Among the busyness of spring semester on campus, cinema and media arts students have begun casting, filming and editing short films set to premier at this year’s Black Bird Film Festival. The film team for “The First Day” shot many of the scenes last semester, but were forced to delay further shoots due to COVID-19. This semester, the crew picked up where they left off and recently finished shooting. Director and producer Jonathan Williams, a junior cinema and media arts major, … [Read more...]
Newsboys to visit Reardon on tour in February
The Newsboys will bring their 2017 Love Riot tour to Reardon Auditorium on Saturday, Feb. 4.The Christian band has previously visited AU, along with Hawk Nelson, in the fall of 2015.This time around, Newsboys is set to return with a new performance aspect in tow—a theatrical production titled “God’s Not Dead LIVE! Rivals.”For the theatrical performance, the Newsboys “wanted to try something brand new, something different,” said lead singer Michael Tait. “We are very excited about sharing … [Read more...]
‘Deathtrap’ set to entice audience with murder
Rick Vale, the stage director of “Deathtrap,” the upcoming fall play at AU, says that “this show is described as a ‘comic thriller’ because it has elements of a murder-mystery as told in a comic way.”Vale and the cast have been rehearsing since Oct. 24, so they will have only been working on the show for a little over a month by the time it premieres. The cast consists of only three men and two women, while about 10 other people work with costumes, lights and assisting with other … [Read more...]
Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Rush visits AU
On Tuesday, Sept. 20, AU celebrated Constitution Day with guest speaker Loretta Rush, the chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.Rush spoke in York Performance Hall to a room full of AU students, community members, judges and even a class of high school students from Alexandria-Monroe High School.Constitution Day is a federally required time of reflection on the Constitution by educational institutions on or around Sept. 17 each year.During her lecture, Rush spoke on her experiences in … [Read more...]
Musical “Gypsy” premieres on campus this weekend
The cast and crew of the AU fall musical, “Gypsy,” has been working tirelessly to put together an amazing experience for their audience. “Gypsy” is a musical about Rose, the mother of Vaudeville star Gypsy Rose Lee, as together they face the reality of show business. The musical follows the progress of Rose as she works to raise two daughters to live out her dream for them: to perform on stage.The musical was written by Arthur Laurents with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim is known for … [Read more...]
Covenant Productions staff creates music video
Earlier this summer, an alumnus of AU had an idea to create a music video to Justin Timberlake’s hit song, “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” that would feature the faculty, staff, and student groups at AU. He kept directing the video in his head but couldn’t quite figure out how to get the job done.Eventually, he shared the project with David Armstrong, the operations director at Covenant Productions, AU’s on-campus video production company. Armstrong decided that the video could be used as a tool to … [Read more...]
A glimpse at Fall Into Dance open auditions
The nervous excitement starts to build as the dancers hear the music beginning to play. Shauna Steele, the area coordinator for dance in the School of Music at AU, instructs the performers to make a giant circle on stage behind the curtain as they await the opening of the show.“Take your energy and throw it into the circle,” she instructs. “Clear your mind and focus on the performance, but have fun.”It’s show time.This is the scene just moments before the Fall Into Dance show begins. With … [Read more...]
Gaither Archive to showcase alumni legacy
Bill and Gloria Gaither are undoubtedly two of the most successful alumni in AU history, but are at the same time largely unknown to much of the student body. The husband and wife song writing duo and associated Gaither Vocal Band have been making music for over 30 years. Starting Sep. 23, their work will be featured in the York Performance Hall Gaither Gallery as a part of the new Gaither Archive exhibits.Tai Lipan, director of university galleries and instructor of art, calls it a “living … [Read more...]
The Wldlfe to hold release show for ‘New’
The Wldlfe, a new band featuring AU students Jansen Hogan, Jason Boucouras and Geoffrey Jones, has announced that their first EP, New, is set for release on March 3, 2016. Their release show has been planned for that night and will also feature the electro-pop duo Dream Chief.For those familiar with Jansen Hogan’s solo music, The Wldlfe will be a taste of something rather different. “Compared to what I did before, this is much more of a risk,” Hogan said, “It’s less safe, more fun, in my … [Read more...]
Roadshow, featuring Mandisa, to visit Indy
The 8th Annual Rock & Worship Roadshow will be rolling into downtown Indianapolis this February. With headlining artists Newsboys, Jeremy Camp and Mandisa, Christian music fans will have a chance to hear some of the most popular artists in Christian contemporary music today. The Roadshow will also feature Phil Wickham, Family Force 5 and Audio Adrenaline as opening acts.Founded in 2009, The Rock and Worship Roadshow has performed for nearly 1.3 million attendees at over 170 shows … [Read more...]