2017-18 Acts, Arts, Academia series to feature a variety of stage and musical performances

Everything from Shakespeare with a twist to the musical Oliver to a nationally known a cappella vocal group will be featured in the 2017-18 Acts, Arts, Academia performance and lecture series at Tusculum College.

The Acts, Arts, Academia performance and lecture series is a program of Tusculum College Arts Outreach and supported by the late Dr. Sam Miller in memory of Agnes Ault Miller, Hearts for the Arts, the Tennessee Arts Commission, Arts Outreach and generous donors and volunteers.

The series begins with a performance on Wednesday, Aug. 16, by MO5AIC, an a cappella vocal group, which has appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and won the “Top Pop Group” talent competition on MTV and also won the CBS News’ The Early Show’s nationwide search for the next great a cappella group.

MO5AIC, who will be appearing in the auditorium of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building on campus, performs a unique blend of R&B, pop, rock, jazz, big band and Top 40 songs with a twist. Offering a different face of a cappella music, the five-man group performs with no instruments, using just their voices and microphones to create a full sound that has audiences frequently puzzled about where the band is.

The Acts, Arts, Academia series will continue on Tuesday, Sept. 19, with “Breakneck Hamlet,” a whirlwind of a performance by Tim Mooney of the popular Shakespeare stage classic. The performance will be in the Behan Arena Theatre, located in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd building.

The 2017-18 Acts, Arts, Academia series at Tusculum College will begin with a performance by MO5AIC a cappella vocal group on Wednesday, Aug. 16, left, and Tim Mooney’s “Breakneck Hamlet” on Tuesday, Sept. 19.

On Oct. 11, the stage in the Behan Arena Theatre will come again to life with an evening of improvisation. Blue Plate Special’s “Improv Night in the BAT!” brings the popular group, who perform regularly in downtown Greeneville, to campus for an evening of fun and the unexpected.

Theatre-at-Tusculum will bring Lionel Bart’s musical, “Oliver” to the stage in November. Performances are scheduled for Nov. 10-12 and 16-19 in the Annie Hogan Byrd auditorium.

Christmas will be celebrated in performances by the Tusculum College Band Program and Tusculum College Community Chorus. The band program’s annual holiday concert will be on

Thursday, Nov. 30, in the Annie Hogan Byrd auditorium. The Community Chorus’ Christmas concert will follow on Monday, Dec. 4, also in the auditorium.

The first performance in 2018 will be Central Ballet Theatre’s presentation of “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.”  Performances are scheduled for Jan. 26-28 in the Annie Hogan Byrd auditorium.

“The Legacy of the Late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia” will be the topic of a lecture Tuesday, Feb. 6, by Dr. David Scott, an instructor in political science at Tusculum.

Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” will be Theatre-at-Tusculum’s spring production. Performances are scheduled for Feb. 23-25 and March 2-4 in the Behan Arena Theatre.

The Tusculum Band’s winter concert is scheduled Tuesday, Feb. 27, in the Annie Hogan Byrd auditorium.

Acts, Arts, Academia’s series continues on Tuesday, March 20, with the lecture, “Upstream Approaches to Preventing Human Trafficking.” Featured speaker will be Dr. Hannah Britton, director of the Center for the Study of Injustice, and of the Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative at the University of Kansas.

Special youth performances will be the highlight of the GLAWPIGT (Great Literature Alive, Well, Playing in Greeneville, Tennessee) Showcase during the Old Oak Festival. Performances will be April 20-22 in the Behan Arena Theatre.

The series will conclude with the spring concerts by the Tusculum Community Chorus and the Band Program. The Community Chorus will perform on Monday, April 23, and the band program’s presentation will be Thursday, April 26.

Admission to the events is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors above the age of 60 and $5 for children 12 years of age and under except for the Central Ballet Theatre performance, the lectures, the GLAWPIGT Showcase and the Tusculum Community Chorus and Band Program concerts. Admission to the Central Ballet performances will be $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. For the GLAWPIGT Showcase, as well as the Supreme Court and human trafficking lectures, admission will be $7. Admission is free for the Tusculum Band Program and the Tusculum Community Chorus concerts.

For more information on any of these events, call Tusculum College Arts Outreach at 423-798-1620 or email jhollowell@tusculum.edu.