Archive for March, 2019

Photos by David Kadlubowski GCU News Bureau John-Michael Tebelak’s “Godspell” premieres at Ethington Theatre on Friday, March 22. Showings will continue for the next two weekends on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.          

The premier of “Godspell” hits Ethington Theatre tonight, and offers a colorful musical experience, that showcases a modern interpretation of the book of Matthew. The music, composed by Stephen Swartz of Pippin and Wicked fame, provides a unique take on the stories, integrating forms of rock with adapted hymns. “We are singing the word of God and passages from the bible because we just feel an immense amount of joy about it and I feel like that’s what makes music in this show different than other shows,” cast member Charlotte Perkis said. The show will be performed March 22-24 and March 29-31. Friday and Saturday Shows begin at 7:30 p.m., while Sunday shows begin at 2 p.m.

For the seventh year in a row, the Dance Department has successfully had a piece selected to be featured in the American College Dance Association’s West Region gala. Three pieces of choreography were chosen for the weeklong conference, and Madison Knutson’s “The Sun Will Rise, and We Will Too” was among the 10 featured works in the gala. “I think it’s a testament to the strength of our program, which is still under 10 years old,” said Susannah Keita, Director of Dance.

Members of the College of Education are praying for Joe Popma, an adjunct faculty member since 1994 who is battling cancer. Popma, who has been teaching for 66 years, worked as faculty in GCU’s first distance learning program, which delivered content via VHS tape, and helped develop GCU’s first online program, M.Ed. in Education Administration. He also was a faculty supervisor for teacher candidates as well as principal interns.

GCU alumni Felipe Reyes, Dylan Santos and Kevin Llamas created FADES, an app designed to make getting a haircut easier. Their ultimate goal is to link customers with mobile barbers. “It’s going to take some time (to educate people to use the app and to go mobile), but people weren’t doing taxes on their phone not too long ago, either,” Reyes said.

This year’s Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival showcased how much talent the College of Fine Arts and Production’s Theater Department really has. Three GCU students made it to the semifinals in their respective regional categories, and two took second place. Some students even came home with scholarships and job interviews. “We had teachers as well as students from all kinds of other schools stop us a number of times and tell us how impressed they were with our students,” COFAP Assistant Dean William Symington said.

In this week’s Fitness Facts, Connie Colbert provides details about temporomandibular joint dysfunction — pain in your jaw. There are many ways it shows up and many effects it has, and the best way to find out if you have it is to visit a dentist.

In this week’s Mental Health Vitamin, Dr. Deb Wade focuses on the four types of boundaries that can keep a marriage strong. “Temptation is all around us; however, the way we tackle temptation is up to each of us,” she writes.

The Speech and Debate team won four national titles last weekend at the National Christian College Forensic Association’s National Championship last weekend in Salina, Kan. In addition to GCU’s two team titles (one in Speech, one in Debate), Tommee Gleason was ranked as the top overall speaker of the tournament, and Xanthia Clow won the Parliamentary Debate competition and was second behind Gleason in the competition for top speaker.

Walk just about anywhere in the Milwaukee Brewers’ complex in Maryvale and you’re going to see purple-shirted GCU students working in the concession stands — they make up about 80 percent of the staff. Many of them are hospitality management majors, but they come from programs all over the University and have two things in common: They like to serve, and they’re getting great experience while also enjoying the opportunity to be at a ballpark every day.