For Immediate Release
Oct. 5, 2005, #140
Wandra Brooks Green, (816) 235-1601
greenwb@umkc.edu

 UMKC Theatre presents Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”
Gary Holcombe Director 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s (UMKC) Theatre Department will present Thornton Wilder's “Our Town” as its first undergraduate production of the 2005-2006 season. It will take place in Grant Hall Theatre, with previews beginning Wednesday, October 26 and performances October 27-30. Gary Holcombe, assistant professor of theatre department, will direct.

“Our Town” is a life drama set in fictional Grover’s Corners, N.H., and it takes place 1901 to 1913. It simplifies the human existence by providing a look into the residents’ daily lives. “Our Town” focuses on life issues, including family, neighbor, love, marriage and death.

In “A Preface for Our Town,” Wilder wrote, “An archeologist's eyes combine the view of the telescope and the view of the microscope. He reconstructs the very distant with the help of the very small. It was something of this method that I brought to a New Hampshire village.”

According to Holcombe, Grover’s Corners could be any city in the country, during any time period. “This is a ‘character driven’ piece, which motivates the audience to treasure everyday life just as it is,” said Holcombe.

A huge success on Broadway in 1938, “Our Town” earned Wilder his second Pulitzer Prize, making him the only American author to win Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and drama. 

Holcombe has been a professional actor for the past 30 years in regional theatres, and he now shares that experience with students involved in the Actor Training Program. Holcombe continues to work as an actor with the Kansas City Repertory Theatre and other theatres throughout the United States. He holds a Doctor of Music Arts degree from the University of Maryland.

Performance dates and times are:

Previews        Wednesday, October 26       7:30 p.m.

Opens           Thursday, October 27          7:30 p.m.
                             Friday, October 28              7:30 p.m.
                             Saturday, October 29          7:30 p.m.

Close            Sunday, October 30            2:00 p.m. Matinee

          Tickets for the performances are: adults $12.00, seniors $10.00 and students $6.00 and can be purchased at the Central Ticket Office at (816) 235-6222 or by visiting www.umkc.edu/theatre (see Playbill).

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students.  UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs.

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This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice).