Colleges

He has written poems about anti-smoking, love, hip-hop and domestic violence, even publishing a book of more than 40 of them, called “Fragile: Life Is Poetic.” He’s known in the Phoenix arts community as FlipSide, and he’s coming to GCU’s Open Mic Night this week to hear and be heard. “I love to hear other people tell their story,” FlipSide says. “It’s something I wouldn’t ordinarily get. That’s fun for me.”

Hayes, a popular instructor in the College of Liberal Arts for the past four years, will be leaving with his wife to return to Howell, Mich., for family reasons. The move has been planned by the couple for some time. The imminent departure of Hayes made the weekend performances of “Dial P for Peanuts” a bittersweet affair. In the irreverent, raucous satire, written by Hayes and directed by GCU alumnus Michael Kary, the characters from the Charles Schulz comic strip have grown up — and not for the better.

“Each of you have your own journey,” says Jerry Colangelo. “It will be influenced by the choices you make and the risks you take.” The GCU and AZ Business Magazine CEO Lecture Series wrapped up the Spring 2011 semester with one of the most successful and well-respected executives in professional sports. Colangelo is the current chairman of the USA Basketball Board of Directors and is well known for his success with the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Five students representing some of the best musical talent in the College of Fine Arts and Production performed in an honors recital Tuesday night at Ethington Theatre, giving Assistant Dean Juan Hernandez an opportunity to reflect on the successes of the 2010-11 year.

By Doug Carroll Communications Staff If you don’t know what to expect from an open-mic night, then that’s why you should go to one — and it’s why you will stay glued to your seat. In fact, Jason Lalli would rather call it an open-mind night. Lalli, only 28 but a veteran of the arts scene in Phoenix, will serve as host of GCU’s first-ever Open Mic Night on Thursday, April 28. The event, co-sponsored by Herd on Campus and the Poetry Club, will take place on the Slab behind the Student Union. Registration for performers is at 6:30 p.m., with the show starting at 7. GCU students, faculty and staff are encouraged to turn out and perform. Lalli — it’s pronounced “Lolly,” and he prefers to be known by just that name — recently wrapped up a one-year run with Infuse, a popular open mic at the Phoenix Art Museum. With him as host, Infuse regularly drew more than two dozen performers and a crowd of 250 as part of the monthly First Fridays. Before that, Lalli hosted an outdoor open mic along Mill Avenue in Tempe. He has been a participant in similar gatherings for nearly five years. […]

It’s not just what Susannah Keita knows, it’s who she knows. The teachings of GCU’s director of dance are clearly sinking in, as evidenced by the performance of her students in their spring concert, “Roots of Paradise,” over the weekend at Ethington Theatre. The technical skill and confidence of the 12-member Dance Ensemble have increased noticeably since its winter concert, “Kinetic Dreams,” in December.

Even if you did not grow up reading the “Peanuts” comic strips or watch the annual animations, it is guaranteed you are familiar with Charlie Brown, his beagle Snoopy, know-it-all Lucy and the rest of the gang. Instructors at the GCU College of Liberal Arts, David Hayes and Michael Kary collaborated last semester as playwrights for the production “Dial P for Peanuts,” set to hit Ethington Theater April 21 and 23. The late-night performances begin at 10 p.m. both nights. Admission is free.

There’s a difference between a writer and an author, and with the publication of his first novel GCU sophomore Cooper Nelson has crossed that great divide. “Blume,” which became available this week on Amazon.com, tells the story of an 11-year-old girl and her family, who are forced to move into an underground bunker city after the mushroom cloud created by an atomic bomb blocks out the sun.

Eight presentations were made in a little more than two hours at the Williams Building lecture hall. The colleges of Business, Doctoral Studies, Liberal Arts, Health Sciences and Fine Arts and Production were represented. Dr. Kevin McClean of the Ken Blanchard College of Business served as host.

The silver-spoon life of private dance lessons and elite academies doesn’t describe Antoinette Proctor. Adopted as an infant into a large family in Avondale, Proctor taught herself to dance by watching TV, mimicking what she saw. Eventually, she was dancing for her church, Cornerstone Christian Center, and by the age of 13 she was choreographing her own pieces.