Shortest month big on entertainment at Kansas State University
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016
MANHATTAN — February at Kansas State University brings a celebration of the Bard, the "Down Under" version of the Bee Gees, faculty and student recitals, a "Saturday Night Live" alumna and much more.
The following events, most sponsored by the university's McCain Performance Series, Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted:
• ARTSmart classes Feb. 2-5 at the Beach Museum of Art will focus on the exhibition "First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare" and bookmaking. Each class includes gallery discussion and activities, and an art project that will allow participants to explore media and techniques. Cost is $3 per child; $1.50 for Friends of the Beach Museum of Art members. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required. Contact 785-532-7718 or email klwalk@k-state.edu. These monthly classes are for preschool children ages 3-5, with a special section for toddlers and 2-year-olds as well as homeschooled children. View the schedule of classes at beach.k-state.edu/participate/classes/artsmart.html.
• "The Bard at the Bar: Midsummer Night's Dream Mock Trial" will be 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, in the Mark A. Chapman Theatre in Nichols Hall. Admission is free, but seating is limited. It is co-sponsored by the offices of pre-law advising, vice provost for undergraduate studies, McCain Auditorium and the English department.
• Thomas Bacon will present a student composition recital at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall.
• "O Happy Hour!": A Shakesbeer Pub Crawl will be 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3. Tickets include entry to Hibachi Hut, Della Voce, 4 Olives and the Tallgrass Tap House, all in downtown Manhattan. Each stop includes one complimentary adult beverage and a story performed by K-State Theater students. For tickets and more information, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/d/ks--manhattan/shakesbeer/.
• "First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare" will be on display from Feb. 4-28 at the Beach Museum of Art. The First Folio Opening Reception will be 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at the museum. This free event, which is open to the public, includes five-minute speed scholar presentations and a performance by the university's Collegium Musicum.
• Climate change is the focus of "Forward," a play by playwright-in-residence Chantal Bilodeau, to be presented by K-State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4-6 and 11-13 and at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in West Stadium's Purple Masque Theatre. Set in Norway, this poetic history of climate change explores the initial passion that drove Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen to the North Pole, to the consequences of over a century of fossil fuel addiction. Tickets are $10-$15, plus additional taxes and fees, and can be purchased at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/theatre.
• The Shakespeare classic "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Actors from the London Stage will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 5, at McCain Auditorium as part of the McCain Performance Series. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• Saturday, Feb. 6, is Wildcat Oboe Day from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in 201 McCain Auditorium. A concert will be a 5 p.m. in McCain's Kirmser Hall. Registration is free and oboists of all ability levels are welcome and encouraged to attend.
• Families are invited to make Valentines while enjoying goodies to fuel creativity at the Valentines Workshop from 1:30-3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, at the Beach Museum of Art. Reservations are not required, but children must be accompanied by an adult. Cost for the workshop is $5 per participant, $3 for Friends of the Beach Museum of Art members.
• A student recital by Abigail Baeten, on oboe, and Max Dunlap, on euphonium, will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 7, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall.
• Paul Hunt, professor of trombone, will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 8, in All Faiths Chapel.
• The McCain Performance Series will present Jessica Lang Dance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in McCain Auditorium. See classical ballet language transformed into artfully crafted, emotionally engaging contemporary works. The performance also will feature a sneak preview of some of Lang's newest work set to Shakespeare sonnets. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• Todd Kersetter, professor of clarinet, will present the faculty recital "Moonflowers, Baby!" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, in All Faiths Chapel. The program of jazz- and pop-influenced music for clarinet and bass clarinet will include Philip Parker's "Grooves," Jonathan Russell's "Sonata for Bass Clarinet and Piano," Paul Basler's "Divertimentos for Bass Clarinet, Horn and Piano" and Meyer Kupferman's iconic "Moonflowers, Baby!" for solo clarinet.
• The Beach Museum of Art and USD 383 will celebrate the work of the district's students and their teachers at the Early Expressions student art show in the Beach Museum's UMB Theater, Feb. 10-14. A public reception will be 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the museum. The exhibition is sponsored by the Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools Foundation.
• Scholar Michael Anderegg will present the lecture "Lincoln and Shakespeare" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, in the Hemisphere Room at Hale Library. The public lecture is co-sponsored by K-State Libraries, the University Press of Kansas and the Manhattan Public Library.
• Kids can learn about the Globe Theatre and create their own ministage set for Shakespeare at a special workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Beach Museum of Art. The cost is $5 per participant; $3 for Friends of the Beach members. Call 785-532-7718 for more information.
• A graduate student recital by Bryan Anderson, percussion, will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall.
• Send an early Valentine's Day gift with a Tap-A-Gram from the K-State Dance Ensemble on Friday, Feb. 12. Contact Julie Pentz at jpentz@k-state.edu for more information.
• The multimedia theatrical concert experience, "The Australian Bee Gees Show: A Tribute to the Bee Gees," will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, in McCain Auditorium. This McCain Performance Series presentation takes a nostalgic trip through the legacy of Bee Gees and celebrates the more than four decades of the infectious music written by the Gibb brothers. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• Celebrate Valentine's Day at "Shakespeare in Love": A Romeo and Juliet Masquerade from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, in Hale Library's iconic Great Room. Light refreshments will be served, and costume and sonnet contests will be offered. The event is co-sponsored by the English department, K-State Libraries and the K-State Libraries Student Ambassadors. Tickets will be available Feb. 1 for $12 each or $20 per couple. Visit the event website for more information.
• The Metropolitan Opera Rising Stars Concert Series comes to McCain Auditorium at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14. The series serves as a launching pad for future opera stars. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
A graduate student recital by Nichole Unger, on euphonium, will be at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, in All Faiths Chapel.
• Alex Thomen will present a student composition recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall.
• A student recital by Caleb Kuhlman, on trumpet, will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall.
• Enjoy solo and chamber music featuring the horn in a faculty recital by Jacqueline Fassler-Kerstetter, associate professor of horn, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in All Faiths Chapel.
• A trumpet recital by students Kyle Lefler and Brayden Whitaker will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, in All Faiths Chapel.
• Ross Duffin, a professor and renowned musicologist at Case Western Reserve University, will present the public lecture "Shakespeare's Songbook" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, in McCain Auditorium's Kirmser Hall. The Songbook is a meticulously researched collection of 155 songs that appear in, are quoted in or alluded to in Shakespeare's plays.
• The February offering in the K-State LASER, or Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous, series will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, at the Beach Museum. LASER is an international program of evening gatherings that bring artists and scientists together for informal presentations and discussion around the intersection of art and science. K-State LASER is co-sponsored by the Beach Museum, the DX Media Program, the College of Arts & Sciences and Leonardo, journal of the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology.
• Celebrate the Mexican-American experience through song, dance, music and film with Los Lobos and Ballet Folklorico Mexicano at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, McCain Auditorium. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance will present "Celebrating New Music" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in All Faiths Chapel.
• Catch "Saturday Night Live" alumna Ana Gasteyer in "An Evening with Ana Gasteyer" at the Wareham Opera House, a part of the McCain Performance Series. Shows, featuring sultry, saucy songs from the actress-comedienne, will be at 7 and 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• Shakespeare Faire: Shakespeare For All Ages will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20, at the Manhattan Public Library, 629 Poyntz Ave. Events include English scholar speed talks; public reading of sonnets; scene presentations by K-State Theatre; music performances and "instrument petting zoo" by K-State Collegium Musicum; storytelling and puppets; afternoon film showing of a Shakespeare adaptation and Akala YouTube short film; and the presentation of gift facsimile First Folio to the Manhattan Public Library.
• A trumpet recital by students Hunter Sullivan and Elias Gillespie will be at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, in All Faiths Chapel.
• The K-State Orchestra, directed by David Littrell, university distinguished professor of music, will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, in McCain Auditorium. The orchestra also will perform Ibert's "Concertino," movements 2-3, featuring Michael Meier on saxophone; Green's "Concerto," movement 3, featuring Josh Peterson on bass clarinet; "Royal Fireworks Music" by Handel, "Dansa macabre" by Saint-Saens; and "Finlandia" by Sibelius.
• Kids can learn about Shakespeare plays and create costume designs for Shakespearean characters in an early release workshop from 2-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the Beach Museum of Art. The cost is $5 per participant; $3 for Friends of the Beach members. Call 785-532-7718 for more information.
• The Ebony Theatre of Kansas State University will present Amiri Baraka's "Dutchman" at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25-27 in West Stadium's Purple Masque Theatre. In the steaming underbelly of the New York City subway system, an African-American man and a white woman find themselves drawn together in a conversation about race. Tickets are $5-$8, plus additional taxes and fees, and can be purchased at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/theatre.
• The First Folio Gallery Happening will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at the Beach Museum. The museum educators will guide attendees through "First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare" and explore Shakespeare, his time and the arts. Admission is free.
• The Russian National Orchestra with Yuja Wang, piano, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at McCain Auditorium as part of the McCain Performance Series. The Russian National Orchestra, known as one of the world's greatest, will feature Wang, a young and charismatic superstar pianist. Tickets are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by calling 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain.
• "Shakespeare in the Little Apple" wraps up with the "Farewell O Folio!" Closing Reception from 4-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, at the Beach Museum. K-State creative writing students will give readings of poems related to the First Folio. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Admission is free.
• John Hanson and Grace Baugher, both on horn, will present a student recital at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28, in All Faiths Chapel.
