River Campus to jumpstart summertime with annual festival

With each of the River Campus Summer Arts Festivals offering more than the previous one, this year’s production of “Newsies” will be the venue’s largest summer production — comprising costumes, set and cast — according to Rhonda Weller-Stilson, dean of the Southeast Missouri State University’s College of Arts and Media.

The River Campus Summer Arts Festival is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 15 at the Southeast River Campus, 518 S. Fountain St.

Weller-Stilson said nearly 200 Southeast employees, students and volunteers help make it a reality.

And with more than 4,000 in attendance last year, she expects nearly 4,500 this year.

“Newsies” will showcase 36 performers — high school students, university students and professional actors — and Weller-Stilson described practices as being “off the charts” with three-a-day rehearsals since May 20.

“It’s very intensive,” she said, adding students from Notre Dame Regional High School, Jackson High School, Cape Girardeau Central High School and from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale made the cut.

A sneak preview of the production is scheduled for 11 a.m. June 15 on the outdoor entertainment stage behind the River Campus Main Complex. The show will be performed in its entirety at 7:30 p.m. June 15 in the Rust Flexible Theatre.

“Newsies” — based on a 1992 Disney film and inspired by a true story — is about newsboy Jack Kelly, who convinces fellow newsies from across New York City to strike against the rich publishers about unfair conditions against teenage newsboys.

The performance is appropriate for family audiences and will appeal to all ages, she said.

Additional performances of “Newsies” are slated for 7:30 p.m. June 13, 14, 19, 20, 21 and 22, and two matinee performances at 2 p.m. June 16 and June 23.

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance of “Newsies” are $20 for adults and $18 for senior citizens. Tickets may be purchased online at www.rivercampus.org.

One-man retellings of Shakespeare’s plays by professional actor Timothy Mooney will be performed in the Rust Flexible Theatre. “A Little Bit o’ Shakespeare” is set for 11:15 a.m. and “Shakespeare-on-Demand” will be at 4 p.m. Both are new additions to the annual lineup.

Mooney is not new to the Southeast River Campus, Weller-Stilson said, but this is the first time for Mooney to be part of the festival.

“I brought him in years ago when I was the chair of the department of theater and dance, so I’ve known him since then, and he did a great job back then,” she said.

In a news release, Mooney said, “Amid all the fun, the audience discovers the range, excitement and genius of Shakespeare in passionate scenes of action, character and power.”

The festival also will highlight dance and “very popular” aerial performances, magic, visual arts displays, hands-on family-friendly experiential art activities, museum exhibitions, musical instruments, animal petting zoos and creative writing workshops, according to Weller-Stilson.

“On the entertainment stage, we have everything from little ones doing Suzuki Players up to the very well known Jerry Ford Combo,” she said, adding the venue offers a wide variety of entertainment.

“The Aristocats KIDS” is set for 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in Bedell Performance Hall stage. Admission is free.

“That is the kids performing for kids, and they’re all ages between 9 and 14. It is based on Disney’s ‘The Aristocats,’” she said, adding her daughter also is performing in the production.

The show will feature a jazzy, upbeat score, according to the university, and will be a “nonstop thrill ride of feline fun.”

Set in Paris, “The Aristocats” features a kind and eccentric millionaire who wills her entire estate to Duchess, her high-society cat, and her three little kittens.

Additional ticketed performances of “The Aristocats KIDS” are set for 7:30 p.m. June 14 and 2 p.m. June 16.

One of things that is really popular, Weller-Stilson said, is the Avenue of Art set for 10 a.m. Attendees will compete by drawing original chalk art on a River Campus sidewalk area.

The artists will be given a box of 24 soft pastels and a concrete space of up to 6-feet-by-6-feet to create their entries, according to a university statement. Cash prizes will be awarded.

Food and drinks also will be available on-site within St. Vincent’s Commons in the Kenneth and Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center, from The Corner Store, Kona Ice, Sugar Chic Creamery and Straight Line Swine food trucks.

And another “big thing,” Weller-Stilson added, is “the festival is not just the Holland College; it’s the whole university and the community.”

For a complete River Campus Summer Arts Festival schedule, visit www.tinyurl.com/yxt93ae8.

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