{"id":16179,"date":"2012-09-20T11:12:08","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T15:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=16179"},"modified":"2022-09-29T12:53:38","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T16:53:38","slug":"theatre-season-kicks-off-with-a-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2012\/09\/20\/theatre-season-kicks-off-with-a-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre season kicks off with a \u201cMiracle\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Wright State University will open its 2012\u201313 theatre season with “The Miracle Worker.”<\/p><\/div>\n

Wright State University will open its 2012\u201313 theatre season with the Tony Award\u2013winning play The Miracle Worker<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is probably one of the most popular dramatic plays,\u201d said W. Stuart McDowell, chair of the Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures. \u201cIt\u2019s a poignant story because it\u2019s true and it deals with triumph over all odds.\u00a0 It\u2019s an affirmation of life\u2014one of those plays where everybody changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anchoring the show are the two young women in dynamic lead roles. Sophomore musical theatre major Kate Mueller portrays Helen Keller, a young girl who is both deaf and blind. Senior acting major Cyndii Johnson plays Anne Sullivan, the dedicated teacher who connects Keller to the outside world.<\/p>\n

The production is helmed by theatre faculty member Lee Merrill. Audiences may remember her as Linda Loman in last season\u2019s Death of a Salesman<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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The show tells the true story of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s an actor\u2019s director,\u201d said McDowell. \u201cShe understands a play from the inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Miracle Worker<\/em> is a three-act play by William Gibson. It originally opened on Broadway in 1959 and starred Patty Duke as Keller and Anne Bancroft as Sullivan. That production won four Tony Awards, including Best Play and Best Actress for Bancroft.<\/p>\n

The play was adapted into a 1962 film in which Bancroft and Duke reprised their Broadway roles; both actresses received Academy Awards for their performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelen Keller became one of the most important people of her generation,\u201d said McDowell.<\/p>\n

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The original 1959 Broadway production of “The Miracle Worker” won four Tony Awards , including Best Play and Best Actress.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Miracle Worker<\/em> runs Sept. 20 through 30 in the Festival Playhouse of the Creative Arts Center on Wright State\u2019s Dayton campus.<\/p>\n

The rest of this year\u2019s mainstage lineup includes the classic musical Funny Girl<\/em> (Oct. 25\u2013Nov. 30); the return of the Wright State original 1913: The Great Dayton Flood<\/em> (Jan. 24\u2013Feb. 10); and the rarely performed, five-time Tony Award\u2013winning musical Grand Hotel<\/em> (March 14\u201331). Audiences can also enjoy Spring Awakening<\/em> (Nov. 9\u201318) and All in the Timing<\/em> (Feb. 15\u201317) in the \u201cblackbox\u201d Herbst Theatre.<\/p>\n

Tickets for mainstage productions, including The Miracle Worker<\/em>, are $20 for adults and $18 for students\/seniors. They can be purchased by calling the Theatre Box Office at (937) 775-2500.<\/p>\n\n\t\t