Life is full of patterns–mysterious twists and turns that often don’t make sense until we look back at where we have been. Ashley Butler, the director of Auburn University Theatre and Dance’s upcoming musical, Pippin, is one example of how life sometimes leads us back to places previously traveled. Pippin is Butler’s first directed musical at Auburn on the Telfair Peet mainstage–a stage she herself traversed as an Auburn theatre student in her college days.
The Department of Theatre and Dance continues its 2022-23 season with a staged reading of Larissa FastHorse’s laugh-out-loud comedy: The Thanksgiving Play. The play has had many successful runs in regional theatres across the country, and now the Department of Theatre and Dance has decided to bring this hilarious satirical play to our community before its Broadway debut in the spring of 2023. We sat down with the play’s director, Chase Bringardner, to discuss the context of the show and what audiences should know before coming to see it.
We were so excited to be able to sit down with members of the cast and crew of Auburn University Theatre and Dance Department's firrst production in the 2022-2023 season: Detroit ‘67. Detroit ‘67 by Dominique Morisseau, directed by Abdul-Khaliq Murtadha, follows a black American family navigating the tensions of their world in July of 1967, until a mysterious newcomer brings unexpected consequences. In the words of one of the Assistant Stage Managers, Tatum Clark (she/they), this show is “an in depth look at a found family through trying times.” Joining Tatum as representatives of the crew, we spoke with the other Assistant Stage Manager, Hannah Carstarphan (she/her), and Assistant Director, Antonavia “Navi” Collins (she/her). The cast includes Antonisia “Nisi” Collins (she/her) as Chelle Poindexter, Jordinia Denson (she/her) as Lank Poindexter, Mickie Felder (she/her) as Bunny, Camryn “Rynnie” Chapman (she/her) as Caroline, and Whitley Adams (she/they) as Bunny Understudy. The cast is completed with Daniel Gay Jr., as Sly, and Ché Echols as Sly Understudy.
