Taylor Theatre Playbills
The Taylor Theatre Playbills collection features the programs from Taylor’s stage productions, including Taylor Theatre, musicals, playback theatre, and Taylor’s Touring Company. Some operas are also included.
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Metamorphoses
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman.
Performed February 22-24 and March 1-3, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Called by Time the “theater event of the year,” Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Set in and around a large pool of water, Metamorphoses juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary in both language and image to reflect the variety and persistence of narrative in the face of inevitable change. Nominated for three 2002 Tony Awards, including “Best Play,” Metamorphoses earned Zimmerman a Tony for “Best Direction of a Play.”
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Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's Mary Poppins: The Broadway Musical
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Marry Poppins: The Broadway Musical.
Performed April 27-29 and May 4-6, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Young Jane and Michael have sent many a nanny packing before Mary Poppins arrives on their doorstep. Using a combination of magic and common sense, she must teach the family members how to value each other again. Mary Poppins takes the children on many magical and memorable adventures, but Jane and Michael aren't the only ones upon whom she has a profound effect. Even grown-ups can learn a lesson or two from the nanny who advises, “Anything can happen if you let it.” A musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney Film.
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Into the Woods
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Into the Woods. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book by James Lapine.
Performed November 9-11, 16-18, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Into the Woods is a combined narrative of the stories and plots of several Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales.
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The Amish Project
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey.
Performed September 13-16, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.
In October of 2006, a gunman walked into an Amish schoolhouse…in this stunning tour-de-force, a single actress plays a host of characters in an Amish community devastated by that terrible tragedy. Jessica Dickey’s fictional exploration of the Nickel Mines Schoolhouse Shooting is a tale of redemption that forges a path of forgiveness and compassion in the aftermath of inexplicable violence. Featuring alum Morgan Morton(Turner ’16) and designed by all theatre alumni, this production is a unique experience for the Taylor community.
The Amish Project is a fictional re-telling of the events at an Amish schoolhouse in Lancaster County, Pa, when a gunman killed five girls and himself in October of 2006. The play explores the lives and interactions between different characters of the story and the theme of forgiveness.
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Why We Must Die So Young: The Story of the White Rose Martyrs
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Why We Must Die So Young: The Story of the White Rose Martyrs by William Gebby.
Performed February 23-25, 2018 at the Mitchell Theatre.
During the darkest days of WWII, a handful of German college students distributed thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets and worked toward unifying resistance across Germany. They called themselves the White Rose, and their faith drew them to engage in a fight that would cost them their lives. William Gebby’s brand new play celebrates the lives of these brave young people who would not and will not be silent. The TU Theatre students have worked with the playwright to workshop the play and present it for it’s first-ever performance.
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Clybourne Park
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris.
Performed September 28-30, October 1, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for Best Play, Clybourne Park is a razor-sharp satire about the politics of race. In 1959, Russ and Bev are moving to the suburbs after the tragic death of their son. Inadvertently, they’ve sold their house to the neighborhood’s first black family. Fifty years later, the roles are reversed when a young white couple buys the lot. In both instances a community showdown takes place, pitting race against real estate with the home as the battle ground.
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Cyrano de Bergerac
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Cyrano de Bergerac, based on the translation written by Anthony Burgess of the play written by Edmund Rostand.
Performed November 10-12, 17-19, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Dashing, proud, and romantic, Cyrano is one of the most memorable figures in theatre history. Known throughout Paris for his unmatched bravery and the charm of his verse, poet Cyrano de Bergerac has one problem—his enormous nose. During an age of gallant musketeers and extravagant lifestyles, this beautiful soul is damned by his marred appearance. Not one to give up, Cyrano joins forces with the handsome but slow-witted soldier, Christian, to woo Roxane, the woman they both love. With Christian’s looks and Cyrano’s soul they quickly win her heart, but can Cyrano watch his beloved marry someone else? Equally hilarious and tragic, Edmond Rostand's classic verse play is one of the most popular romances to ever grace the stage.
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Moments
Taylor's first-ever dance production is review of our musical history. It includes numbers from past shows, such as Oklahoma!, current works that have come out of dance classes, and previews of upcoming performances, such as The Pirates of Penzance and Mary Poppins. Don't miss this incredible night of storytelling through dance!
Performed October 6-7, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.
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The Matchmaker
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder.
Performed April 28-30 and May 5-7, 2017 at the Mitchell Theatre.
Before the world fell in love with "Hello, Dolly!", Thornton Wilder’s uproarious play "The Matchmaker" introduced Ms. Dolly Gallagher Levi: a cunning, crafty, and thoroughly modern woman who knows a good catch when she sees one. When the wealthy Horace Vandergelder hires matchmaker Ms. Levi to find him a wife, Dolly doesn't need to look far to find his perfect mate. While Dolly is “arranging things” for Mr. Vandergelder, the young, hopeless romantics of Yonkers reap the rewards of Dolly’s generosity.
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When the Rain Stops Falling
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of When the Rain Stops Falling by Thornton Andrew Bovell.
Performed February 24-26, March 3-5, 2017.
It’s 2039. A fish falls from the sky and lands at Gabriel’s feet. Where did it come from? Gabriel’s estranged son decides to visit for dinner. What does he want? To know about his past? Gabriel barely knows his own past. From 1959 to 2039, from London to Australia, When the Rain Stops Falling follows the fragmented history and mystery of Gabriel’s family and the falling fish.
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
Taylor Theatre presents William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Performed April 29-30 and May 6-7, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre. Mischief meets merriment in this fresh re-imagining of Shakespeare's most popular romantic comedy.
In just one night, four magical stories are cleverly woven together: the marriage of the Athenian duke to the Amazon queen; the battle of the king and queen of the fairies; the follies of four lovers in a forest; and the hilarious antics of amateur actors staging a play. Enter a vibrant world where fairies fly overhead, a donkey bursts into song, and love potion makes your perspective turn on a dime. This production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is an immersive theatrical experience suitable for theatergoers nine to 90—one you don't want to miss!
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Antigone
Taylor Theatre presents Sophocles’ timeless tragedy “Antigone,” translated and directed by Joe Ricke.
Performed September 29-October 2, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre.
In this story, the bold yet cursed princess Antigone, daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, chooses to confront her unmovable uncle/king about his decision to dishonor her brother by refusing his burial. Her choice to defy him shocks the entire city of Thebes. Ultimately, all concerned, including the audience, are forced to wrestle with the relationship of divine law to human laws.
This striking production, translated and directed by Joe Ricke, explores this universal question in the ancient context of Sophocles’ emotional, ritualistic masterpiece. “People in ancient Athens didn’t go to the theatre to see everyday life,” Ricke explains, “They went to be unsettled, disoriented, and deeply moved.” This production seeks to achieve the same.
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Rabbit Hole
Taylor Theatre presents Rabbit Hole by David-Lindsay-Abaire.
Performed February 19-21, 26-28, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre.
As improbably funny as it is heartbreaking, this story of a family in crisis won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Becca and Howie had the perfect life—a great marriage, a beautiful house, and a lovely son. But after a tragic accident, the couple faces the challenges of surviving great loss and making a life with the family that remains.
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Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!
The playbill for Taylor University’s performance of Oklahoma!. Books and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rogers.
Performed on November 11-13, 18-20, 2016 at the Mitchell Theatre.
The high-spirited rivalry between the farmers and cowmen of the Western Indian Territory provides the colorful, turn-of-the-century backdrop for Curley and Laurey’s love story. But with these headstrong romantics holding the reins, the road to love is as bumpy as a surrey ride down a dusty road. Despite many hardships, their rocky romance leads to a new life beginning in a brand new state. Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, having set the standards and established the rules that musical theatre still follows today.
According to director Tracy Manning, “Oklahoma! is more than a love story. It was produced just after the US entered WWII... it’s part of America’s story. Our production considers what this story means for us today: How do we address issues of ownership, gender, and family in America? Do we share the same dreams? By looking at our past, we might find common ground.”
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Working
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2016 performance of Working by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso.
Working is a musical about the jobs of various people and their thoughts about their work.
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A Piece of My Heart
Taylor University Theatre presents Shirley Lauro's "A Piece of My Heart". This powerful play explores the true stories of six women in the Vietnam War: five nurses and a country western singer booked to entertain the troops.
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I Love a Piano
Taylor University Theatre presents its spring musical, "I Love A Piano", a celebration of the iconic compositions and lyrics of Irving Berlin.
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The Arab-Israeli Cookbook
"The Arab-Israeli Cookbook" is a verbatim play written by British playwright Robin Soans. The script was created as a result of a collaboration with two directors, one Arab and one Jewish. The three of them went to Israel and interviewed a wide variety of people including farmers, fishermen, photographers, students, the young, the old, the orthodox, the unorthodox, those who were pessimistic and those who were hopeful. Soans used the interviewees' own words to tell their stories—to give voice to those caught up in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The composite picture that emerges in their stories demonstrates that regardless of labels and politics, ordinary people are more alike than different.
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The Marriage of Figaro
Taylor Theatre presents an original translation of Mozart's comic-opera, "The Marriage of Figaro."
Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" whisks us through the events of one crazy day as Figaro, the Lord's valet, tries to wed Susanna, the Lady's maid, before their philandering master can get to her first. Filled with Mozart's glorious music, The Marriage of Figaro is widely regarded to be one of the greatest comic operas ever written. Our production will see its plot of intrigue, mistaken identities, and unexpected revelations unravel in early 20th Century England in which the servants who live downstairs are perfectly capable of thwarting their masters who live upstairs at every turn.
In this production of "The Marriage of Figaro," director Tracy Manning has adapted the recitative into dialogue.
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Playback Theatre
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2014 performance of Playback Theatre.
Interactive and spontaneous, Playback Theatre bases its material on the stories of the community. During a performance, audience members respond to questions from the conductor and share their stories, then watch as the company immediately “plays back” their words as a theatrical moment.
Playback is an opportunity for stories to be heard and acknowledged in a meaningful way. In every occasion, central to our theatre experience is our faith in Jesus Christ and applying the truth of Scripture to the reality of the everyday stories presented throughout the evening.
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Tartuffe
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2014 performance of Tartuffe by Molière.
Taylor University's Theatre department proudly presents, "Tartuffe", a pinnacle of classical comedy. Written by renowned French playwright Molière in 1664, "Tartuffe" follows a hypocrite's attempts to sabotage the domestic happiness of an unsuspecting family.
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The Cherry Orchard
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov.
The play follows an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage.
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The Miracle Worker
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Miracle Worker by William Gibson.
The Miracle Worker is based on the autobiography of Helen Keller.
This show was in memory of Dr. Oliver Hubbard, former professor and director of Taylor Theatre. The performance was directed and designed to be as close to the previous performance of The Miracle Worker Dr. Oliver Hubbard directed in 2002. The performance on May 3 was part of a full day dedicated to honoring his work and service. (See the playbill of "The Servant of Two Masters" for the schedule.)
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The Servant of Two Masters
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2014 performance of The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, translated by Jeffry Hatcher and Paolo Emilio Landi.
The Servant of Two Masters is a comedy by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni written in 1746. It follows the story of Beatrice and her comical servant, Truffaldino. Beatrice goes disguised as her dead brother to find her lover, Florindo, plotting to acquire money from her brother’s betrothed to help her run away with her lover. Meanwhile Truffaldino secretly takes on an additional service to Florindo, and must do his best to serve his two masters without either one knowing he is serving the other.
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Wit
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2014 performance of Wit by Margaret Edson.
Wit (or W;t) takes place over the final hours of Dr. Vivian Bearing, a university English professor, who is dying of Ovarian cancer. The course of the play is her reflecting on her life through the intricacies of the English language, particularly focusing on the wit found in the poetry of John Donne.
In this program the Jason Francis Memorial Scholarship Fund is announced.
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Freud's Last Session
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Freud’s Last Session by Mark St. Germain.
Freud’s Last Session focuses on psychoanalyst Dr. Sigmund Freud who has invited Oxford professor C. S. Lewis to his London home. The two men enter debate about the existence of God, love, sex, and the meaning of life – only two weeks before Freud chooses to take his own.
The play was suggested by the best selling book The Question of God by Armand M. Nicholi, Jr..
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Godspell
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2013 performance of Godspell by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak.
Gospell is a musical telling the parables and life of Jesus found in the gospel of Matthew.
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Kiss Me, Kate
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Kiss Me, Kate by Cole Porter and Samuel and Bella Spewack.
Kiss Me, Kate follows the story of divorcees Fred and Lilli and their onstage/offstage drama as they rehearse and perform a musical version of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.
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The Curious Savage
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2013 performance of The Curious Savage by John Patrick.
The Curious Savage is the story of Ethel P. Savage, an elderly lady whose husband has died and left her approximately ten million dollars. When she sets up a memorial fund for average people to pursue their dreams, her three stepchildren commit her to a sanatorium and try to discover where she has hidden the fortune. As the search for the fortune plays out the question becomes who is really crazy, the residents of the sanatorium or Ethel’s stepchildren.
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Though the Earth Give Way
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2013 performance of Though the Earth Give Way by William Gebby, commissioned and presented by the Taylor Theatre Touring Company.
Though the Earth Give Way is a reimagined telling of the story of King Hezikiah and his resistance of the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.. The story is found in the Old Testament, in 2 Kings 18-20 and Psalm 46.
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But Not Destroyed: The Story of Calvin Fairbank
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of But Not Destroyed: The Story of Calvin Fairbank by William Gebby.
But Not Destroyed tells the story of Calvin Fairbank who was among forty-four persons imprisoned in the Kentucky State Penitentiary for the crime of helping African-Americans escape from slavery.
Performed by the Taylor Touring Company.
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Noises Off
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2012 performance of Noises Off by Michael Frayn.
Noises Off is a farce involving the small cast of a play and how their offstage drama impacts their onstage drama.
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Proof
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2012 performance of Proof by David Auburn.
Proof is the story of a young woman named Catherine, whose recently deceased father was a professor and mathematical genius. Catherine shares his genius, but fears she has also inherited her father’s mental health issues as well. The plot involves the discovery of a mathematical proof in her father’s desk, and her struggle to come to terms with her father’s legacy and her own future.
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Romeo & Juliet
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy about two young lovers from feuding families and how their relationship and deaths reconcile their families.
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Waiting for Godot
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2012 performance of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett.
Waiting for Gadot is the story of two men and their conversations as they wait for someone named Gadot, who never arrives.
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A Christmas Carol: The Musical
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2011 performance of A Christmas Carol, based on the story by Charles Dickens. Music by Alan Menken, book by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens.
A Christmas Carol tells the story of elderly miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Through the encounters Scrooge is transformed into a kinder man.
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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2011 performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a parody in which all of Shakespeare’s plays are performed in merged and/or condensed form by three actors. The actors use their real names, interact with the audience, and at times improvise as they go through the plays.
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The Count of Monte Cristo
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2011 performance of The Count of Monte Cristo, adapted by Charles Morey from the novel by Alexandre Dumas.
The Count of Monte Cristo is the story of Edmond Dantès, who is falsely accused of treason and is sent to prison. He and a fellow prisoner escape and discover a treasure, he returns as the Count of Monte Cristo to take revenge on the men who framed him.
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Witness for the Prosecution
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2011 performance of Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie.
Witness for the Prosecution tells the story of a trial of a man named Leonard Vole for the murder of a wealthy older woman who made him her principle heir. During the trial his wife, Romaine, comes to testify not in his defense, but on the side of the prosecution.
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A Streetcar Named Desire
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2010 performance of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.
A Streetcar Named Desire follows the story of southern belle, Blanche DuBois, who has gone through a series of personal losses and moves in with her sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley in a dilapidated New Orleans tenement.
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Crimes of the Heart
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2010 performance of Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley.
Crimes of the Heart tells the story of the three Magrath sisters, Meg, Babe, and Lenny, who reunite at their grand father’s home in Mississippi after Babe shoots her abusive husband.
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Doubt
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2010 performance of Doubt by John Patrick Shanley.
Doubt: A Parable is the story of a fictional Catholic school in Bronx and the clash between the parish priest, Father Flynn, and school’s principal, Sister Aloysius, over the suspicion that Flynn molested an alter boy.
This play is performed by the faculty and staff of Taylor University.
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Hippolytus
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2010 performance of Hippolytus by Euripides.
Hippolytus is the illegitimate son of Theseus, the king of Athens. The play tells how the goddess of love, Aphrodite, maliciously enacts vengeance on Hippolytus for his oath to chastity and service to the goddess of the hunt, Artemis.
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The Bald Soprano
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2010 performance of The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco.
The Bald Soprano: An Anti-Play follows the events of a traditional couple who invite over another couple, and are later joined by their maid and the maid’s lover. The characters engage in meaningless banter that becomes even more nonsensical as time goes on.
In this adaptation the actors play the actresses’ roles and the actresses play the actor’s roles.
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We Will Not Be Silent
The playbill for Taylor University’s October 2010 performance of We Will Not Be Silent. by William Gebby.
During the darkest days of WWII, a handful of German college students distributed thousands of anti-Nazi leaflets and worked toward unifying resistance across Germany. They called themselves the White Rose, and their faith drew them to engage in a fight that would cost them their lives. William Gebby’s brand new play celebrates the lives of these brave young people who would not and will not be silent.
Performed by the Taylor Touring Company.
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Footprints of a Pilgrim
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2009 performance of Footsteps of a Pilgrim based on the book by Ruth Bell Graham and adapted by Kerry Meads and Robert Smyth.
Footprints of a Pilgrim is the story of Ruth Bell Graham recounting the story of her childhood as the daughter of missionaries in China, her marriage to Reverend Billy Graham, and beyond.
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The Secret Garden
The playbill for Taylor University’s Fall 2009 performance of The Secret Garden based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett with script and lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon.
The Secret Garden tells the story of Mary Lennox, a young English girl from British Raj who is sent to live in Yorkshire, England with her relatives after her parents die in a cholera outbreak. As she works in a neglected hidden garden with a young gardener she begins to grow and begins to influence her sickly cousin and uncle.
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The Hobbit
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2008 performance of The Hobbit based on the book by J. R. R. Tolkien adapted for theater by Patricia Gray.
The Hobbit is the story of hobbit Bilbo Baggins who is enlisted by the wizard Gandalf to aid a band of dwarves reclaim their mountain home from a great dragon.
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Arsenic and Old Lace
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2003 performance of Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring.
Arsenic and Old Lace is the story about the Brewsters, an insane homicidal family, and the one sane member, Mortimer Brewster, who must decide whether or not to go through with his promise to marry the woman he loves, Elaine Harper, who lives next door.
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Peter Pan
The playbill for Taylor University’s Spring 2002 performance of Peter Pan based on the play by J. M. Barrie with music by Jule Styne, Mark Charlap, and Trude Rittmann, and lyrics by Betty Comden, Adolph Green, and Carolyn Leigh.
Peter Pan tells the story of the Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, and their adventures with Peter Pan, the boy who never grows older and lives in the fantastical land of Neverland.