Performing Arts

A 2007 graduate of Elon University represented North Carolina in the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas on Jan. 30. Katherine Southard, a double major in business administration and dance, won the North Carolina contest in June.

The Department of Performing Arts on Thursday night opens its latest show, the critically acclaimed "The Time of Your Life," which tells the story of a man searching for happiness who encounters characters in a waterfront saloon that are on the same journey. Through the duration of the production, from Jan. 21-25, the department will collect canned goods for the Loaves & Fishes Christian Food Ministry in Burlington.

Professors Catherine McNeela and Lynne Kurdziel Formato presented at the Music Theatre Educators Alliance International Conference held Jan. 7-10, 2010, at NYU Steinhardt in New York City.

Lynne Kurdziel Formato recently taught a weekend of master classes in theatre dance as part of the national faculty for Dance Masters of America Chapter #3 in Houston, Texas.

From participating in family talent shows to working at Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina, Elon senior Christopher Staskel has always bled theatre, whether acting, dancing or singing. The North Carolina native, the fourth student to be featured in a monthly series of E-net profiles on the inaugural class of the university's Lumen Scholars, is now at it again – this time as the mastermind behind an original stage production.

The Department of Performing Arts will be collecting donations this spring for local agencies and, in return for contributions at select shows, will offer free tickets to future performances.

Jane Wellford, associate professor of performing arts, presented a residency of master classes and concerts Oct. 2-4, at Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Ga.

Elon students, faculty and staff visited Carousel Cinemas on Oct. 27 for the premiere of DEEP Impact, a diversity education tool that includes a student-produced film created by the Multicultural Center at Elon University.