Gift certificates are available in various denominations and may be redeemed for tickets to upcoming musical, theatrical and dance performances, including “The Dixie Swim Club,” Eighth Blackbird, River North Chicago Dance Company, Canadian Brass, “Junie B. Jones,” Take 6, Chicago Jazz Orchestra, Chicak Corea and Gary Burton and much, much more!

To learn more about purchasing gift certificates, call the North Central College box office at 630-637-SHOW (7469).

Elizabeth Futral

North Central College’s 2009-2010 fine and performing arts season continues this week with several opportunities to appreciate outstanding performers in great venues.

Soprano Elizabeth Futral, who has performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and many other of the country’s best opera companies, headlines at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4 in the magnificent Wentz Concert Hall at the Fine Arts Center. The performance is a chance to hear one of the world’s best coloratura sopranos perform in a world-class concert hall. Tickets are $40 and $50, with discounts available for groups of 10 or more.

For pop music fans, Gloria Gaynor performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in Pfeiffer Hall. She’ll perform her 1978 disco classic “I Will Survive” and many other hits. Tickets are $55, $50 and $35.

The first theatrical performance of North Central’s season takes place this week with four performances of “The Poet and the Rent,” David Mamet’s children’s play about a young poet who struggles to find balance between writing the poetry he loves and paying his rent. “The Poet and the Rent” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, and Friday, Oct. 2, with two performances at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 3 in the “black box” Madden Theatre at the Fine Arts Center. Tickets are just $5/adults and $3/students and senior citizens.

Finally, new art exhibits open soon in North Central’s three galleries. Next up is an exhibit featuring the works of two North Central College students, Tamarra Love of Aurora, Ill. and Danielle Clark of Sparta, Wisc. Their ceramic and sculptural work will be featured in “Les Femmes Faithful” Oct. 1 through Oct. 31 in the Gallery at Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St. Love and Clark explore themes of faith and the search for spirituality in their works.

For more information about all fine & performing arts events, call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit www.northcentralcollege.edu/show.

Daily Herald Correspondent

When North Central College junior Abby Stark got her first chance to direct a full-length play, she knew she wanted to present audiences with her vision of philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre’s existentialist drama “No Exit.”

Stark’s proposal was one of three accepted by faculty this year from student directors as part of the college’s Student Director Series. The show opens today in the Madden Theatre, an intimate, black-box theater-in-the-round tucked on the lower level of the Wentz Concert Hall.

“The script was actually the very first show I ever saw. It’s actually what got me into theater,” said Stark, a theater performance major. “I actually saw it in high school in California.”

“It breaks ground by taking the audience out of the moment. The show keeps you at the edge of your seat. Every time I read it, I learn something new about the show,” Stark said.

The story revolves around three people – Garcin, Ines and Estelle – who are ushered into a room that turns out to be hell.

“Each person represents the victims in the other two people’s lives. They also represent the tormentors,” Stark said. “Throughout the show, the main character, Garcin, comes to the realization of why he’s really there.”

Junior Sean Driscoll plays Garcin.

“He’s kind of a miserable, abusive man, really abusive toward his wife — really a hateful person,” Driscoll said.

When Ines enters, Garcin reacts strongly.

“I think she definitely brings out the nasty side of Garcin,” Driscoll said.

As the play progresses, Garcin goes through a transformation.

“He’s pretty much the only one who tries to kind of find salvation and come to terms with what’s going on,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll said he wasn’t familiar with the French philosopher’s vintage 1944 play before he was cast in the role of Garcin.

“He’s totally different from other two parts I’ve played,” said Driscoll, who played a priest in last summer’s “Dancing at Lughnasa” and Anne Frank’s father in “The Diary of Anne Frank” last fall. “He’s a brute. He uses women. He talks about how he treated his wife, how he treated her abominably. It takes a lot of energy and intensity, each night, that we all have to have.”

Stark said audiences will have an opportunity to discuss the one-act, 90-minute show and its themes with the cast after each performance.

One message that comes through, she said, is that change is difficult.

“Even though they realize who they are, they resist change. They’re doomed to repeat,” she said.

On a more hopeful note, the play, Stark said, can spark realizations.

“Your actions define who you are. That’s the main theme of the play,” she said. “Be careful how you act and interact with people, because that determines how people view you.”

If you go

What: Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit,” presented by North Central College students

When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, March 12, 13 and 14

Where: Madden Theatre, North Central College’s Fine Arts Center, 171 E. Chicago Ave., Naperville

Tickets: $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors

Info: (630) 637-7469 or northcentralcollege.edu

• Judy G. Meiley Stevenson: College life trustee and president and treasurer of Magnetrol International, Inc., for her visionary philanthropy in support of the arts.
• Donald Hackl: College life trustee and president of Loebl Schlossman & Hackl architects who designed the Center.
• Rita Harvard: College life trustee and partner of Harvard Management Associates, for co-leading a community-wide campaign effort.
• David Kelsch: College trustee and president and CEO of Advanced Data Technologies, Inc., for co-leading a community-wide campaign effort.
• Ray Kinney: College trustee and principal of Minuteman Press, for co-leading a community-wide campaign effort.
• Stephen Sturk ’72: North Central alumnus and acclaimed composer who wrote the music for the processional “Joyful Noise.”
• The late Gus ’48 and Connie ’50 Schoenherr: Naperville residents and North Central alumni, who gave a gift enabling purchase of the property site for the Fine Arts Center. Beverly Schoenherr Speery accepted the award for her parents.
• Bartley and Maricela ’99 Madden: Naperville residents and alumna, who supported the Fine Arts Center and donated their historic home—the A.A. Smith House, which was the home of the first president of North Central College.
• Dr. Myron Wentz: College trustee, alumnus, successful entrepreneur and founder of three health-related companies, helped launch the building of Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center with his vision and lead gift.

We invite you to share in the celebration of this landmark achievement:

• View photos from the October 18 dedication;
• Read local and regional media coverage about the Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center;
• Enjoy video of the October 18 building dedication ceremony. Video includes performances by the Concert Winds, Women’s Chorale and Concert Choir (87 minutes).

North Central College’s 2008-2009 Inaugural Fine and Performing Arts season is sponsored by:
Sara Lee Foundation: Wentz Concert Hall Inaugural Season
USG: Pfeiffer Hall Performing Arts Series
J.P.Morgan: Schoenherr Art Gallery Inaugural Exhibit
JPMorgan and Minuteman Press: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Concert
Office Max: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Concert
Harris Private Bank: Chicago Jazz Orchestra Concert
Illinois Arts Council: Performing Arts sponsor

For decades, theater in Naperville was synonymous with Doc Shanower. He joined North Central College in 1955 as its first full-time instructor of theatre and in 1969 founded Naperville’s community Summer Place Theatre. Even after his retirement, both ventures have continued to thrive and impact the cultural landscape of the College and Naperville community.   

Shanower says he chose “The Diary of Anne Frank” because of its powerful plot and emotional storyline. “This play strikes a chord in the hearts and minds of people, especially Jewish people, who had undergone this terrible experience. We’re telling their story and I’m remaining as honest with the playwriting as I possibly can,” says Shanower. “The Diary of Anne Frank” opens in the Madden Theatre, a 2,500-square-foot black box performance space that seats up to 150 patrons in a variety of seating and staging configurations to suit the production. “The Diary of Anne Frank” will be performed on a thrust stage, bringing actors and audience up close and personal during the play.