Theater Season Trip: "Journeys of the Heart"

The 1997–98 Ithaca College theater season comprises productions that will take audiences on a roller coaster ride of emotions, from happiness to sorrow, from pain to yearning. Presented under the theme "Journeys of the Heart," each production relies on love as an underlying subject.

The season begins on October 2 with Love’s Labor’s Lost. This Shakespeare comedy follows a group of French noblemen who swear to give up love, neither seeing nor speaking to any woman, so that they may study. But when the Princess of France and her three ladies-in-waiting arrive, the men’s oath and words of love are put to the test. Though the labors of love may be lost, you will find yourself laughing with delight at this charming story and Shakespeare’s witty word play.

Our favorite childhood fairy tales come to life beginning October 31 with Into the Woods. This Tony Award–winning musical by Steven Sondheim and James Lapine places the stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Baker and his Wife, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel in the same woods, giving a delightful, funny, and sometimes painful look at how witches aren’t always wrong, giants may be good, and endings aren’t always happy. Come and see what happens after "happily-ever-after" in this touching musical with a message.

A charming, comic tour-de-force will open February 19. Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round the Moon introduces us to Hugo, who tries to save his sensitive twin brother (played by the same actor) from an unhappy marriage to the mercenary Diana. The callous Hugo enlists the aid of Isabelle, a delicate young dancer, as a distraction. An evening of hilarity, heartbreak, and confusion ensues, but all is set right as love reigns supreme.

A double bill of operatic one-acts is scheduled for April. The first is Kurt Weill’s folk opera, Down in the Valley. Set on the American frontier, this is the tale of the sad love affair between Jennie Parsons and Brack Weaver, a man jailed for murder. The second opera on the bill will be Giacomo Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. When old Buoso dies and leaves his fortune to the church, his greedy relatives enlist the help of Gianni Schicchi and conspire to alter the will. A change of clothes, a dead body, a love affair, and lots of money create a delightful comic opera by the man who composed Madame Butterfly and La Bohème.

The theater season ends with Quilt, Jim Morgan’s poignant musical that pays tribute to those individuals who are living with AIDS—and of the people who love them. Quilt comprises several true and very different stories of hope and courage inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

In addition to the subscription season, a special production of Wendy Wasserstein’s award-winning play, The Heidi Chronicles, will run in December. This comedy-drama looks at the life of a young art historian, Heidi Holland, in her quest for liberation while trying to find love.

For information about tickets or season subscriptions contact Cynthia Folkers at 274-3915.