By John Logan
Produced by Special Arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc.
Winner of the 2010 Tony Award for Best Play
2013 Theatre Faculty Showcase for the
Brenham Campus
September 5, 6, 7 - 7:00 PM
September 8 - 2:00 PM
High School and High School Preview Performances:
September 5 & 6 - 1:00 PM
Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center’s MRW Studio Theater
Book by Peter DePietro, Lyrics by Tom Chiodo
Music by Galen Blum, Wayne Barker, and Vinnie Martucci
Produced by Special Arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.
The Off-Broadway Hit of 1997
2013 Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Entry
October 10, 11, 12 - 7:00 PM
October 13 - 2:00 PM
Junior High School Preview Performances:
October 10 & 11 - 1:00 PM
Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center Auditorium
Book by Sheila Wainwright
Music by Alison Hedger
Produced by Special Arrangement with Golden Apple Productions.
Based on the Popular Children’s Story by the Brothers Grimm
Produced as Part of Blinn College’s Service Learning Project for the Brenham Campus
November 14, 15 & 16……..7:00 PM
November 17.……………...2:00 PM
Elementary School Preview Performances:
November 13, 14, & 15..10:00 AM & 1:00 PM
By Susan Sontag
Produced by Special Arrangement with The Wylie Agency LLC.
Originally Produced Off-Broadway by the New York Theatre Workshop
2013 Texas Community College Speech and Theatre Association Play Festival Entry
February 20, 21, & 22 - 7:00 PM
February 23 - 2:00 PM
High School Preview Performances:
February 20 & 21 - 1:00 PM
Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts
Center Auditorium
April 10 & 11 - 7:00 PM
High School Recruiting Tour:
April 7, 8, 9, 10, & 11
Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center’s MRW
Studio Theater
The Theatre Arts Program provides a quality education through study, application, and experience, and is committed to engaging the college and area communities with a diverse offering of venues, interactions, and performances. A wide range of performance and production studies combined with Blinn’s outstanding reputation as the state leader in transferring students to top four-year institutions paves the way for success in an exciting entertainment career. In the Theater Arts Program at Blinn, students apply their knowledge each year in four or more dramatic productions, two musical theatre ensembles, and hosting local, regional, and national presentations. Trips and tours enhance the experience as students enjoy a variety of professional plays and musicals, often with scheduled artist talk-backs.
The Blinn College Speech and Theatre Arts program has a number of scholarships available.
1. Represent Blinn College with a high standard of conduct and contribute to the program through availability and attitude.
2. Maintain the required GPA for endowed scholarships.
3. Be a full time student. In doing so, the recipient must enroll in at least three (3) hours of theatre arts classes each semester.
4. Before transferring to another college or university, scholarship recipients are expected to have had the following courses: DRAM 1330, DRAM 1341, DRAM 1351, DRAM 1120, 1121, 2120, and 2121.
5. Those on scholarship are expected to audition and take on assignments for all Blinn College dramatic productions.
6. Recipients are expected to declare Theatre Arts as a major.
7. Students accepting scholarships are expected to purchase jazz, ballet, or character shoes and proper warm-up gear for rehearsals and movement based courses.
Those interested in additional scholarship information, as well as auditioning for a scholarship in acting, can do so by contacting Bradley A. Nies, Theatre Arts Director, at 979-830-4269, or by e-mail at bnies@blinn.edu.
Those interested in auditioning for a scholarship in technical theatre can do so by contacting Kevin Patrick, Technical Theatre Director, at 979-830-4422 or kevin.patrick@blinn.edu.
Theatre Arts Director since 1990, Bradley Nies earned an A.S. in Theatre Arts from Amarillo College, a B.S. degree in Radio/Television/Film from West Texas State University, and a M.A. degree in Communication (Theatre Emphasis).
In 2007 Mr. Nies received the Blinn College Professional Association Teaching Excellence Award. In 2008, he was honored by the Texas Educational Theatre Association with the Community College Educator of the Year Award.
He currently holds memberships through such organizations as the Texas Educational Theatre Association and the Texas Community College Speech and Theatre Association.
Through Blinn College, Bradley Nies has served in various office appointments for the Blinn College Professional Association, as well as the Blinn College Faculty Council.
Under the direction of Bradley Nies, students enrolled in the Blinn College Theatre Arts program actively participate in Delta Psi Omega, the national theatre fraternity, and the Texas Community College Speech and Theatre Association Play Festival.
Mr. Nies's years of committed service to his students and Blinn College have provided a venue of exciting and engaging theatrical productions and classroom experiences.
Kevin Patrick joined the theatre faculty in 2005 after teaching theatre design and production at Columbus State University in Columbus, Ga.
Mr. Patrick is 'returning home' to Texas; he graduated from Plano Senior High School and Southwestern University in Georgetown. He received his M.F.A. in Theatre (emphasis: Scenography) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and has professional and academic design credits in Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, and New Hampshire.
He has been active with the Texas Educational Theatre Association, Southeastern Theatre Conference, Alpha Psi Omega, and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology.
Locally, he is active in the contemporary worship service at the First United Methodist Church. He designs lighting and scenery for the Brenham Children's Chorus and Brenham Broadway Kids. He has designed scenery for several shows at the Unity Theatre, the professional theatre in Brenham.
Jennifer Patrick has been has been a Guest Costume Designer for Blinn productions since 2008 and has been teaching at Blinn since the Spring of 2010.
She received her BFA in Theatre Arts from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and her MFA in Theatre Design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has taught theatre courses at UNCG, Kingwood College, Columbus State University in GA, and at Texas A&M.
Here at Blinn, she teaches Intro to Costumes and Stage Make Up. She is also the Guest Designer for Blinn productions in the area of costumes, hair, and make up. She has designed locally for Unity Theatre and for the Brenham Children's Chorus. Previously, her design credits include productions in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, New Hampshire, as well in Texas.
Jennifer Patrick is a member and is active with the Texas Educational Theatre Association and the United States Institute of Theatre Technology - Southwest.
In addition to teaching part time at Blinn, Mrs. Patrick is the Theatre Arts Educator for the Brenham Children's Chorus and the Brenham Broadway Kids. She is also the founder and director of A.C.T.S., a children's musical theatre troupe at The First United Methodist Church in Brenham.
The Dr. W. W. O'Donnell Performing Arts Center includes two performance spaces, production facilities, a caterer’s kitchen, and offices for the Fine Arts faculty and administrative support.
The O'Donnell Theater is a proscenium stage with continental seating for 500 patrons. The proscenium opening measures 38 x 20 feet, with an average useable stage depth of 31 feet, 4 inches. The 18 single-purchase counter-weight lines and four electric-winched lines support four electrics, a white sky-cyc, and three Wenger acoustical clouds for band and orchestral performances.
The MRW Studio Theater is a flexible Black Box theatre that can be used for theatre productions in all manner of configurations. The overhead lighting grid boasts 87 2.4kW circuits at 18 feet from the concrete stage floor.
Both theaters utilize Strand lighting systems, Clear COM communications, and audio support through Soundcraft and Mackie mixers.
The Performing Arts Center has four six-person dressing rooms available, each with private restroom and two main dressing rooms with wheelchair accessible showers.
The Theatre Arts program produces at least four shows annually, and each production begins in our own facility. The scene shop is well stocked with hand, power, and stationary tools. Found nearby are a separate paint room, properties and furniture storage, and costume production and storage rooms. The electrics room includes a growing set of audio and special effects equipment, including High End Cyberlights, RGB mixing LED fresnels, Elation DesignSpot 575's, and U.V. fixtures. The dedicated audio-editing PC runs SFX show control software, Sony Audition for editing, and Notion and Progression music composition software.
Blinn College is proud to be the home for memorabilia donated by Clint Anderson, professional actor and Brenham native. Mr. Anderson’s donation included a generous monetary gift to maintain the collection and make it available to students, as well as the community. Examples of this collection are displayed in the lobby of the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center.
DRAM 1120 Theatre Practicum I
DRAM 1121 Theatre Practicum II
DRAM 1310 Introduction the Theatre
DRAM 1330 Stagecraft
DRAM 1341 Makeup
DRAM 1342 Introduction to Costume
DRAM 1351 Acting I
DRAM 1352 Acting II
DRAM 2120 Theatre Practicum III
DRAM 2121 Theatre Practicum IV
DRAM 2331 Stagecraft II
DRAM 2366 Introduction to Motion Picture Arts
DRAM 2389 Academic Cooperative
SPCH 2341 Oral Interpretation