High school students interested in studying theater at West Virginia University will have an opportunity to meet faculty members and learn more about scholarships through a performance of the WVU Puppet Theatre Tuesday (March 11) in Charleston.
The 7:30 p.m. performance is free and open to the public. It is part of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History Collegiate Series, hosted by first lady Gayle Manchin. The show, calledWee View Review,will be at the State Theatre in the Cultural Center of the State Capitol Complex. A public reception in the Cultural Center lobby will immediately follow the performance.
The evening will feature two special events for high school students.
Prior to the puppet show, students interested in being theater majors at WVU are invited to meet some of the Universitys theater faculty and interview and/or audition for scholarships. Faculty members will be available from 5-6 p.m. Reservations are required.
In addition, high school students and their families are invited to attend the reception following the performance, where they will be able to speak with current University theater students and the WVU College of Creative Artsrecruitment coordinator, Amy Burgess. Reservations are also required for the meetings after the show, but the reception itself is free and open to the public.
For more information, or to make a scholarship audition or reception meeting reservation, contact Burgess at 304-293-4841 ext. 3239 or Amy.Burgess@mail.wvu.edu .
The puppet show, hosted byGreat Mountaini the Magician,will include scenes from some of WVU s popular childrens theater productions and showcase puppetry styles from around the world that feature shadow, hand and black light puppets, as well as classic marionettes. It will be directed by WVU theater professor Joann Siegrist.
Siegrist teaches a variety of courses in childrens theater at WVU , where she is in charge of the Puppetry and Creative Dramatics Program. The program is one of only three in the country offering training in this field.
She has directed more than 40 childrens theater productions and numerous puppetry productions for both youth and adults, and is known throughout the region as the director of the WVU Puppet Mobile.
Siegrist has also conducted numerous workshops statewide, regionally and nationally on creative drama and puppetry production. She has developed educational puppet videos and worked as a consultant for national groups such as Very Special Arts, The Learning Channel, the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation in Washington, D.C., and WQED , a PBS television station in Pittsburgh.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the states past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. The Cultural Center is West Virginias official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state.
For more information about the puppet show, contact the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at 304-558-0162 or visithttp://www.wvculture.org.