New Black Box Theater Opens to Public This Month

The new Black Box Theater at the Arts Center in Murphy Hall will open to the public with three events in the month of April.

The theater, which was recently completed, will afford dancers, musicians, and other artists a space for performance. Forthcoming renovations also include a welcoming new vestibule and multi-purpose box office.

The Swingbirds, Fisher’s student jazz band, will be the opening performance for the theater, with a concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 19. Two days later, Drastic Measures, the University’s a cappella group, will perform in their spring concert at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 21.

Nine students in the course, Theater and Social Change, will premiere an original work, “Want for Change,” a series of monologues and short scenes centered around contemporary societal issues. The production will take place at 8:15 p.m. on Friday, April 26 and at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. Performers include Ranya Alsalahi, Lauren Arena, Courtney Beals, Andy Biehn, Lucas Cobery, Grady Francis, Dan Liu, J.C. Scott-Crossland, and Kendra Stowell. The course is taught by Jeremy Sarachan, associate professor of media and communication and director of interdisciplinary arts.

Students have already been making use of the space in and outside of class. Notably, Sarachan’s students had the opportunity to take a movement workshop with internationally renowned performing artist Thomas Warfield, thanks to the University’s partnership with the Rochester Fringe Festival.

“This is a soft opening, with many more events planned for this fall,” said Sarachan. “We encourage the campus community to check out our wonderful new performance space and more importantly, our very talented students.”

The three performances are free and open to the public.