239 VAUDEVILLE ISN’T DEAD—IT’S AT THE MET IN THE ‘BORO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 29, 2007
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

MTSU Academics Bring Three Chekhov Farces to Life

(MURFREESBORO) – Five current or former MTSU faculty members will help create an evening of frivolity in An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, a presentation of the Murfreesboro Ensemble Theatre (MET) Feb. 8-18 at the Murfreesboro/Rutherford County Center for the Arts.
While the Russian author Anton Chekhov is most widely associated with dramas, the entertainment will consist of three of his one-act comic farces—The Bear, The Proposal, and Swan Song—with short performances by jugglers, magicians, acrobats and singers as interludes.
“Truly, there will be something for everyone,” Ayne Cantrell, professor emeritus, English, president of the MET, and director of Vaudevilles, says. “We are approaching the performances imagining ourselves as a rag-tag, but talented family of vaudeville performers who has been working the circuit for many years. We are happy to be in the ‘Boro and promise audiences a delightfully fun-filled evening.”
The Bear presents an overbearing landowner (portrayed by Todd Seage, manager, speech and theatre) who demands that a widow (Elyce Helford, English professor and director of Women’s Studies) immediately pay off a debt her late husband owed. When the widow refuses, the landowner refuses to leave until the debt is paid, sparking a verbal battle of the sexes.
In The Proposal, the hypochondriac Ivan (Warren Tormey, associate professor, English) proposes marriage to Natalya. However, the couple engages in one ludicrous argument after another before Ivan can pop the question. Before all the laughter dies down, Ivan thinks he is on the verge of death.
An aging actor (Tom Harris, associate professor emeritus, English, and founder and artistic director of the MET) awakens from a drunken snooze following a performance to find that he is locked in the theatre in Swan Song. While he bemoans having not maximized his acting talents, the theatre’s prompter reminds him of his past achievements and what theatre really means to him.
An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles will open at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8 with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, 10, 16, and 17 and at 2:00 p.m. on Feb. 11 and 18. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children and seniors.
The Center for the Arts is located at 110 West College Street in Murfreesboro. For ticket information, call 615-904-ARTS. The center is a non-profit organization.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For color jpeg photos of the cast of An Evening of Chekhov’s Vaudevilles, contact Gina Logue in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-5081 or gklogue@mtsu.edu. To interview Ayne Cantrell or Tom Harris, contact Cantrell at 615-893-1786 or acantrell@comcast.net or Harris at 615-895-0755 or millermn@comcast.net.