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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 19, 1990)
The Battalion BOLSHOI Monday, November 19, 1990 Lifestyles Editor Lisa Ann Robertson 845-3: Tickets & Times 1 he curtain hasn’t closed on those who want to see the ballet, yet. Ballet afftcionados still can get tickets for performances by the Bol shoi Ballet-Grigorovich Company which debuts Friday night in Texas A&M’s Rudder Auditorium. Tickets for the company’s nine f terformances have been bought up rom around the country, and two E erformances are already sold out. ,ess than 7,000 of more tnan 22,000 total tickets remain, said MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society mem bers. All seats for the Sunday’s 2 p.m. matinee and Nov. 30’s 8 p.m. per formance have been sold, and less than 400 total tickets remain for both Dec. 1 performances, said MSC Box Office personnel. Tickets can be purchased at the MSC Box Office or by calling (409) 845-1234 and at all Ticketron out lets or by calling 1-800-275-1000. Tickets for valet shuttle bus serv ice from Post Oak Mall in College Station and Manor East Mall in Bryan are also available for $2 per person. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or at either mall prior to each performance. The shuttle service begins two hours before each performance and runs on 15 to 20 minute intervals. The Bolshoi Ballet-Grigorovich Company offers 60 young dancers in nine performances beginning Fri day night. All between the ages of 18 and 25, these dancers have been trained at the famed Bolshoi Aca demy and other leading Soviet dance schools. The company will present the bal let, “The Nutcracker,” and “The Best of The Bolshoi,” a mixed reper toire that includes Act II of the bal let “Swan Lake.” The performances are scheduled as follows: “The Nutcracker” • Friday at 8 p.m. • Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. • Sunday at 8 p.m. • Nov. 30 at 8 p.m. • Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. “The Best of The Bolshoi” • Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. • Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. The prices of the remaining tickets on sale are: • For this weekend’s 8 p.m. per formances — $30 for a balcony seat, $40 for the last 13 rows in the or chestra level and $50 for the first 13 rows on the orchestra level, the mez zanine and the boxes. • For all other performances — $15, $25 and $35 for the same seats. For more information on ticket availability, call the MSC Box Office at 845-1234. The Soviet Union’s brightest young dancers may be debuting the Bolshoi Ballet-Grigorovich Com pany at Texas A&M this week, but the Brazos Valley’s brightest musi cians will provide the orchestral background. Forty-eight musicians from the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra will perform the music to “The Nut cracker” for three of the new ballet company’s seven performances dur ing this weekend’s premiere. Bolshoi conductor Alexander Lavrenyuk will direct the local musicians in all three live-orchestra shows. The other shows will have taped music. Seven of the 48 musicians in the orchestra are from Texas A&M — five faculty/staff members, one graduate student and one under graduate student. They are Glenn Bearden, a re search assistant in biochemistry and biophysics and principal second vio- linst, and Penny Sent, development director for KAMU-TV and -FM and first chair flutist. Also performing will be Mark Holtzapple, assistant professor of chemical engineering, and Alan Houtchens, assistant professor of philosophy and humanities, both playing tne French horn. Robert Kenefick, professor in physics, Eric Schansberg, a graduate student in economics and violinist, and Monica Kim, an undergraduate studying languages, will all be playing the vio lin. The Brazos Valley Symphony Or chestra formed in September 1981 and has performed for audiences since then. The BVSO named a new conductor in 1984: Franz Anton Krager. Krager is another member of the A&M faculty, serving as a lec turer in the Department of Philoso phy and Flumanities’ music pro gram. MSCOPAS ‘lights up nights /'. wm I -4, / ■■ ^ By ROB NEWBERRY W ith all the excitement over the upcoming Bolshoi Ballet perfor mance, it would be easy to forget that the MSC Opera and Performing Arts Society (OPAS) is committed to provid ing quality exposure to the performing arts throughout the year. MSC OPAS was formed in the fall of 1972 by representatives from Bryan- College Station and students from Texas A&M, with the intention of mak ing the Rudder Theatre Complex a center for art and cultural presenta tions. Funded by ticket revenues and con tributions from about 700 beneficia ries, OPAS has earned respect and at tention from the surrounaing area as the major supporter of the performing arts in the area. To date, OPAS has brought in such successful acts as “Big River,” “Cats,” and Marcel Marceau. Already this year, OPAS has four major performances under its belt. Be ginning with the Concert Royal in Sep tember, then the Glasnost Ballet in Oc tober, and “LBJ” and “Into the Woods” this month, OPAS has staged a success ful start to its 18th season, titled simply enough, OPAS 18. “The programs we’ve had thus far have all done better than we expected them to do,” OPAS chairman Derek Moore said. “We’ve been real happy with the turnout, especially with the number of students.” “The season has had tremendous, success, and we’ve had good reviews for all the shows,” Moore added. “There’s a lot of interest out there, both from students and Bryan-College Station. I’m glad we’re there to nil what’s perceived as a cultural void, and that we’re seen as a major influence on the performing arts here.” r 1 ^ ‘ JllPi m! i i I Scheduled for the spring semester are more plays and concerts. OPAS be gins the second half of the season with ^Winter Solstice,” a concert featuring Windham Hill Records artists such as Liz Story, Philip Aaberg and Night- noise. Windham Hill came to the foref ront of what critics have labeled “new classical music” in the ’80s, and the show promises some of the best of this interesting blend of classical and new age jazz. “The ‘Winter Solstice’ show is very student oriented,” Moore said. “New age music is our age music, so we’re ex pecting lots of students.” The Japanese percussion company Kodo, the Neil $imon comedy ^Ru mors,” and a performance of Paris’ famed Orchestra de Paris are OPAS’ February features. T*he musical high school reun ion “Oil City Svmphony” ahd Tony Award-winner “Camelot’' will finish up OPAS 18. “We’ve still got some top- notch productions on the way. Tne Kodo and Orchestra de Paris are both great, according to all the reviews I’ve seen. And we’re going to try to end our season with a big Doom with ‘Camelot’,” Moore said. These features, however, do not to tal OPAS’ involvement in the arts this year. Two other programs, OPAS Stark and OPAS, Jr., are keeping stu dents and the community in touch with OPAS’ goals. The J. Wayne Stark Series was cre ated in 1984 to provide exposure to the performing arts at an affordable price. “The programs are a smaller venue,” Stark chair Paula Homeier said. “It’s f ood for a classy date, and it’s afforda- le.” The Stark Series presents the Ham- bro Piano Quartet tonight to conclude OPAS MSC Opera & Performing Arts Sock its Focus on the Performing Arts (FOPA) Week. “They try to present classical music in a comical manner,” Homeier said. The show has been called “topless” — all four grand pi anos have the tops taken off. On the lineup next spring for the Stark Series is ^Marimolin & Contin uum,” a marimba, violin, and percus sion concert on February 5, and “Com poser’s Spotlight,” where students can perform original works on March 23. .After several years of success ful children’s features, OPAS created OPAS, Jr. last year. Dedicated to bring ing entertainment for the younger members of the family, OPAS, Jr. got off to a great start, and continues to do OPAS 18 well with this year’s line-up. “We sold out both performances ‘Cinderella’ in September,” OPAS,) chair John Billimek said, “And it loci, like our performances of ‘The Stole White Elephant’ are going to done too.” For the spring, OPAS, Jr. plans bring in guitarist-songwriter jo# Chapin, brother of Harry Chapin.:J an afternoon of audience participati: and sing-a-longs. Also on the listisf nosaur Rock, “an educational music about dinosaurs,” said Billimek. The continued support of done: make all these programs possible. Wit such support, tne committee invitest eryone to “Light up your nights” wit The Concert Royale with the New York Baroque Dance Company delighted OPAS audiences in September. The performance in cluded music written by Mozart. The dancers performed ballets and operas from the eighteenth century.