Post from Janet Wong (Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company)

The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is back at ASU Gammage after 10 years to perform Fondly Do We Hope…Fervently Do We Pray on Saturday, March 5. This piece was commissioned by the Ravinia Festival for the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. I think the work will look very handsome on the generous stage of Gammage. The title of the piece is a quote from Lincoln’s second inaugural address and I think it is particularly timely as our government threatens to shut down - it challenges the viewer and makes one wonder if we can ever find the “we”.

But onstage, in our community, WE are a company of 10 dancers, 4 musicians and an actor supported by an amazing technical crew, doing something that is essential to us. And WE love the warm weather of Arizona!

This performance falls in the middle of a ten day residency at ASU where we begin working on a new piece tentatively titled Story/Time. This visit also marks the beginning of a three-year relationship with ASU. It takes very brave presenters like Colleen Jennings-Roggensack and Michael Reed to embark on such a journey into the wilderness with us. I must admit that this new work has many challenges - even I am overwhelmed.

For example, our very first rehearsal for this piece is not in a dance studio but in a TV studio in downtown Phoenix. And Colleen and Michael are making this happen for us, whereas others may have balked at the request. Bill wanted a different way of entering this new work, and working in an environment with multiple cameras and a director forces us to do that. Without giving too much away, this work takes its inspiration from John Cage’s “Indeterminacy”. The piece includes Bill writing and reading 90 one-minute stories, one-minute dance activities, one-minute pedestrian/elemental activities, the division of space, the distribution of furniture items, the transformation of space, the camera's perspective, and social media. The positioning of the performative elements are determined by chance, each perhaps having its own score. This process is in part a way for Bill to escape his persona and taste. This residency is the beginning of our experiment -- and what a luxury it is to be able to experiment!

- Janet Wong, Assistant Artistic Director

Message from Fiddler Cast Member!!!

Hi ASU Gammage!

Julianne Katz here, currently playing Hodel in the National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof.

As a Native of Tucson, I cannot even tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to perform in Arizona. I can’t wait to get to Tempe in March and bring Fiddler to the Gammage stage! Many of my friends and family have actually never seen me perform, and now that I am coming home they can finally see me.

It is surreal to be returning to my old stomping grounds, where I used to sing and dance in shopping malls and with children’s theater groups as a child. Growing up, my parents took me to see touring Broadway shows, and I remember fantasizing about one day being like those actresses I watched on the stage. I would always make my way to the stage door after the shows to see the performers up close and get autographs on my Playbill. I can only hope that there are kids in our audiences that are getting bit by the theaterbug; I hope we inspire young artists just as I was once inspired as a child.

After touring the country for the last five months, I have realized how lucky we are in Arizona to have such incredible theaters that bring in so many wonderful shows. ASU Gammage has brought 11 fantastic, diverse Broadway shows in this season- ELEVEN! No other theater I have been to this year has had that kind of season. Not even close!

THANK YOU, Gammage Patrons, for continuing to support musical theatre and touring Broadway shows. It is your supporting of the arts that allows us to do what we love every night. I am so grateful and honored to join the long list of Gammage performers.

See you soon!

Love,

Julianne

Message from 9 To 5 Cast Member!!!

Hi there ASU Gammage!

My name is Natalie Charle Ellis and I am excited to say I’m coming to
Gammage in just a couple of weeks to perform in 9 To 5:  The Musical.  The main
reason coming to ASU Gammageis so special to me is because it was My Broadway
growing up (I’m from AZ). I remember being 10 years old and my dad giving my mom
and I tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera for Christmas. So we got all
dressed up (it was first big night out to the theater) and we sat 6th row, smack
dab in the middle. The moment the Orchestra started to play, my jaw dropped and
my heart started pounding and I squeezed my parents’ hands the entire show. I
already loved being on stage, but that was the night I knew I was going to spend
my life performing. This is my first "big gig" and is also my first time even
stepping foot on to that stage. I know it’s going to be an amazing experience.
And I get to share it with my parents, friends and all my mentors from Phoenix
and that means the world to me. I started at Greasepaint Youth Theatre when I
was 12 then became a professional actor at 18 with Phoenix Theatre and have met
some incredible people that have helped make me the performer and person I am
today. PLUS I get to work with some amazingly talented and fun people in a great
show. I hope you all have the chance to come out! I can’t wait!

Natalie Charle Ellis