Theatre and Dance to present "Myths and Hymns"

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- "Myths and Hymns," a contemporary music-theater piece, will be performed Nov. 9-13 by the University at Buffalo Department of Theatre and Dance in UB's Center for the Arts Black Box theater in at the Center for the Arts on the UB North (Amherst) Campus.

Performances will be held at 8 p.m. on Nov. 9-12 and at 2 p.m. Nov. 12-13. Music and lyrics are by Adam Guettel, with additional lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh. The performance is directed and choreographed by Daniel Pelzig, with music direction by Nathan R. Matthews.

Adam Guettel, Tony Award winning composer for "The Light in the Piazza" and Richard Rodgers's grandson, originally conceived this work as a song-cycle. As re-envisioned by Daniel Pelzig, the songs have been crafted into an evening of dance and music theater, in which a cast of 22 singers, actors and dancers cross the boundaries among art forms to create a moving and uplifting performance.

This contemporary music theatre piece embraces an eclectic range of musical styles, including gospel, bossa nova and jazz. Alternately funny and touching, satirical and rapturous, the piece uses these forms and styles to attempt to come to grips with the events in our lives that are beyond rational explanation and understanding and the continuing desire to find order and meaning in the universe.

Pelzig has directed and choreographed at major ballet, opera, and theater companies across the United States and Europe and is currently a guest artist and visiting assistant professor at UB.

Nathan Matthews, with credits as a music director, conductor and performer with major companies across North America, is also a composer, producing artistic director of New York's Riverside Opera Ensemble and resident music director and assistant professor at UB.

Tickets for "Myths and Hymns" are $16 general admission and $8 for students. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.

The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo is a non-profit organization that presents a wide range of high quality performing arts and visual arts. Situated on the University at Buffalo North Campus, the Center for the Arts is the largest and most versatile arts organization in the region.  Our mission is to create an environment for the visual and performing arts to flourish through education, exploration, collaboration and presentation while enriching cultural opportunities for the surrounding community.