October 2, 2023
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Theatre and Music departments announce the 2023-2024 season of performances with four productions including visiting performing artists, guest directors, and student directors in addition to two student concerts.
The fall season opens on Nov. 3 with a MainStage production titled “Antigone by Sophocles” translated by Anne Carson and guest director Rudy Ramirez. The show is scheduled to run on Nov. 3-4, 10-11 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. in Venable Theatre.
Rudy Ramirez, Benedetti Teaching Artist in Residence, is a director, writer, and teaching artist specializing in developing new work and new artists. They have directed and developed work for a number of organizations around the country, including Colby College, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, and Herman Melville’s Arrowhead, to name a few. They are the founding Artistic Director of Avante Theatre Project and Associate Artistic Director of The VORTEX in Austin, TX, where they were named Best Director of 2017 in the Austin Chronicle Readers Poll and where they won 10 B. Iden Payne Awards for their work in directing, acting and music composition. They have an MA in Performance Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA in Directing from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
On Nov. 16, MOSAIC, formerly known as MCLA Arts & Culture, or MAC, will host Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band in the Venable Theatre. Internationally acclaimed Ezekiel’s Wheels Klezmer Band brings passion, virtuosity, and contagious energy to every performance. The Wheels improvise with the intimacy of chamber music and the intensity of a rowdy dance band. Their engaging contemporary interpretation of Jewish music is irresistible to audiences ranging from elementary school students to the judges at the International Jewish Music Festival, who heralded them as “a true musical democracy.”
TheatreLab will perform two short plays, “Tango Palace” and “Dr. Kheal” by María Irene Fornés in Venable Theatre on Dec. 1-2 at 8 p.m.
On Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. On Dec. 4 at 7 p.m., MCLA studio students, Wind Ensemble, and Concert Choir Monday will perform a winter concert at the Church Street Center Auditorium.
Performances will return in March of the spring semester with a MainStage production
of “The Summer in Gossensass,” by María Irene Fornés, which will run on March 29-30
and April 5-6 at 8 p.m., and April 7 at 2 p.m. in Venable Theatre.
TheatreLab will present a developmental workshop musical, “Emma When You Need Her”
on April 26-28, written by Benedetti Artist-in-Residence Rudy Ramirez.
On April 29 at 7 p.m., MCLA studio students, Wind Ensemble, and Concert Choir Monday will perform a spring concert in the Church Street Center Auditorium.
Learn more about the MCLA Theatre and Music Departments' upcoming season at mcla.edu/mac.
About MCLA
At MCLA, we’re here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught
by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive
on every level of their lives. In nearly every way possible, the experience at MCLA
is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully
empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 129-year commitment
to public education, we have fortified our commitment to equitable academic excellence.
MCLA has appeared on U.S. News’ list of Top Ten Public Colleges for nine consecutive
years – ranking No. 7 for Public Liberal Arts Schools in the nation for a third year.
The College's continued commitment to affordable education and economic prosperity
is reflected in its list of National Liberal Arts Colleges for Social Mobility since
the organization adopted this ranking in 2019; No. 1 in the state, No. 2 in the country,
and No. 22 for National Liberal Arts Colleges. These rankings measure how well schools
graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants. Learn more at www.mcla.edu.
About MOSAIC
MOSAIC is MCLA’s community-serving cultural events program. MOSAIC brings people together
through acts of artistic and cultural exchange in order to learn about each other,
break through barriers to understanding, and build the commonalities that define communities.
MOSAIC presents public cultural events in the form of exhibitions, performances, workshops,
readings, lectures, and discussions. Our events are inclusive, diverse, and accessible,
and focus on the exchange between communities, artists, faculty, and students.
About the Benedetti Teaching Artist Residency
The Benedetti Teaching Artist Residency is a nine-month Visiting Instructor/Artist-in-Residence Fellowship offered through MCLA Arts & Culture and MCLA's Department of Fine and Performing Arts. It is an annual residency, beginning in the Fall of every school year. Selected artists may work in painting, sculpture, graphic design, illustration, or mixed media. While teaching courses at MCLA they also work in the studio as one of Gallery 51's resident artists who will culminate their tenure with an exhibition in Gallery 51. These exemplary artists provide our students and the community with workshops and public programs and each teaching resident has an MCLA student who assists them and is mentored by the resident for the school year. The residency aims to bring new artistic perspectives to MCLA and contribute to the diversity, equity, access and inclusion on campus and in the community.
This residency is funded by a generous bequest from the estate of Alma Benedetti ’37. A beloved North Adams art teacher and life-long advocate and friend of the College, Alma Benedetti inspired generations of children with her keen sense of color, composition, and design.
