A new musical theatre ensemble at West Virginia University will end its first year with a spring concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7, in the Gladys G. Davis Theatre of the Creative Arts Center.

The New World Ensemble will perform pieces of Jason Robert Brown’s “Songs for a New World,” Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George,” and Adam Guettel’s “Light in the Piazza,” among others. The concert is free and open to the public.

General McArthur Hambrick, assistant professor of dance in WVU’s School of Theatre and Dance, started the group in the fall semester of 2015 as “a means to give musical theatre students an outlet to perform and hone their crafts, as well as to create a small, self-contained group that can perform at special events on and off campus, acting as ambassadors for the program, the College of Creative Arts, and WVU,” Hambrick said.

The mission of the group is twofold: “preparing students for a professional performance career and educating young and old audiences in the musical theatre repertoire, bringing entertainment to parts of West Virginia that might not see it otherwise,” Hambrick said.

Members of the ensemble have additional opportunities to develop performance skills, hone their sight reading, and become more aware of the wide range of musical theatre. Students work their way to becoming “triple threats,” adept actors, singers and dancers, while building an ensemble with their peers.

Students in the ensemble include Marissa Bailey, Kayla Banks, Alex Brown, Patrick Clarke, Katherine Conklin, Jordan Crow, Michaela Edens, Deja Elliott, Taylor Heath, Haley Hizer, Casey Johnson, Hannah Kitchen, Ashley Koon, Hunter Nolan, Elizabeth Schiffbauer, Lindsay Wayne, and accompanist Julia Kindernect.

-WVU-

dw/4/27/16

CONTACT: David Welsh, WVU College of Creative Arts
304.293.3397; David.Welsh@mail.wvu.edu

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