GENESEO, N.Y. – SUNY Geneseo’s production of the musical “Nine” will employ aerial arts and live-feed video rarely used in Rochester-area theatrical productions.
The Department of Music is staging the Tony Award-winning production Jan. 20-24 in Wadsworth Auditorium. The Wednesday through Saturday shows begin at 7:30 p.m.; the Sunday matinee begins at 2 o’clock. General admission tickets are $15 and are available online. Due to some adult situations, the musical is not appropriate for young children.
Directing the production is Melanie Blood, professor of English and music at Geneseo. Music director is Don Kot, coordinator of the musical theatre program.
“There will be considerable videography in this production, including a live feed during the performance,” said Kot. “We also will be using some Cirque-du-Soliel-type of flying in the production and are using the expertise of Aerial Arts in Rochester to train our actors and staff for one number in the show. It will be very exciting.”
The music and lyrics for “Nine” were written by Maury Yeston. It’s based on Federico Fellini’s 1963 Academy Award-winning film “8-1/2.” The plot focuses on filmmaker Guido Contini’s struggles to complete a script for his upcoming film, for which he has already signed a contract and is expected to start shooting within the week. Since his prior successes have focused on female characters and used autobiographical material, he sorts through childhood memories, current relationships and imagined scenarios searching for the perfect subject for his film. As his deadline approaches, his personal and professional lives collide and explode with crises.
“The film and musical are meta-cinematic pieces about the process of writing and shooting a film, so in our production we use film clips that represent the filmmaker’s imagined sequences as he struggles to put together his ideas for the film,” said Blood, who also is the videographer for the production. “In addition, when the film goes into production, we use a live camera feed to demonstrate how the staged action will look in his finished film.”
The talented team of designers include Graydon VanRy as scenic designer, Toni Elderkin as lighting designer, Susan Rutkowski as costumer, and Dave LaDue as sound designer. The production stage manager is Brodie McPherson with assistance by Brian Sousis.
Student performers include Jordan Bachmann as Guido Contini with seniors Alexandra Salerno, Samantha Clowes, and Alexandra Imbrosci as Guido’s wife Luisa, leading lady Claudia, and mother, and junior Beth Ohman as his mistress Carla. Also in the cast are Katelyn Brooks, Erin Burris, Kimberly Cole, Danielle Comerford, Nicole Eras, Rebecca Leville, Sarah Maphey, Erica Milliman, Jessica Murphy, Ben Ranalli, Kevin Weber and Sophie Yeomans. Local children Joey DeBell and Clara Gillespie are sharing the role of Young Guido and Wyles Daniels, Isabel Granger, Brendan Mayo and Liam Sisson appear as young Guido's schoolmates.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Director
(585) 245-5529
Irwin@geneseo.edu