Return to the Forbidden Planet

Buffalo, N.Y. - The University at Buffalo Theatre & Dance Department will present Return to the Forbidden Planet from October 27-November 6, 2016. Performance times are: Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. All performances will be held in the Black Box Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus. General Tickets are $20, Students (any school) & Seniors $10.

Blast off on a routine flight and crash into the planet D’Illyria where a sci-fi version of The Tempest set to rock and roll golden oldies unfolds with glee. The planet is inhabited by a sinister scientist, Dr. Prospero, his delightful daughter Miranda, Ariel, a faithful robot on roller skates, and an uncontrollable monster, the product of Prospero’s Id, whose tentacles penetrate the space craft.

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet is inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, and is packed with rock ‘n’ roll classics such as Great Balls of Fire, Young Girl, Good Vibrations, and Gloria.

The UB production is live, onstage, with live orchestra and will include newly designed and executed sets, lights, and costumes.  The production will be directed and choreographed by TERRY BERLINER. The show’s music director will be ALISON D’AMATO.

TERRY BERLINER (Director/Choreographer) specializes in developing and directing new plays and musicals. Her Broadway credits include The Lion King, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Sound of Music, and The Red Shoes. She has directed/choreographed Off Broadway, in regional theatres, and universities across the country. Recently she directed the A.R.T. New York Gala, Michelle Elliott’s new play Promising at Theatre Row in NYC, and Kirsten Guenther and Tony Asaro’s new musical, The Cable Car Nymphomaniac, at Z Below and The Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, and 54 Below in NYC. She has served as artistic director for the pilot program of the North Shore Summer Theater Workshop and LeAp Onstage (a playwriting program for NYC public school students). Ms. Berliner has written for American Theatre magazine, Theatre Bay Area, Theatre History Studies, and participated in CAP21 Writers Residencies and the Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat. Her new musical Alone in the U.S., (written with Bobby Cronin), won the Outstanding Program of the Year Award at Marymount Manhattan College in 2014; made its U.K. debut at the University of Cumbria and had a reading at New York Film Academy in 2015, and was presented at Penn State in 2016. Ms. Berliner is a member of the CAP21 Resource Board of Directors, and for 5 years served as a member of Off Broadway’s Lucille Lortel nominating committee. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the SDC Society.

ALISON D’AMATO (Music Director) Return to the Forbidden Planet is Dr. Alison d’Amato’s debut as Music Director at UB’s Department of Theatre and Dance. She has worked in various capacities with this Music Theatre program since 2006, and is thrilled to have recently begun as full-time Lecturer in Voice to support its growth and its dedicated students and faculty.  A dynamic and versatile musician, Alison is committed to performing and teaching in the full spectrum of collaborative musical genres. She is Artistic Co-Director of Florestan Recital Project (www.florestanproject.org), Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at Eastman School of Music, and Lecturer in Voice at University at Buffalo. A valued colleague and innovative mentor, Alison has developed several projects that explore interdisciplinary collaborations and new approaches to the performer-audience relationship. She is a Program Director of Art Song Lab (www.artsonglab.com), an intensive that presents new works in collaboration with composers, poets, and performers. Alison has been a guest artist at numerous schools including The American University in Bulgaria, University of Toronto, Tufts University, Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, SUNY Fredonia, Boston University, and Boston Conservatory.

The cast for RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET is comprised of students from the UB Department of Theatre and Dance, and features Tom MacDonell, Matthew Rittler, Leah Berst, Matt Rivera, Megan NcNiffe, Bobby MacDonell, William Hin, Nicole Weitzman, and Ben Antar.

The UB Department of Theatre & Dance 2016-17 season takes inspiration from one of the five named UB 2020 themes, Humanity.

Tickets: Center for the Arts Box Office (Mon-Fri 10 am-6 pm) and tickets.com.  To charge tickets call 1-888-223-6000.  For more information call 716-645-2787 or visit www.ubcfa.org or www.theatredance.buffalo.edu.