Nearly 285,000 patrons have attended almost 500 performances at the River Campus over the past nine seasons. As it nears completion of its first decade, the River Campus will rediscover its roots with an encore performance of Big River by Southeasts Conservatory of Theatre and Dance in February. Big River was the first show performed on the Donald C. Bedell stage when the River Campus opened in fall 2007.
“Big River”
With the launch of the River Campus10th season will also come works from premiere touring professionals as well as Southeasts very own departments of music and art, The Conservatory of Theatre and Dance, and the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum. Highlights of the upcoming season, subject to change, include Mamma Mia, The Ten Tenors and the Vienna Boys Choir in the Bank of Missouri Touring Series; A Chorus Line and A Midsummers Nights Dream in the Rhodes 101 Stops and Commerce Bank Conservatory of Theatre and Dance Series; the Academy of St. Martins in the Fields and Holiday Classics performed as part of the Cuba Financial Southeast Missouri Symphony Series; the Heroes, Villains, Monsters display in the Rosemary Berkel and Harry L. Crisp II Museum; and many student exhibitions in the River Campus Art Gallery.
The Ten Tenors
Assistant Director of the Earl and Margie Holland School of Visual and Performing Arts Bob Cerchio said, By creating the River Campus, Southeast put forth tremendous physical and personnel resources in support of the arts. No other campus in the state of Missouri, nor very few nationwide, provide a place where both visual and performing arts of local, national and international origin are brought together.
Vienna Boys Choir
To celebrate the 10th season of the River Campus, a commissioned piece in this years Symphony Series will celebrate the history and honor the Vincentian community, who previously made their home on the River Campus property. The Congregation of the Mission, the Catholic religious order known as the Vincentians, has been an integral part of the history of the community and region for nearly 200 years. They arrived in 1818, and in 1943, constructed St. Vincents Seminary, one of the first institutions of higher learning west of the Mississippi River. This special choral and orchestral concert pays tribute to the River Campus with a world premiere performance of a work by Dr. Gordon Dick Goodwin, professor emeritus at the University of South Carolina. The piece describes the history of the River Campus, originally the home for St. Vincents College and Seminary, to its current role as a leading cultural center. The piece was commissioned to recognize the Vincentian Community and to honor the Rev. Oscar Lukefahr, C.M., who served the people of this region for many years. The performance also will feature the exciting young talents of the Concerto and Aria and Rising Star Competition winners.
Returning again to the 2016-2017 season will be Art Cuisine evenings in which patrons can purchase dinner before select performances at the River Campus newest dining facility located in the Kenneth and Jeanine Dobbins River Campus Center. Reservations are required by contacting Chartwells Dining Services at (573) 651-2511. Complete information, registration and menu information will be mailed directly to all 2016-17 ticket patrons in early September.
Season ticket sales for the upcoming season are now open to the public, and individual tickets will go on sale July 11. The River Campus Box Office is currently accepting season ticket orders only for the Cuba Financial Southeast Missouri Symphony Series, the Bank of Missouri Touring Series and the Rhodes 101 Stops and Commerce Bank Conservatory of Theatre and Dance Series or for a Master Series consisting of all three.
Heroes, Villains, Monsters will be displayed in the Crisp Museum.
Season tickets will remain on sale through the opening day of the first show in each of the respective series, although the chance of getting the same seat for every event diminishes as the date of the first performance nears.
Most Series events will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall. Seating in the Bedell is divided into two price ranges. Top price seats include the orchestra and lower balcony sections; lower price seats are on the mezzanine and upper balcony. Tickets for the eight-event Touring Series are $261 and $213. Tickets for the five-event Symphony Series are $111 and $93. Tickets for the six-event Theatre and Dance Series are $107 and $101. Tickets for the Master Series (all 19 events over the three series) are $436 and $370. To view a seating diagram of the Bedell Performance Hall, visithttp://rivercampusevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Seating-Chart-Bedell-Performance-Hall1.pdf.
More information on the 2016-2017 River Campus season and a calendar of events for the upcoming season will be available later this summer at RiverCampusEvents.com. In addition, a full-color brochure will be mailed to current ticket patrons in the coming weeks or it may be obtained, when available, by calling the River Campus Box Office at (573) 651-2265.