Interactive Shows Part Of ‘Global Experiences’
Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts has announced its 35th anniversary season, “Lenfest Center: Your Gateway to Global Experiences.”
This milestone season celebrates creativity, connection and community, inviting audiences to experience artistic collaborations, innovative outreach initiatives, and inspiring performances that bring people together.
Through the Lenfest Center’s fall, winter and spring Outreach and Engagement (O&E) Series, audiences will have opportunities to engage directly with artists through master classes, a campus popup performance, immersive physical theater from Mallorca and an Aboriginal Australian edgy contemporary circus based in Brisbane.
The series also features an Obie Award-winning actor, playwright and director —currently performing Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop and renowned for his roles in more than 10 Spike Lee films — along with live broadcasts from Britain’s National Theatre and two Metropolitan Opera Live in HD Encore presentations. These programs invite participants to share their voices, collaborate on creative projects, engage in meaningful dialogue, provide feedback and actively participate in the creative process.
Beyond its performances, the Lenfest Center invites audiences to deepen their experience by participating in artist conversations and interactive events that extend the impact of each performance.
Online ticket sales for all ticketed events begin Aug 17. Visit https://my.wlu.edu/lenfest-center to purchase tickets. The Lenfest box office opens for in-person and remaining online ticket sales on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Patrons can contact the box office by calling (540) 458-8000 or emailing [email protected].
Lenfest Season
The Lenfest season opens with the Outreach & Engagement Film Series from Criterion Collections, “Basquiat,” showing on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Stackhouse Theatre. Julian Schnabel’s (director) tribute to his friend and fellow painter Jean-Michel Basquiat is a sensory immersion into the downtown- Manhattan art world of the 1980s. The film boasts a stellar cast including David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Parker Posey. As part of Lenfest’s 35th anniversary celebration, admission is free and the film provides an excellent introduction to the themes explored in Lenfest’s Sept. 28 performance.
“In Honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat” will be performed on that date at 7:30 p.m. on the Keller stage. The performance is a 60-minute solo theatrical performance created and performed by Obie Award-winning actor and playwright Roger Guenveur Smith. Smith draws entirely upon his reallife friendship with Basquiat to craft a raw, intimate portrait. This production directly tackles the legendary painter’s life, the counterculture of the 1980s New York art market and the systemic racism he encountered.
Lenfest’s O&E Film Series features National Theatre Lives’ production “All My Sons” on Sept. 22 at a new start time, 7 p.m., on the W&L Stackhouse screen; tickets are required. Bryan Cranston (“Breaking Bad”) and Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”) are featured in the acclaimed new production of Arthur Miller’s classic play.
Past meets present when Ailey II returns for Lenfest’s 35th anniversary with a performance on Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Keller Theatre. Ailey II performed at Lenfest’s 25th anniversary celebration on May 2, 2011, and Ailey also performed during Lenfest’s very first season in 1991. Join Alvin Ailey II as the extraordinary dancers ignite the stage featuring electrifying new works and audience favorites. Tickets are required.
Lenfest’s O&E Film Series includes NTL’s “The Playboy of the Western World” featuring Nicola Coughlan (“Bridgerton”) as she joins Éanna Hardwicke (“The Sixth Commandment”) and Siobhán McSweeney (“Derry Girls)” in a riveting play of youth and selfdiscovery on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. on the W&L Stackhouse screen.
November’s NTL’s “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” features BAFTA Award-winner Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread”) and Aidan Turner (“Rivals”) in a new staging of Christopher Hampton’s adaptation of the classic novel, on Nov. 10.
The new year brings NTL’s “The Misanthrope” on Jan. 12 with Award-winner Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”) playing the title role in this razor-sharp reimagining of Molière’s classic dark comedy.
The musical “Kinky Boots” is coming to the Stackhouse Theater on March 9. Additional NTL films will be added into the Lenfest’s season; check the Lenfest’s website for title announcements. Tickets are required for the NTL season.
Step into a bold new era of sounds with JACK Quartet in a Lenfest and Concert Guild Series event on Jan. 30 in Wilson Concert Hall. The group is considered the world’s leading interpreter of contemporary chamber music known for adventurous programming and close collaborations with living composers. Tickets are required.
“WOLF” by CIRCA will come to the Keller stage on Feb. 3. Clad in form-hugging costumes and set to DJ Ori Lichtik’s relentless primal rhythms, the cast of 10 CIRCA artists grasp, tear, climb, leap and balance with fierce abandon. “WOLF” is an edgy contemporary circus company known for its adrenalinecharged performances, combining extraordinary acrobatics with thought-provoking explorations of the human experience. Tickets are required.
The “master of the talking balafon,” Mamadou Diabaté & Percussion Mania, will come to the Keller stage on March 4. Characteristic of Mamadou Diabaté & Percussion Mania is its unique arrangement with two balafons before the stage as lead instruments. That makes the group unique in the world and different from all other West African bands. Tickets are required.
“A Teen Odyssey” performs at W&L Dance Studio on April 3 and April 4 with two shows each day. From Mallorca, Spain, “A Teen Odyssey” combines live physical performance with smartphone technology to transform every audience member into an active participant. Tickets are required.
Lenfest’s O&E Film Series has expanded this season to include two matinee screenings from the Metropolitan Opera. Encore presentations include “Carmen” on April 17 at 1 p.m. at the Stackhouse Theatre. Bizet’s fiery masterpiece follows the iconic title character, who lives by her own rules and whose irresistible allure drives the soldier Don José to destruction. On May 8 at 1 p.m., “Tosca,” Puccini’s political thriller set in 1800 Rome, follows the diva Floria Tosca as she fights to save her lover, Mario Cavaradossi, from the evil police chief Baron Scarpia. Tickets are required.
Concert Guild
W&L’s Concert Guild season boasts four ticketed performances in Wilson Concert Hall.
The season opens on Oct. 31 with Penelope Shumate’s “Baroque to Broadway” at 7 p.m. She will be joined by Lise Keiter, W&L Lecturer in Music, on piano in a program illuminating favorites from the classical and Broadway repertoires.
ArcoStrum performs on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. Praised as “a first-rate ensemble among the new generation of performing artists,” ArcoStrum is a trailblazing violin-guitar duo leaving their mark through creative concert design, on-stage charisma and innovative programming.
Concert Guild and the Lenfest Center will jointly present the JACK Quartet on Jan. 30 as previously mentioned.
The Concert Guild season will close on March 5 with the Goldmund quartet. The group is renowned for its interpretations of both classical and contemporary quartet repertoire.
SonoKlect
W&L’s SonoKlect season, a program dedicated to bringing modern music to local audiences in Lexington, opens in the Wilson Concert Hall with Jeff Coffin on saxophone Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. Coffin brings together a band for an evening of wide-open, highenergy music. Best known for his work with Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Coffin is a three-time Grammy Award winner, a fearless improviser, and one of the most distinctive saxophone voices of his generation.
The season concludes on Feb. 13 with Alexandre Dossin, piano. Dossin brings rare authority to the music of George Walker. No tickets are required for SonoKlect performances.
Theater, Dance And Film W&L’s Department of Theater, Dance, and Film Studies’ ticketed season opens with “Almost Maine” on Nov. 11-14 in the Johnson Theatre. This romantic comedy by John Cariani takes place in the remote town of Almost, Maine, where the town’s residents meet and fall in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways.
“W&L Dancers Create…” returns Dec. 2-4 in the Keller Theatre. Under the artistic direction of Jenefer Davies, the concert showcases works created, designed and performed by W&L students.
The W&L Repertory Dance Company concert runs March 25-27 in the Johnson Theatre. The company will present an evening of multi-faceted dance works performed and created by internationally renowned choreographers, faculty and guest artists.
The season closes in the Keller Theatre on April 8-10 with the Bentley Musical and stage adaptation of Tina Fey’s 2004 hit “Mean Girls.”
Department Of Music
W&L Department of Music’s season is full of exciting performances from faculty, guests and talented students.
Highlights include numerous faculty recitals in the Wilson Concert Hall including Anthony Cincotta, saxophone, and Anna Billias, piano, and Akiko Konishi, piano; Anima e Grazia featuring Julia Goudimova, cello, and Anna Billias, piano; and the Marlbrook Chamber Ensemble. The choral program offers numerous performances featuring the University Singers, Men’s Glee Club and Cantatrici throughout the year.
The W&L Fall Choral Concert will be held on Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are free, but required. The University Wind Ensemble will perform on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.; no tickets are required.
The University Orchestra opens its season on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m.; no tickets are required. Mix it up with the University Jazz Ensemble on Nov. 19 at 8 p.m.; no tickets are required.
W&L’s Holiday Pops Concert will be held Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Wilson Concert Hall. Tickets are free with nonperishable food or monetary donation to Campus Kitchen. Tickets can be reserved online. Monetary donations may be made online, while food donations are required in-person at the Lenfest box office during open hours. Tickets will be available beginning Monday, Nov. 9.
For a full list of performances, visit the Lenfest Center’s website.
UNIVERSITY WIND ENSEMBLE
AILEY II
