Angelina College News

When "Charley's Aunt" opened in London in 1892, no one could have foreseen that the three-act farce written by Brandon Thomas would go on to break all historic records - for plays of any kind - by running a subsequent 1,466 performances. More than a century later, the play remains one of the most popular performances seen anywhere.

In April, Angelina College Theatre will present their production of Thomas' frothy mix of mistaken identity, cross-dressing undergraduates, deranged uncles, impoverished fathers, rich aunts and ravished heroines. The cast consists of six men and four women.

AC Theatre Director Kary Raine would like to extend an open invitation to the community to audition for any of the available roles. Auditions are 5-9 p.m. Monday, March 3 in the Temple Theater (Angelina Center for the Arts building) on the Angelina College campus.

Roles open for audition include:

Jack Chesney - Oxford undergraduate and procurer of bogus aunts; he is in love with Kitty; Charles Wykeham, better known as Charley - Oxford Undergraduate, usually confused; possessor of aunt from Brazil (where the nuts come from); he's in love with Amy; Brasset - Oxford scout (manservant, butler) who waits on Jack; luckily for him, no relation to either Jack or Charley; Lord Fancourt Babberly - AKA "Babbs"; most certainly NOT Charley's aunt; impecunious suitor of Ela; Kitty Verdun - Suffragette and Jack's beloved; Amy Spettigue - Charley's paramour and flower arranger; Sir Francis Chesney (Bart.) - Jack's newly impoverished father; Mr. Spettigue - Amy's uncle, Kitty's guardian and all around bad egg; Sir Francis' rival for Charley's Aunt's affection - and bank account; Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez - Charley's actual aunt, a woman of means worth millions; and Ela Delahay - Lucia's ward, of a romantic disposition; beloved of Babbs.

For more information about the audition, call the Angelina College Fine Arts Division office at 936-633- 5233.

Angelina College music students Evelyn Walker and Jaime Heredia will hold a joint student recital at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in AC's Hudgins Hall auditorium.

Walker's flute program will include "Girl with the Flaxen Hair" by Debussy; "Sonata in F" by Handel; "Andante in C" by Mozart; and "The Flight of the Bumblebee" by Rimsky- Korsakov.

Heredia will perform on both guitar and piano. His piano program includes "Prelude in C" by J.S. Bach; "Invention No. 4 in D Minor" by J.S. Bach; "Little Study" by R. Schumann; "Polonaise in G Minor" by F. Chopin; and "Gymnopedie No. 3" by E. Satie.

His guitar program includes "Minuet in C" and "Study in B Minor" by F. Sor.

Admission to the recital is free.

There will be an Austin Powers sighting on the campus of Angelina College. There will also be music from "High School Musical," "Hairspray" and, for the more mature audience members, numbers from "South Pacific" and "Guys and Dolls."

The AC Singers of Angelina College will include all of this and more when they present their annual variety show extravaganza, "Showtime! 2008" at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 2, in the Temple Theater on the Angelina College campus.

Beckie Compton, director of the AC Singers, said this year's group of performers is ideal for performing such a wide range of musical numbers complete with vocal performances and dance routines.

"Every year's students are different, and this year's group is very well suited for performing a number of show tunes," Compton said. "We'll have a lot of our traditional numbers, but we'll also be able to add this newer material that includes music from more contemporary areas."

Other scheduled numbers include an Austin Powers skit, complete with 60s style dancers; and tap, clogging, country and 50s music.

Tickets are $5 for adults and $4 for seniors, students and children. For more information, contact the AC Fine Arts Division at (936) 633- 5233.

Local photographer Jan Anderson Paxson, full-time instructor at Angelina College, will display black and white photography in an exhibit titled "Quiet Reflection" for the month of March at the Angelina Center for the Arts art gallery.

A public reception for the exhibit will be held from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 4. The photographer will be present to greet the public and talk about her work.

The photographs to be exhibited were taken in Italy during the summer of 2006.

Anderson-Paxson's work has been recognized nationally and has been shown in major publications.

She teaches photography, digital publishing and art appreciation at AC. Before joining the faculty, she was a photographer for The Lufkin Daily News.

The Fine Arts Division at Angelina College has announced its scholarship audition dates for those students wishing to enter the Music Program at AC.

The auditions will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 1, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 29. The latter auditions will be held in conjunction with the Pineywoods Jazz Festival and Clinics.

All auditions take place in AC's Hudgins Hall.

For more information contact Larry Greer, music instructor at Angelina College, at 936- 633-5326.