The UW-Platteville Baraboo Sauk County music and theatre programs have a full slate of public events in December, with the Campus and Community Choir, Theatre Department, and Campus and Community Band all offering their fall term productions and performances as the semester finishes.
The Campus and Community Choir performs at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Baraboo on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 4 p.m., and again Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. The full program is built around the theme of “Halcyon Days,” meaning a period of time in the past that was nostalgic, idyllically happy and peaceful, according to Director Deanna Horjus-Lang.
“As I assembled the pieces, one of them, ‘Halcyon Days’ by Melissa Dunphy with text by Jacqueline Goldfinger, felt like it captured the overall feeling of the concert,” said said Horjus-Lang. “The composer [Melissa Dunphy] said she ‘wished the music to offer a period of calm during winter storms, where we can reflect on what we have lost but rise up to face the new year with joy and grace.’ That’s the feeling we hope the concert as a whole brings to the audience.”
The choir has roughly 50 singers, including both students and community members, and also features Susan Lappin on piano. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.
From Dec. 8-10, in the R.G. Brown Theater on campus, the Theatre Department will perform “The Water Children” by Wendy MacLeod. Director Professor Damian Ernest says MacLeod’s drama about an actress contemplating accepting a needed job appearing in a campaign for an anti-abortion rights group, and confronting her personal and political conflicts, should spur conversation among the audience, as it has among the show’s company of actors and crew.
"It's obviously a timely topic,” said Ernest. “The play offers multiple perspectives on a subject where conversation (and, yes, debate) has to be renewed. Directly or indirectly, we are all affected by this complicated matter of human rights."
The play is for mature audiences only, and children under 13 will not be admitted. Performances are Thursday and Friday, Dec. 8 and 9, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and available in advance online at tickets.uwplatt.edu. Tickets will be at the door as well. Student admission at the door is $3
On Monday, Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m., in the R.G. Brown Theater, the Campus and Community Band will perform a wide variety of music under the direction of Professor Emeritus Gerald Stitch. The selections come from multiple regions and cultures, according to Stitch, including Japan, Korea, Mexico, Italy, the U.S. and several others.
“I love to put together a program with multiple types of music, and the band has really embraced these pieces,” said Stitch. Tickets at the door for the band concert will be $5 for adults, with students admitted free.