UMD News: October 7, 2010

Communication Associate: Public Relations | Lori Melton | lmelton@d.umn.edu | (218) 726-8830

October 7, 2010
Susan Beasy Latto, Director, Media and Public Relations 218 726-8830 slatto@d.umn.edu
Prof William Payne, director 218 726-8597 wpayne@d.umn.edu

CONTACT DIRECTOR BILL PAYNE FOR INTERVIEW PHOTOGRAPHS AND INFORMATION (see contact info above) OR SUSAN BEASY LATTO or CITY COUNCILOR DAN HARTMAN
EXTENSIVE MILITARY EXHIBIT (WORLD WAR II - PRESENT) IS NOW ON DISPLAY IN UMD THEATRE LOBBY

UMD Production of "South Pacific" to Honor All Area Veterans

October 20--Opening Night Performance
Free to all Veterans and Their Families

Chancellor Lynn Black and Mayor Don Ness
To Host Pre Performance "Salute to Veterans"

At 7:15 p.m., October 20, UMD Chancellor Lynn Black and Duluth Mayor Don Ness will host the pre-performance "Salute to Veterans" and opening night of the world-famous musical "South Pacific". That evening all tickets will be free to area veterans and their families. A reception and refreshments will be held after the performance.

Each and every performance will continue to feature and honor veterans from all branches of service, with each performance dedicated to a specific local military unit. The October 20 performance will honor the UMD Air Force ROTC and all area student veterans.

In addition, a stunning, comprehensive military exhibit was prepared and will be displayed through-out the run of the show in the UMD Marshall Performing Arts Center lobby--honoring and chronicling Northland Veterans from World War II to the present.

The display was researched, created and assembled by a talented team of UMD students and alumni with special assistance from the St Louis County Historical Society. The display team includes: graphic designer Stephanie Bartch (UMD 2004); dramaturge Kirsten Kvalston (UMD spring 2011); dramaturge Nina Kampf (UMD 2010); and Duluth City Councilor Dan Hartman, Director of the St Louis County Historical Society. (UMD 2005).

Also each night in the theatre lobby there will be numerous tables of local organizations which provide resources to veterans--providing information on how to access services.


	Gracie Anderson as Ensign Nellie Forbush and Dan Beckmann as Emile de Becque (Photo: Tom Benson)	Poster for South Pacific	Steven Douglas as Lt. Joe Cable and Christina Case as Liat. (Photo: Tom Benson)

Considered by many to be the finest musical ever written, "South Pacific" has received extraordinary acclaim and countless awards including nine Tonys Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book "Tales of the South Pacific", the musical is set on a tropical island during World War II and tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples - U.S. Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Marine Joe Cable and a young local native girl Liat - and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices and racism. The score's songs include such musical theater classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i," "There is Nothin' Like a Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy."

"South Pacific" runs October 20 – 23 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, October 24 at 2 p.m. and

Wednesday-Saturday, October 27 - 30 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are now on sale at http://www.tickets.umn.edu/

or by calling the UMD Theatre Box Office at 218 726-8561

IMPORTANT NOTE: Although tickets for the October 20 performance are free to veterans and their families—everyone must have a ticket. The free tickets may be obtained from the UMD Theatre box office or from local Veterans organizations.

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