Articles tagged with: Joe Lapinski

  • Brock to make splash with Metamorphoses mainstage

    Image caption: Brock University’s Dramatic Arts mainstage performance of Ovid’s Metamorphoses opens this Friday, Feb. 28 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre.

    Monday, February 24, 2025 | by 

    Creative minds in Brock University’s Faculty of Humanities have joined forces to bring an epic ancient Roman poem to life on stage.

    The Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) will present playwright Mary Zimmerman’s award-winning adaption of Metamorphoses — complete with a challenging stage element sure to make waves with audiences.

    The play, which includes a large pool of water central to the production, opens Friday, Feb. 28 at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre stage in downtown St. Catharines.

    Though the original literary work dates back more than 2,000 years, Metamorphoses continues to capture imaginations across creative and academic disciplines. Written in Latin by Ovid, a Roman poet exiled by emperor Augustus in 8 CE, the collection of myths explores themes of transformation, beauty and struggle in the ancient world.

    “Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation shows how powerless people are empowered through Ovid’s stories, and we hope the hilarity and poignant drama will open similar transformations for audiences,” said retired DART Associate Professor Gyllian Raby, who is directing the production.

    Adam Rappold, Assistant Professor of Classics and Archaeology, teaches a course dedicated to Ovid’s Metamorphoses and worked on the mainstage as Dramaturge —  an expert in the interpretation and composition of theatrical works, often advising on the text and how it is represented on stage.

    Rappold advised on the poem’s literary devices and shared insights with the cast about storytelling and the construction of myths.

    “Contemporary artists and scholars have re-examined the rebelliousness of Ovid’s poem and rediscovered the critique of the Roman Empire, revealing the full compassionate range of the exiled Ovid’s vision,” he said.

    Raby says that theatrically, this has been the most challenging play she has tackled to date. She credits the production team at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts for rising to the occasion.

    The DART cast and production crew created a technically advanced and visually stunning stage environment, including the large pool of water famously called for by Zimmerman’s adaptation.

    DART Technical Director Gavin Fearon said throughout rehearsals, the production crew have continued to discover new aspects of the pool’s impact on every element of the show including choreography, props and lighting.

    “Students in every role are navigating challenges introduced by the water,” he said. “The costumes team in particular, needed to track wet and dry quick changes in under 30 seconds.”

    Audiences will also experience original music of composer and DART sound design Instructor Joe Lapinski (BA ’99) who has drawn inspiration from the ancient Greek philosophical idea that celestial bodies make music, known as the “music of the spheres.”

    Voice Instructor and soprano Leanne Vida in the Department of Music coached individual singers in the production, including fourth-year actor Maddox Keller, who also took on the role of Choral Conductor.

    Metamorphoses opens Friday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines. Performances will also take place Saturday, March 1; Friday, March 7; and Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m. A matinee performance is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 2.

    General admission tickets are $25 and tickets for students and seniors are $20. Visit Brock University Tickets to reserve seats.

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    Categories: Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News, Performance Season, Plays

  • Brock faculty, staff, students and grads performing at In the Soil

    (Source: The Brock News | Wednesday, April 25, 2018 by Alison Innes)

    It’s a festival born out of love for the local community and the arts.

    In the Soil, the three-day, multi-layered and multi-disciplinary festival in St. Catharines, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend, and Brock has played an important role in its growth.

    The festival started as an idea sparked at a Centre for the Arts performance in Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, where Annie Wilson (BA’03), Joe Lapinski (BA’99) and Sara Palmieri (BA ’03) wondered how they help showcase Niagara talent. Three more former Brock students came on board to found the festival in 2009: Deanna Jones (BA ’02), Natasha Pedros (BA ’04) and Jordy Yack.

    They wanted to bring people together with local artists to create a shared experience and celebrate Niagara’s arts scene.

    Brock’s support of In the Soil has been important from the start, says Wilson, who studied Theatre and English.

    “To have the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts right in the downtown core is a dream come true and so is the opportunity to collaborate with so many incredible profs and friends over there,” says Wilson. “Brock University has supported In the Soil Arts Festival from day one and the ongoing investment in us has allowed us to grow it into what it is today.”

    Suitcase in Point Theatre Company, a theatre group founded by graduates from Brock’s Dramatic Arts program, took over organizing the festival in 2012. The group worked to sharpen the festival’s interdisciplinary approach and now has a tradition of showcasing the latest work in theatre, literature, music, film, comedy and site-specific installations.

    Many Brock students, staff, faculty, and grads are exhibiting and performing at this year’s festival in various venues around the downtown core, including:

    • Adrian Thiessen (BA ’10), president and creative head of Fourgrounds Media, will be showing his piece “Please Do Not Disturb the Grapes,” which gives a bird’s perspective of Niagara wine country as part of Rhizomes at Silver Spire United Church.
    • We Who Know Nothing, a theatre group centred in the Department of Dramatic Arts and led by Associate Professor Gillian Raby, will be performing a short piece on colonialism and First Nations histories.
    • Also at Rhizomes, Twitches & Itches Theatre, an ensemble made up largely of Dramatic Arts graduates, will be presenting emerging theatre voices in “The Comments Section,” a collaboration between young artists.
    • Arnie McBay (MA ’13), Visual Arts Facilities Technician at MIWSFPA, and English Professor Gregory Betts will be showing “Signs of Our Discontent” (The Textures of Our Solitude). The site-specific installation at the corner of St. Paul and Garden Park responds to the fading advertisements painted on downtown buildings.
    • Fourth-year Visual Arts student Amber Lee Williams video performance “Self Portrait As A Female Fountain” explores themes of identity and is an extension of her exhibition “Hidden Mother” on until Saturday, April 28 at the MIWSFPA.
    • Dramatic Arts student Matthew Beard is the founder of Big Chicken Improv, an improv group that includes various Brock students. They will be performing long- and short-form improv on Saturday evening.

    Prior to the festival, the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be hosting a special event on the evening of April 27 for students from Stamford Collegiate.
    The MIWSFPA is also a festival sponsor.

    What: In the Soil Arts Festival

    When: Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29

    Where: Downtown St. Catharines

    Tickets and event details: inthesoil.on.ca

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    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News