Production Archives

• Guest produced by Jason Baumgardner
• Video by L.A. Film Team
• Directed by Jeff Smith, NYC guest director
• Choreographed by Lily Balogh

ACU Theatre is stepping up to the challenge by creating a COVID-safe original film. Fall in love all over again as you watch ACU Theatre’s new retelling of this beloved, magical fairy tale. In a beautiful, lyrical short film Cinderella meets her prince through an updated lens set in the 1980s. A perfect fit for the entire family!

View the Trailer

• By Christopher Demos-Brown
• Directed by Dawne Meeks & Vincson Green II (’12), L.A. Guest Artist

This explosive new drama examines our nation’s racial divide through the eyes of an estranged, interracial couple. Over the course of one evening, the couple’s disparate backgrounds collide as they confront an unexpected crisis involving their son, the police, and an abandoned car. Christopher Demos-Brown’s play is a gripping tale about who we are as a nation, and how we deal with family relationships, love, loss and identity. Special thanks to the Carl Spain Center for supporting this Cornerstone production.

Study Guide

• By James Sherman
• Directed by Hannah Sanza

Sarah is a good Jewish girl with a serious problem – her boyfriend
isn’t Jewish! There is no way her opinionated parents will ever approve. So, to placate them, Sarah hires a male escort, Bob, to portray the perfect Jewish boyfriend. Only one problem: Bob isn’t Jewish! Things get even more complicated when Sarah’s family and Sarah find themselves falling for Bob!

Choreography by Lily Balogh

Hopeful, energetic and ethereal, ACU Theatre’s Dancers perform a thrilling night of dance
featuring dance faculty member, Lily Balogh. Don’t miss her innovative and original
choreography challenging students to take risks and dazzle with unflinching honesty.

• Musical Direction by Marc Sanders
• Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
• Originally Produced by the WPA Theatre, New York City, 1995 (Kyle Renick, Artistic Director)
• Original Orchestration by Brian Besterman and Jason Robert Brown
• Directed by Dawne Meeks
• Musical Direction by Marc Sanders

It’s about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice… or take a stand… or turn around and go back. These are the stories and characters of today, the Songs for a New World. The first musical from Tony Award winner, Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Bridges of Madison County), this moving collection of powerful songs examines life, love and the choices that we make.

Following their honeymoon, Jenavene and Seth toured the country together in How the Grinch Stole Christmas before she went on to appear at New York Musical Festival’s Greenwood and Mother Divine, Babes in Toyland at Lincoln Center (with Seth), and The Sound of Music (Paper Mill Playhouse and national tour) She workshopped The Bridges of Madison County with Tony Award-winner Kelli O’Hara. Seth sang Franki Valli in Oh What a Night, touring the Caribbean and Hawaiian Islands and played Huck Finn in Big River regionally. ACU audiences most recently saw the couple in After Zoey, with original music by Jenavene. Both are deeply involved with Wellspring Church NYC, where Seth serves as pastor and Jenavene is pastor of care.

• Music by Alan Menken
• Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice
• Book by Linda Woolverton
• Originally directed by Robert Jess Roth
• Originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions
• Directed by Dawne Swearingen Meeks
• Choreography by Lily Balogh

Featuring an enchanting score, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a mesmerizing experience that embodies the magic of the theatre. Based on the classic fairy tale, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast tells the story of an arrogant prince who is transformed into a hideous beast Placed under this spell by an enchantress, he must find a way to get the beautiful, bright Belle to love him before it is too late, and he is doomed to stay a beast forever. Join ACU Theatre as the “tale as old as time” returns in a beautiful and sumptuous new production! “Beauty and the Beast revels in joy and enchantment” – A.O. Scott, NY Times

Study Guide

Watch Trailer

• by Lillian Groag
• Directed by Adam Hester

It’s1942. In Germany, dissent is forbidden and the Gestapo stands ready to execute those who resist the Nazis. And yet, a handful of college students calling themselves the White Rose are circulating pamphlets criticizing the Fuhrer. When 21-year-old Sophie Scholl is arrested in Munich with her brother, Hans, a local policeman investigating the case of the White Rose must determine if they are confused children, dangerous rebels, or idealistic patriots.

“It is possibly the most spectacular moment of resistance that I can think of in the 20th Century… The fact that five kids, in the mouth of the wolf… had the tremendous courage to do what they
did.” – Lillian Groag, playwright

Study Guide

Watch Trailer

• by Hugh Whitemore
• Directed by Adam Hester

A spy thriller in the vein of The Americans, the intrigue in Pack of Lies is based on a true story. The Jacksons are a nice middle-aged English couple. Their best friends are the Krogers, their Canadian neighbors. All is blissful in their world until a detective from Scotland Yard asks to use their house as an observation station to foil a Soviet spy ring operating in the area. They are really put to the test when the detective asks them to help set a trap. Should they betray their friends… Or their country?

“A shocking, true spy tale” – The Columbian

Study Guide

Watch Trailer

Choreographed by Lily Balogh

Whimsical, energetic and ethereal, ACU Theatre’s Dancers perform a thrilling night of dance featuring dance faculty member, Lily Balogh. Don’t miss her innovative and original choreography challenging students to take risks and dazzle with unflinching honesty. Last year’s electric performances by the BFA dance track majors and other ACU Theatre dancers was an awe-inspiring night for theatregoers.

PLAYBILL

Watch Trailer

Directed by Adam Hester

Currently (2024) on tour with Hamilton, ACU Theatre alum Eean Cochran experienced a meteoric rise in professional theatre. He has performed in tours of Newsies, Bring It On!, Dreamgirls and Freaky Friday.

• Book by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov
  (Based upon the play “My Sister Eileen” by Joseph Fields and Jerome Chodorov and the stories
  by Ruth McKenney)
• Music by Leonard Bernstein
• Lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green
• Choreography by Lily Balogh
• Directed by Adam Hester

Two sisters. One incredible city. Unlimited possibilities. Join Ruth and Eileen Sherwood as they leave behind their mundane Ohio lives in pursuit of making it big in New York City. Chock-full of swinging show tunes, breathtaking choreography and effervescent charm, Wonderful Town captures the thrill of chasing one’s dreams like no other musical.

This lavish revival of Leonard Bernstein’s classic musical, featured one of the largest orchestras in ACU Homecoming history conducted by Steven Ward.

View a Rehearsal

Study Guide

• Music by Andrew Lippa
• Lyrics by Tom Greenwald
• Book by Andrew Lippa and Tom Greenwald
• Directed by Dawne Swearingen-Meeks

Set against the background of a changing America between 1950 and 1990, this truly original musical sheds a heart-warming light on the power of family. With a cast of only two people, John & Jen is a tour-de-force, taking them from playful childhood, through awkward adolescence, and far beyond. Audiences will find themselves uplifted by this sentimental gem, perfect for anyone who values the love, connection, and commitment of family.

Study guide

• ACU dance track students
• Choreographed by Lily Balogh

This thrilling night of dance featuring new dance faculty member Lily Balogh, highlighted ACU Theatre’s new dance track in our BFA program. Her innovative and original choreography along with electric performances by the BFA dance track majors and other ACU Theatre dancers were not to be missed!

Playbill

• by Robert Harling
• Directed by Dawne Swearingen-Meeks

Steel Magnolias is a hilarious and heart-warming play set in a Louisiana beauty shop. It follows the hopes, dreams, triumphs and tragedies of six colorful characters and inspired the 1989 film which starred Julia Roberts, Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine and Dolly Parton. It’s a story exploring the bond between a mother and daughter, and friendships of those who feel like family. When tragedy strikes, however, the women pull together in this play about life, laughter, love, loss, and the inner strength that helps us go on.

Study guide

• Music, Book & Story by Steve Martin & Edie Brickell
• Directed by Adam Hester
• Inspired by a real event and featuring the Grammy-nominated score by Steve Martin and Edie

Brickell, Broadway’s Bright Star tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ’40s. When literary editor Alice Murphy meets a young soldier just home from World War II, he awakens her longing for the child she once lost. Haunted by their unique connection, Alice sets out on a journey to understand her past – and what she finds has the power to transform both of their lives. The story unfolds as a rich tapestry of deep emotion, beautiful melodies and powerfully moving performances. An uplifting theatrical journey that holds you tight in its grasp, Bright Star is as refreshingly genuine as it is daringly hopeful.

• Based on Old Possum’s Book Of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
• Director/Choreographer – Jeremy Varner
• Assistant Choreographer – Lily Balogh
• Vocal Director – Jeannette Lipford
• Assistant Vocal Director – Kristin Ward
• Lighting Design – Jim Elliott
• Costume/Makeup Design – Mariel Ardila
• Production Coordinator – Gary Varner
• Stage Manager – Courtney Rhodes

Broadway’s long-running musical sensation CATS made its debut as the 2017 ACU Homecoming Musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s clever, magical, and glamorous felines performed October 20-22 in the Abilene Civic Center. Based on T.S. Eliot’s whimsical collection of poems and featuring such celebrated songs as “Memory,” “Old Deuteronomy,” and “Mr. Mistoffelees,” CATS is an international phenomenon running for 21 years in London and 18 years on Broadway, with a recent return to the Great White Way. (details as of 2017)

Rehearsal Trailer

• By Margaret Edson
• Directed by Kari Hatfield

“I was dismayed to discover that the play would contain elements of… humor.” So says Dr. Vivian Bearing as she introduces her story to us. Wit is a brilliantly crafted and unflinching look at the last chapter of Ms. Bearing’s life. Armed with a sharp intellect, this professor of 17th century poetry wrestles with the ultimate question of what it means to be alive.

Study Guide

• by‭ ‬Kate Hamill
• Adapted from the Novel by‭ ‬Jane Austen
• Directed by‭ ‬Adam Hester

A Gossip-Driven Comedy of Reason and Romance

“Perhaps the greatest stage adaptation of this novel in history‭.‬”‭ ‬—‭ ‬Huffington Post

This isn’t your grandma’s Jane Austen‭! ‬This rollicking‭, ‬ingeniously-theatrical new adaptation follows the Dashwood sisters‭ ‬–‭ ‬sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne‭. ‬When they lose their fortune‭, ‬marriage is their only hope‭. ‬But can love‭, ‬and marriage‭ ‬go together for women without money‭? ‬Surrounding them is a company of shape-shifting actors who transform into characters‭, ‬animals‭, ‬and even scenery to bring Austen’s story to life in this goofy‭, ‬joyous and deeply moving play‭.‬

Study Guide Trailer

By Donald Margulies

In this OBIE award-winning play, Jonathan Waxman is the art scene’s new visionary, with a waiting list to buy paintings he has yet to paint. In London for his first European show, Waxman is under the gun. He could be spurned, causing the American art world to re-evaluate his work, or he could be further lionized, causing more demand and greater expectations. Either way, something is missing. On impulse, he escapes to the country to search for the woman who was his first love and early inspiration and reconnect with those feelings that first made him an artist.

watch the TRAILER

Study guide

• Directed by Dawne Meeks
• Words and music by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul
• Book by Timothy Allen McDonald
• Based on the book James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

When James is sent by his conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, he discovers a magic potion which results in a tremendous peach. Suddenly, James finds himself in the center of the gigantic peach on a journey with human-sized insects with equally oversized personalities. Thanks to James’ quick wits and creative thinking, the residents learn to live and work together to be alive.

View Trailer

Study Guide