More shows scheduled for River Campus

The River Campus next school year will host "STOMP," an eight-member percussion group that creates music from matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms, garbage cans, Zippo lighters and hubcaps.

The percussion performance is one of eight musical, dance and theatrical performances scheduled for the inaugural season at Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, said Robert Cerchio, assistant director of the School of Visual and Performing Arts.

"If it makes a noise, it will be in the show," Cerchio said of "STOMP."

Cerchio discussed the scheduled touring acts Tuesday in a speech to about 30 members of the Tri-State Advertising and Marketing Professionals group at Port Cape Girardeau restaurant.

The date for "STOMP" hasn't been finalized, but it's one of six acts scheduled to perform on the River Campus between Jan. 17 and April 26, 2008.

The others are:

• St. Petersburg Ballet's performance of "Swan Lake."
• "Ring of Fire -- The Music of the Man in Black," featuring 38 signature songs of Johnny Cash, Feb. 13.
• "Late Night Catechism," a comedy in which "Sister" teaches class to a roomful of "students," the audience, March 26 and 27. Throughout the "class," the instructor rewards audience members for correct answers with glow-in-the-dark rosaries and other prizes. Naughty "students" may find themselves on stage sitting in a corner reflecting on their actions.
• St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, April 13
• "Mark Twain Tonight!" featuring actor Hal Holbrook, April 26.

Other acts scheduled

Two other acts, previously announced, will take the stage this fall. The Shaolin Warriors, a group of Buddhist monks, will perform Kung Fu martial arts moves Oct. 31 and the American Indian Dance Theatre will showcase American Indian music, dance and singing Nov. 3.

The River Campus arts school, scheduled to open in August, also will host a full schedule of student theater and dance performances as well as music department concerts.

The campus, overlooking the Mississippi River, will feature a 940-seat performance hall, a 200-seat flexible-seating theater and a dance studio.

"We have a stunningly beautiful dance studio which has the best view in Cape," Cerchio said. A wall of glass on the east side looks out at the Mississippi River and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge.

"If I walked into the college -- and I have two left feet -- I would want to be a dancer," he remarked.

In addition to the theaters and dance studio, a former chapel in the old seminary building has been turned into a recital hall with a vaulted ceiling that helps with the acoustics, Cerchio said.

The stained-glass windows in the structure have been refurbished. "It's a diamond on campus," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123