News

Summer Showbiz 2016 opens with the Tony Award-winning musical, Pump Boys and Dinettes, at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 27 in Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Metcalf Theater. 

Peter Cocuzza, professor in the Department of Theater and Dance, is the director, and Marc Schapman, PhD, professor in the Department of Music, is the musical director. 

The production won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Musical and was a nominee for the 1982 Drama Desk Awards’ for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Lyrics and Outstanding Music. Book lyrics and music for Pump Boys and Dinettes were written by John Foley, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, Cass Morgan, John Schimmel and Jim Wann.

The musical spotlights four “Pump Boys,” who work at a gas station on Highway 57 in Grand Ole Opry country, and two women (the “Dinettes”) who run the Double Cupp diner next door. Together they fashion an evening of country western songs that received unanimous raves on and off-Broadway. With heartbreak and hilarity, the group performs on guitars, piano, bass and even kitchen utensils.  

Show times continue at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 28, Friday, June 3 and Saturday, June 4. There will also be a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, May 29 and Sunday, June 5. All performances are in the Metcalf Theater.

General admission is $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and all others. SIUE students are admitted free with valid student identification.

For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Summer Showbiz Box Office at (618) 650-2774 or theater-tickets@siue.edu. Group rates of 10 or more receive 15-20 percent off the ticket purchase price.   

SIUE has presented Summer Showbiz (SSB) for more than 30 years, according to Dance and Theater Department Chair James Wulfsong. This year, SSB will feature a total of four productions, including Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hairspray and Disney's Aladdin, Jr. 

“SSB is a major draw for the community and students over the summer,” Wulfsong said. “We expose families to a wide variety of musicals and updated classics.      

“The summer season also provides our students with opportunities for their first professional experiences in stage and costume construction, acting and orchestra performances,” Wulfsong added. “The summers provide an intensive work experience that is not able to be reproduced during the standard school year. Our goal is to have students prepared to leave the University and find employment at summer theaters prior to their senior year in order for them to begin forming professional connections that will ensure successful careers after graduation.” 

Locally, SIUE Theater and Dance students have been hired at the Muny, Stages St. Louis and Circus Flora. Graduates of the program are also working in New York on Broadway, in Chicago and in summer theaters and professional companies across the country, according to Wulfsong.

For more information, visit Pump Boys and Dinettes or for directions visit siue.edu/maps. 

The Department of Theater and Dance is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. 

Central to SIUE’s exceptional and comprehensive education, the College of Arts and Sciences has 19 departments and 85 areas of study. More than 300 full-time faculty/instructors deliver classes to more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty help students explore diverse ideas and experiences, while learning to think and live as fulfilled, productive members of the global community. Study abroad, service-learning, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities better prepare SIUE students not only to succeed in our region's workplaces, but also to become valuable leaders who make important contributions to our communities. 

Photos:

Pictured from left to right are Mike Sonderegger, Joy Powell, Melissa Harlow and Marc Schapman.

Belting out a number is Joy Powell (right) with Marc Schapman (left).

Playing the guitar is Mike Sonderegger (left) with Melissa Harlow.