April 21, 2008

Greenberg celebrates five years

BY ADRIENNE FRANK

On March 27, 2003, the curtain rose on the state-of-the-art Harold and Sylvia Greenberg Theatre to great fanfare. There was singing and dancing, dramatic scenes, and, of course, a heartfelt standing ovation for AU’s newest crown jewel.

Five years later, the music hasn’t stopped. The 300-seat space, nestled on the corner of Van Ness Street and Wisconsin Avenue, has hosted 41 productions, from musicals to choral concerts to dance recitals, staged by AU students and international artists, alike.

Here’s a look back at the Greenberg’s first five years:

2007-2008
PERFORMANCES Perf 101 Urinetown Machinal Do I Hear a Waltz? Still (in) Motion	Members of the AU community, including Sylvia Greenberg, second from left, gather on Apr. 12 to celebrate the theatre’s fifth anniversary.
2006-2007
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? PERFORMANCES Perf 101 They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Hamlet I Hate Hamlet Worlds in Motion
2005-2006
Dance Choreolabs PERFORMANCES Perf 101 Into the Woods Dance Choreolabs The Mystery of Edwin Drood Our Town Equinox D06_304_024a
2004-2005
AU Symphony Orchestra PERFORMANCES Perf 101 Of Thee I Sing Sunrise Quartet AU Symphony Orchestra New Voice: Old Voice: Joshua Bayer Jazz A Swingin’ Affair: AU Jazz Ensemble Antigone Our Country’s Good AU Saxophone Symposium and Brian Minor Tribute Concert Larry Snitzler in Recital AU Chorus Equinox Senior Capstone
2003-2004
Sylvia and Harold Greenberg on opening night, March 27, 2003 PERFORMANCES Lights Up/Curtain Up! Perf 101 Cabaret Yuliya Gorenman in Concert AU Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Concert Roundelays Much Ado About Nothing Roundelays and More Kiss Me Kate Words Wed to Music: Choral Concert AU Symphony Orchestra Concert Senior Capstone: Guilty as Charged

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Gail Humphries Mardirosian can’t think of a finer tribute to fellow artist and dear friend Valeri Valentinovich Sergeyev than the inscription on his newly dedicated chair in the Greenberg Theatre: “Love the art and yourself.”

“He celebrated the artistry in everyone he met,” said Mardirosian of the Russian director, who passed away in fall 2007.

Mardirosian, chair of the Department of Performing Arts, and Sergeyev, director of the Feodor Volkov Russian State Academic Theatre of Drama, began their collaboration in 2004. In May of that year, Sergeyev and his company performed three productions at the Greenberg; two years later, he hosted a group of AU students for the seventh International Theatre Festival in Yaroslavl, Russia. The group—who staged They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? at the 258-year-old Volkov Theatre—became the first American university to participate in the prestigious festival.

“It was an experience that impacted me profoundly because it was clear that, artistically, we understood one another,” said Mardirosian. “My Russian was minimal and his English was minimal, but we still struck up an amazing friendship.”

Related Link

Greenberg Theatre