Presenting various performances from the extensive Davidson Chamber Ensemble Program.

by Samuel D. Hunter Running Time: 90 minutes Studio Theatre Directed by C. Michael Wright Featuring Mitch Bultman, Mary MacDonald Kerr and James Ridge It's 1999; uncertainty and instability are in the air. Four years earlier, Bryan had abandoned his labor of love, a newspaper for truckers. Now he's returned to small-town Idaho - with no word of where he's been - and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads. From Samuel D. Hunter, award winning-author and recent recipient of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant, comes this compassionate, gently-hued drama about lonely lives desperately searching for a renewed faith in humanity.

Based on the story of Beauty and the Beast, this Baroque opera showcases the well-known fairy tale in a new light, while remaining true to its message of the redemptive power of love and the true nature of inner beauty. By French composer André Grétry, text by Jean François Marmontel, based on “La Belle et la Bête” (Beauty and the Beast) by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and “Amour pour Amour” by P.C. Nivelle de La Chaussée.