Set designer Bill Symington and director Michael Kary discuss the liberties they took with GCU’s rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Friday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 12 at 2:00 …

Not familiar with A Midsummer Night’s Dream? Let the cast fill you in on this intertwined lovers tale. Grand Canyon University and Ethington Theater are proud to present A Midsummer Nights Dream. “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Never was this truer than in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Follow the hilarious angst of teen love out of Athens and into the forest as four more of Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers try to find a safe place to love who and how they please. Add into the mix a fractured fairy kingdom and a group of construction workers turned artists, and you have one of Shakespeare’s best loved plays.

If Shakespeare takes the measure of a serious actor, then perhaps no actor has a better take on the Bard than Drew Swaine. Swaine, a GCU junior, plays Demetrius in the Ethington Theatre production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” one of Shakespeare’s most popular works. The play begins a two-weekend run on campus Friday night. “I like Shakespeare, but I don’t think I’ve ever been intimidated by doing it,” Swaine says. “It’s good theatre, but it’s not inaccessible.”

Grand Canyon University and Ethington Theater are proud to present A Midsummer Nights Dream.
“The course of true love never did run smooth.” Never was this truer than in William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Follow …

The Ethington Dance Ensemble, under the guidance of GCU’s director of dance, Susannah Keita, has come a long way since its start a year ago. This production showcases that evolution, tackling several different styles of dance and combining them — sometimes even within one piece — smoothly and effortlessly. Thanks to the talented choreographers added to Keita’s staff this year and a program that is now 50 students strong, Thursday’s opening-night audience was shown a wide range of techniques and variations inspired by famous dancers and choreographers throughout history.

How do you feel about going to the opera? Wait, wait, hold on. Here’s a better question: How do you feel about going to a one-act opera, sung in English, lasting less than an hour, with a simple, sweet story line that even a third-grader could follow? We’re guessing you’re warming up to the idea. It’s tempting to characterize “Amahl and the Night Visitors” as opera for people who don’t like opera, but that would diminish the fine performances and exceptional staging by the College of Fine Arts and Production version, which opened Friday night at Ethington Theatre to a packed house.

Following the immense success of “Dracula” at Halloween, the Ethington Theatre Series will present “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a feel-good Christmas story that has its own feel-good story involving a member of the cast. For Claire Penneau, who plays Amahl’s mother, the story and her role weren’t hard to relate to. Penneau, who will turn 38 on Saturday, is a full-time student and a working mother of three. She has spent years as a single parent trying to do what’s best for her children.

The GCU College of Fine Arts and Production presents Legacy – a winter dance concert honoring dancers in history. The production was choreographed by Zari Le’on, Susannah Keita, Jessica Rajko, Sonja Mitrovic and Antoinette Proctor. Performances are December 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Ethington Theatre. Tickets are $10. To purchase tickets, call the box office at 602.639.8880 or ethington@gcu.edu.

Amahl and the Night Visitors is a Christmas opera for the whole family. Gian Carlo Menotti weaves an intimate portrait of a poor mother and son on the brink of homelessness. They are visited by three resplendent kings on their way to see the Christ-child. Throughout the evening, the three guests guide the impoverished family from their state of despair to ultimate hope as the kings tell of the birth of the Earth’s true king. What can Amahl and his mother do for a child who promises to save the world? Miracles abound in this beautiful gem of an opera that is sure to touch hearts of all ages.

In today’s tough economic times, it’s hard to stay positive, especially for leaders in the business world. But that is exactly what Dr. Ken Blanchard says is the most important thing for today’s leaders. “You have to be the bearers of hope,” Blanchard told a packed Ethington Theatre at Friday morning’s CEO Lecture Series, put on in partnership with AZ Business Magazine. “That doesn’t mean you have to be deceitful or not tell the truth about what’s going on. But if you aren’t positive, your people won’t be positive.”