects – such as public buildings, bridges and metro stations – with highly suggestive and innovative aesthetic values. In the past decade, Cala-trava has become an essential figure in architecture. (213-740-2097)
Oct. 4, call for time and location, free.

Do Art Schools Rule?
“Do Art Schools Rule? Past, Present and Future of the California Art World” – presented by the USC School of Fine Arts and LACMA Institute for Art and Cultures in conjunction with LACMA’s exhibit “Made in California” – explores the unique position of California art schools. Whether private or public, stand-alone or part of a university, art schools have had a determining effect on the movements and shape of the California art world. Howard Singerman, whose most recent book, Art Subjects: Making Artists in the American University, focuses on this issue, delivers the keynote address. (213-740-6261)
Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, USC School of Fine Arts and LACMA, respectively, call for admission.

Ballet Folklorico ‘Quetzalli’ de Veracruz
The dance troupe has been described by the Kansas City Star as “a heady rush of tapping heels, dazzling costumes and insistent rhythms.” (213-740-2167)
Oct. 18, 7 p.m., Bovard Auditorium, $20 general, $10 seniors.

August - November 2000