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VIVID 2016: Jazz & scenes from Legally Blonde at Roosevelt University’s Auditorium Theatre on March 29


Vivid Jazz

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–March 21, 2016.  Roosevelt University’s gala fundraising dinner and biggest performance of the year showcasing some of the finest student talent at Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA)  will be held at 7:30 p.m. on March 29 at the University’s Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Parkway, Chicago.

VIVID 2016 will feature jazz performances (see photo above) presented by CCPA’s Music Conservatory and scenes from the Broadway musical Legally Blonde presented by the college’s Theatre Conservatory.

“This will be a splendid evening and a great opportunity for all to see and hear CCPA’s promising young talent,” said Henry Fogel, dean of CCPA and the evening’s master of ceremonies.

Highlights of this year’s event include numbers by the Music Conservatory’s jazz combos and ensembles, and singing and dancing from scenes of Laurence O’Keefe’s and Nell Benjamin’s Legally Blonde by the Theatre Conservatory’s musical theatre and acting undergraduates.

VIVID 2016 performances begin at 7:30 p.m. and free tickets can be reserved from noon to 6 p.m. at the Auditorium Theatre box office, 50 E. Congress Parkway, or via www.auditoriumtheatre.org. or 312-341-2300 for a $1 service fee per ticket.

A gala dinner for the benefit of a new CCPA initiative, the Center for Arts Leadership, will be held prior to the show beginning at 5 p.m. with cocktails and 5:45 p.m. with dinner in Roosevelt’s 10th floor Murray-Green Library, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago Tickets are $250 each and can be purchased by calling 312-341-4342 or by visiting www.roosevelt.edu/ccpa.

The jazz program includes: the new Gypsy Jazz Combo performing Django Reinhardt’s “Minor Swing;” the Avant-Garde Combo’s free improvisation based on a traditional Peruvian folk song; the Bebop Combo performing Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia;” the Fusion Combo performing “Engangee” in tribute to the late composer and Roosevelt alumnus R.J. Temple, who died shortly after graduating from the University in 2007; the Puentes Latin Jazz Ensemble playing Howard Schneider’s “La Cuna;” the Large Jazz Ensemble performing “Blue in Green” by Miles Davis and Bill Evans; and the New Deal Vocal Jazz Ensemble singing Stevie Wonder’s “Master Blaster.”

“This will be an opportunity to hear jazz through the ages, with members of our talented jazz faculty leading students in these selections,” said Scott Mason, director of CCPA’s jazz and contemporary music studies program at Roosevelt.

The second half of the show will be a high energy affair of singing and dancing to Legally Blonde favorites like “Bend and Snap,” “Oh My God You Guys,” “What you Want” and a jump-rope number called “Whipped into Shape.”

Narrator for the production will be Theatre Conservatory student Sierra Schnack, with the female lead played by Roosevelt’s Claire Latourette and the male lead by Jake Nicholson.

“This is a big dance show and we expect to engage the audience as approximately 24 students from our program enthusiastically take the stage of the Auditorium Theatre. What an opportunity this is for these students,” said Scott Calcagno, who is a Roosevelt theatre professor and director of the production.

While the show is free, donations are encouraged. Proceeds will help fund CCPA’s new Center for Arts Leadership, a practical career preparation program offering courses, workshops and mentoring programs with an aim to arm all CCPA students with the professional skills needed for successful careers in the arts.

Source: http://www.roosevelt.edu


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