Special Events
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Saturday, August 24 at 1pm
Intro to the Performing Arts!
First Years and Transfer Students! Join us!
Discover all that the UR has to offer in the performing arts across the disciplines of Theatre, Music, and Dance! Join us for Intro to the Performing Arts!
Saturday, August 24 at 1pm in the Smith Theatre (Sloan Performing Arts Center)
What: Discover everything you need to know about the Performing Arts at the University of Rochester, meet faculty and students, and learn how to get involved. Followed by a dessert reception!
Wednesday, September 25 at 1pm
Designer Showcase & Lunch - Oedipus!
Hear the designers behind the scenery, costumes, lighting and sound for Oedipus speak about their lives, their process, and their work on this show and others. Enjoy a free brown-bag lunch (only registered attendees will be able to enjoy the lunch, soREGISTER HERE.)
Wednesday, September 25 at 1pm in Todd 202F
Want to enjoy the free lunch offer? Don't forget to register here.
Monday, October 21 at 5pm
Todd Talks: Harrison David Rivers and Sally Lobel in conversation with Fiona Kyle and Sara Bickweat Penner
Centering the Tiny Tim’s Story in Geva’s A Christmas Carol: Changing the Lens on Characters with Disabilities
Join us for a wide-ranging conversations between acclaimed playwright, Harrison David Rivers, and dramaturg/disability rights advocate, Sally Lobel, about Rivers's new adaptation for Geva Theatre Center of Dickens's A Christmas Carol.
Moderated by Geva's Literary Director and Artistic Associate (and instructor of dramaturgy at the UR International Theatre Program in Spring 25), Fiona Kyle, and the UR International Theatre Program's Sara Bickweat Penner.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
Thursday, October 24 at 7pm
Free! 1 hour Improv Show with Ants to Gods Comedy Troupe!
Ants to Gods is an irreverent improv comedy troupe hailing from Rochester, NY., known for their uncanny ability to find humor in the darkest scenarios. Using your suggestions, Austin, Elijah, and Eno will bring new worlds to life. No subject matter is too heavy or too obtuse for Ants to Gods and their unique, down-to-earth, and incredibly smart sense of humor.
Thursday, October 24 at 7pm in Todd Theatre Lobby
Presented in collaboration with the Frederick Douglass Leadership House & with funding from the UR Center for Community Engagement
Monday, November 11 at 6pm
Todd Talks: Xandra Nur Clark in conversation with Fiona Kyle and Sara Bickweat Penner
Exploring Documentary Theatre
Join us for a conversation about the creation and impact of documentary theatre--what it is, how it's created, and why it matters with playwright and performer, Xandra Nur Clark.
Moderated by Geva's Literary Director and Artistic Associate (and instructor of dramaturgy at the UR International Theatre Program in Spring 25), Fiona Kyle, and the UR International Theatre Program's Sara Bickweat Penner.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
Wednesday, November 20 at 1pm
Designer Showcase & Lunch - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead!
Hear the designers behind the scenery, costumes, lighting and sound for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead speak about their lives, their process, and their work on this show and others. Enjoy a free brown-bag lunch (only registered attendees will be able to enjoy the lunch, soREGISTER HERE.)
Wednesday, November 20 at 1pm in SPAC (Sloan Performing Arts Center Greenroom (lower level)
Want to enjoy the free lunch offer? Don't forget to register here.
Monday, February 10 at 6pm
Todd Talks: Rachel Alderman in conversation with Fiona Kyle and Sara Bickweat Penner
Long Wharf Theatre and Community Driven Creation
Join in conversation with director/producer/creator, Rachel Alderman, director of Little Women this Spring at Geva Theatre Center, and to discuss community driven creation in contemporary theatre. Rachel is the Associate Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre under the leadership of Jacob Padrón, at a time of radical transformation as the company departs its physical home of 57 years to embrace a thrilling new model of producing work embedded in the community across greater New Haven.
Moderated by Geva's Literary Director and Artistic Associate, Fiona Kyle, and the UR International Theatre Program's Sara Bickweat Penner.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
Monday, March 17 at 6pm
Todd Talks: Andrea Stolowitz in conversation with Nigel Maister
Writing about History, Family and More
Join us in a conversation with Andrea Stolowitz, author of Berlin Diaries (onstage at the JCC Rochester from March 2-16) as we discuss playwriting, history, writing about family, and more. Andrea is an internationally produced playwright, librettist, and educator. Her work embraces bold theatricality ranging from intimate portrayals of the human condition to the intersection of national history on private lives. Andrea’s work in traditional and experimental theater and opera often uses interviews and personal testimonies as the basis for her work. In 2025, Andrea was named the recipient of the $25,000 Miller Foundation Sparks Fellowship award for mid-career artists.
Moderated by the UR International Theatre Program's Russell and Ruth Peck Artistic Director, Nigel Maister.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
Monday, March 24 at 6pm
Todd Talks: Vickie Ramirez in conversation with Fiona Kyle and Sara Bickweat Penner
Highlighting Native Voices in Theatre: Storytelling as Medicine
Playwright Vickie Ramirez (Tuscarora) brings her play Pure Native to Geva Theatre Center for its east coast premiere in association with Friends of Ganondagan and Native Voices. Join us and ask Vickie about this current production and the important questions in her work; addressing capitalism, core Haudenosaunee values and stories as medicine.
Moderated by Geva's Literary Director and Artistic Associate, Fiona Kyle, and the UR International Theatre Program's Sara Bickweat Penner.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
Wednesday, April 16 at 1pm
Designer Showcase & Lunch - Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812!
Hear the designers behind the scenery, costumes, lighting and sound for Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 speak about their lives, their process, and their work on this show and others. Enjoy a free brown-bag lunch (only registered attendees will be able to enjoy the lunch, soREGISTER HERE.)
Wednesday, April 16 at 1pm in SPAC (Sloan Performing Arts Center Greenroom (lower level)
Want to enjoy the free lunch offer? Don't forget to register here.
Monday, April 21 at 6pm
Todd Talks: Baron Vaughn in conversation with Fiona Kyle and Sara Bickweat Penner
The Intersection of Stand-Up and Narrative
Come chat with playwright, celebrity comedian and performer Baron Vaughn to chat about contemporary comedy and the intersection of comedy and narrative. Vaughn, an artist-in-residence at Geva Theatre since 2023 will talk with Literary Director Fiona Kyle about his series, The Work Out Room, and where he sees the future of comedy going.
Moderated by Geva's Literary Director and Artistic Associate, Fiona Kyle, and the UR International Theatre Program's Sara Bickweat Penner.
Attendance by registration only
Liveon Zoom (registrants will receive a separate email closer to the time with the applicable Zoom link)
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