USI Theatre presents the musical "Company"

The University of Southern Indiana Theatre will open its 2013 fall season with the musical Company, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, playing October 4-6 and 15-18.

Company is directed by Eric Altheide, assistant professor of theatre at USI. He will be joined by a design team of faculty, USI students, and community members including Shan Jensen, associate professor of theatre, as costume designer; Eric Cope, assistant professor of theatre, as lighting designer; AJ Jones and Taylor Kearschner as co-scenic designers; Amanda Antey as choreographer; and Patrick Ritsch as music director.

In Company, Bobby, a man unable to commit to a serious relationship, begins an inner journey of emotional growth by evaluating the relationships of five married couples, all of them his closest friends. The musical delves into the joys and struggles of marriage told through Bobby's observations as he searches for patterns in his own relationships based on the ups and downs of these marriages. If you have ever found yourself in a loving relationship and wondered why, then you will find something of yourself in Stephen Sondheim's groundbreaking musical.

The cast includes USI students Craig Belwood as Paul, Luke Bockelman as Peter, Brandis DeWilligen as Amy, Sara Fortner as Susan, Shawnté Gaston as Kathy, Leigh Grimes as Joanne, Daniel Harris as Harry, Alex Hellenberg as Larry, Taylor Kearschner as April, Antonio King as Bobby, Samantha Kruse as Jenny, Briana Maddox as female understudy, Presley Roy as Sarah, Gwendolyn Snow as Marta, Nolan Spinks as male understudy, and Logan Vickers as David.

USI Theatre's fall production of Company opens Friday, October 4, running through Sunday, October 6. It will pick up following the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival on Tuesday, October 15, and run through Friday, October 18. The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. October 4-5 and October 15-18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, October 6, in the Mallette Studio Theatre on the lower level of the Liberal Arts Center on USI's campus.

Tickets are $10 for USI students, $15 for adults, and $13 for seniors (60+) and non-USI students. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit www.usi.edu/theatre or call the box office at 812/465-1668. The production contains adult themes and some language.

The remaining lineup for USI Theatre's 2013-2014 season includes In the Next Room or the vibrator play by Sarah Ruhl, running November 15-22, and Medea by  Robinson Jeffers (freely adapted from Euripides) opening the spring season and running February 21-28. The final show of the spring season, Next to Normal with music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, is part of the Repertory Project - a co-production of New Harmony Theatre and USI Theatre, and will run April 4-13. Tickets for the upcoming productions are on sale now.