CPA'S 10 Year Anniversary

Rachel Thompson, Fine Arts Editor
September 28, 2015

On Sept. 12, the Paradise Valley Community College Center for Performing Arts celebrated its 10th anniversary with an event that highlighted the history of the CPA building, including presentations and performances by PVCC music, theatre, art and dance programs. The CPA was constructed and opened in August 2005. Events at the center began in October 2005. The design outline happened under the administrative leadership of Gina Kranitz.

According to Dr. Christopher Scinto who organized the 10-year celebration, "This big space of the building legitimizes the work and great things we do."

In nine years, the CPA has hosted 953 events and performances before audiences totaling 94,135.

To start off the presentations of the Fine Arts programs at PVCC, Rachel Petersen danced her own choreographered performance, featuring the song "A World Alone" by Lorde. Petersen was also the 2nd place winner in the 2015 MCCCD Dance Competition. Petersen created her solo, which took about a month to do, in the spring 2014 semester.

Petersen said of her dance, "The performance was very personal to me. I related to the lyrics of the song a lot."

David Bradley, Fine Arts faculty and evening supervisor of the visual arts department, presented a slideshow about the visual arts program that included pictures, information on the program and students' work.

Bradley said of the program, "Right now we are in the process of building a glass blowing department as part of the Ceramics program."

The PVCC theatre program's presentation consisted of two performances. Alex Hanson and Rachelle Dart performed "The Roaring Girl" by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker. Hanson and Dart were able to convey a compelling scene that involved sword fighting. The second rendition was performed by Delfinia Valdenegro and Courtney Kenyon. This was called "Bridget of Bristol, the Bawdy Brigandess" written by Jeff Goode. This scene also involved a sword fight. However, the two women were fighting over a man.

The music program presentation included performances by Micah Lukas, Alex Mullins, and a group act consisted of Keith Kelly, Brett Reed, Bailey Zick and Connor Sample. Micah Lukas covered two Christian songs called, "Your Love Is Strong" and "Bread & Wine." Alex Mullins performed two original songs called, "Indigo Sun" and "Jericho." The group act performed two jazz songs, "All Blues and "So What."

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LLCC Theatre will present "Your Swash Is Unbuckled" by Jeff Goode, a collection of short, humorous plays featuring swashbuckling, sword-swinging action, on Nov. 11, 12 and 13. Curtain time is 8 p.m. in the Hoogland Center for the Arts Theatre III.

Three of the plays are world-premieres, authored by Goode just for LLCC Theatre under the direction of Mark Hardiman, LLCC professor of theatre.

Tickets are on sale at $18 ($16 for seniors and $10 for students with ID) at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 South 6th St., by calling 217.523.2787 or online at http://www.hcfta.org. The production is suggested for mature audiences.

LLCC Theatre, which last appeared at the Hoogland with the sell-out production of "The Shadows of Edgar Allan Poe," embarks on the "Swash" plays for the second time. "We did some of the plays last summer at LLCC and audiences so loved them, we wanted to reach out to a broader audience this year and explore new pieces," says Hardiman.

This version of "Swash" offers nine comic stage combat plays, each about 10 minutes long. The works span the gamut from Robin Hood and Little John to the newest pieces written for LLCC Theatre, including swashbuckling steam pirates battling it out with cutlasses and buckets on zeppelins. The full evening of these short comedies are a quirky look at relationships, couples and comic conflict phrased in witty dialogue.

"Mr. Goode's plays offer actors a playground to explore great physical comedy and goofy swashbuckling while offering snappy dialogue that exposes how our relationships and our expectations about them drive us to crazy extremes," says Hardiman.

"Swash" author Jeff Goode is a producer, director, screenwriter and author of over 50 plays. He is known as creator of the "American Dragon: Jake Long" TV series produced by Walt Disney television animation. "It is a great honor to work with Jeff on these new plays," says Hardiman. "His take on culture and society is insightful and full of mirth."