River Campus to begin holding dinner theaters

Starting with "Hairspray," five nights of dinner theater are planned for this season at the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus, members of its Board of Managers learned during their meeting Friday.

Along with the 1960s-style musical set for Oct. 10 and 11, performances will include "Anything Goes" on Nov. 1, "The King and I" on Feb. 28 and "Memphis" on March 30, said Bob Cerchio, assistant director of the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts.

"Anything Goes" and "Memphis" are touring shows, and "Hairspray and "The King and I" are produced by the university's Department of Theatre and Dance.

The price hasn't been set, but people will buy their tickets and dinners separately, Cerchio said.

Dinners will be offered in the dining area of the River Campus expansion, which will be called St. Vincent Commons. When people make reservations, they'll make their menu choices, too.

Depending on the seat locations, tickets for locally produced shows are $17 or $20, and touring shows $43 or $49, Cerchio said.

Board of managers members also got a recap of the River Campus Summer Arts Festival; discussed how to cushion a low-hanging branch of a beech tree in a park on the River Campus; status of the River Campus expansion; and individual tickets going on sale July 7.

Rhonda Weller-Stilson, director and associate dean of the Holland School, said the festival June 21 attracted more than 1,000 people.

Weller-Stilson said some things may be done differently next year, and other things might be added.

Board member Bill Holland agreed, noting the community needs to embrace the festival -- bookended by performances of the play "Nunsense" at the Wendy Kirka Rust Flexible Theatre -- and nurture it.

"I was really excited and pumped up," Holland said. "The energy of opening night was really positive."

Holland also was pleased the way the business community supported the festival.

"I think this is the real story. Maybe in five years we can have the summer theater series," he said. "... It is so important for the future of downtown."

Weller-Stilson said the "Nunsense" sets were designed by Jeffrey Luetkenhaus, but students who usually are actors or singers were involved in building it.

"The students who worked on 'Nunsense,' that experience has been so outstanding for them," she said.

Weller-Stilson said everyone loved the entertainment at the June 21 event. She said plans are to do it again next year.

In response to a letter voicing concern about a low-hanging branch on a more than 200-year-old beech tree, Cerchio suggested a concrete pyramid with some neoprene on top and a plaque explaining the significance of the tree. No time frame was put on the project, but it likely will be finished soon.

The letter about the tree, which is in a park next to the river and an old bridge overlook at the bottom of Morgan Oak Street, also said many people carve their initials into it, and children sit on the low-hanging branch.

Highlights of the 93,500-square-foot River Campus expansion, which members of the Southeast Board of Regents and other college officials toured Thursday, also were discussed. Weller-Stilson was struck by the size of the classrooms and rehearsal halls.

The music academy also is moving to the River Campus, which Weller-Stilson said would bring more community members there. Having a cafeteria available also will make it easier for parents dropping off kids.

"It's spectacular," Holland said, adding that with 500 people in the area, it will create more activity nearby.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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