Clarence Cruz, who is Tewa from Ohkay Owingeh (formerly San Juan Pueblo), serves as the Professor of Ceramics in the Art Department. He has been a prominent and familiar figure on campus since his student days.
UNM Students Feed the Fun in “Little Shop of Horrors”
UNM Theatre and Dance brings the cult-classic Little Shop of Horrors to the stage this season. Part B-movie spoof and part social satire, Little Shop of Horrors follows a meek and shy flower-shop worker whose discovery of a mysterious plant changes his life forever. The plant, Audrey II, isn’t any ordinary houseplant – she grows bigger, louder, and hungrier, until she threatens to devour everything in her path. Energetic, hilarious, and full of outrageous fun, this play is the perfect place to hang out in while in tough times.
This production is bursting with fresh energy thanks to an incredible influx of talented first-year students eager to study Musical Theatre at UNM. Many have been cast in the show, joining a dynamic ensemble that now includes three additional “urchins” to give more students the chance to shine. Plus, six puppeteers will bring the infamous Audrey II to life in all her oversized, man-eating glory.
But Little Shop of Horrors isn’t all about the laughs and catchy tunes – at its heart it is a sick take on the American Dream. A shocking fable about climbing the ladder of success, fame, and love, and just how far someone will go to attain and keep it. Director Kate Clarke calls the play a cautionary tale – “Be careful what you wish for…” She says, “…you might already have everything you need.” Clarke views Audrey II as a metaphor for the insatiable machine of late capitalism, the obsessions and addictions that consume us, and even the sacrifices artists make for notoriety – only to be devoured by what we have created.
To add to the drama, Little Shop of Horrors is opening Halloween night! Come dressed in your scariest costume and be ready for a wild ride through Skid Row.
Opening October 31st and running through November 8th, in Rodey Theatre in the UNM Center for Fine Arts. Tickets available at unmtickets.com or the UNM Bookstore and Box Office.
From UNM to Texas: Raychel Stine continues to shine in “Falls and Springs and Stardust Things”
Raychael Stine, Professor of Painting and Drawing, recently created a show titled “Falls and Springs and Stardust Things” at the Cris Worley Fine Arts Gallery in Texas. Stine makes luscious, joyful paintings that integrate a variety of painterly languages and approaches to mark, texture, and levels of visual legibility, allowing for playful slippage between formal and material abstraction.
Regional Premiere of Somewhere – a new heartfelt and poignant play
Juli Hendren thinks about the future a lot. Specifically, how we move forward and through catastrophe. Her answer – make work about it. Her current directorial challenge, Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days, is a contemporary piece that examines intimate, human...