Campus News

ARTS by George! 2024 Celebrates Mason Arts, Culminating in Concert by Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga

Laura Mertens — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 18:26:26 +0000

ARTS by George! 2024 Celebrates Mason Arts, Culminating in Concert by Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga Laura Mertens Wed, 08/28/2024 - 14:26

George Mason University's College of Visual and Performing Arts Presents ARTS by George!, an Evening Celebrating Mason Arts

ARTS by George! makes its return to George Mason University’s Fairfax Campus on September 28, 2024. Headlined by Tony and Olivier Award-winning singer and actress Lea Salonga, the annual benefit event raises funds for student scholarships at the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), as well as for the Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts. Since its launch in 2006, ARTS by George! has raised more than $4.1 million for Mason Arts.

“‘Something for everyone’ might be an overworked phrase, but it fits ARTS by George! perfectly,” notes Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. “From art and music to dance and theater, virtual reality to documentary film, the student showcases offer an unparalleled opportunity to experience the breadth and depth of what we do every day in Mason Arts. I learn something new every year and become an even prouder Dean.”

ARTS by George! begins at 5 p.m. by bringing hundreds of CVPA students and faculty together to showcase performances and exhibits, as well as to offer a behind-the-scenes look at their collaborative process. The seven CVPA academic units will be featured in showcases, which are a highlight of the annual event.

The School of Art will host an antique photobooth and give demonstrations of 3D art and letterpress printing, while Arts Management will host a display of the Free Little Art Gallery created by a graduate from the program. School of Dance will offer two presentations by faculty members—Christopher d’Amboise on dancing to the music of Stravinsky and Karen Reedy on Robert Battle’s “The Hunt”—which also include live dancing by students. Film and Video Studies will screen a selection of films by students, and Computer Game Design will offer a presentation titled “Unlocking the Future: Game Design with A.I. and Mixed Reality.” Students in the areas of jazz, opera, classical piano, and percussion will perform, representing the Dewberry School of Music; and students from the School of Theater will stage selections from 110 in the Shade, this fall’s musical, and student-written plays to be premiered in The Originals! 2024. In addition, two Mason Arts programs—the Green Machine Ensembles and Mason Community Arts Academy—will also offer performances throughout the event. These showcases will be held in the Harris Theatre, de Laski Performing Arts Building, and Horizon Hall. Guests will enjoy a buffet dinner and drinks over the course of the evening.

At 8 p.m., attendees will move into the Center for the Arts’ Concert Hall for a live Fund-a-Student appeal. The event culminates with a performance from Lea Salonga, starting at 8:30 p.m. Salonga will treat audience members to famous songs from her roles on Broadway and in animated films, and join them onstage for a champagne toast following the show. Beforehand, she will welcome George Mason students for an open soundcheck and Q&A.

ARTS by George! Chair and Mason Arts Board member Annie Bolger shared, “I’m thrilled to return as chair of this awe-inspiring event, which features George Mason’s impactful arts programs and highlights the talents of its amazing students. I invite our community to join us for what promises to be a very special evening, and to support us in raising critical funds for student scholarships and community arts programs so that the exploration and creativity continues for years to come.”

For high-resolution images, press tickets, and interview requests, please email kfranko@gmu.edu and pr@camillecdevlin.com.

**2024 ARTS by George! Schedule:**

5 p.m., Harris Theatre, de Laski Performing Arts Building, and Horizon Hall

Showcases by the talented students from George Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, complemented by a buffet dinner and drink stations throughout the event.

8 p.m., Center for the Arts

Alumni performance and Fund-a-Student appeal.

8:30 p.m., Center for the Arts

An Evening with Lea Salonga, followed by an onstage champagne toast

Ticket and Sponsorship Information for 2024 ARTS by George!:

Individual benefit tickets are $350 per person and include entry to the student showcases, dinner, An Evening with Lea Salonga, champagne reception, and free garage parking. Each ticket includes a charitable donation portion directly supporting student scholarships and community arts programs.

Sponsorship packages begin at $2,000. To reserve tickets, become a sponsor, or for more information, please contact Susan Graziano at cvpagive@gmu.edu, 703-993-4188, or visit the ARTS by George! website.

Standalone tickets to only the 8:30 p.m. performance of An Evening with Lea Salonga are $50–$100 and are available for purchase through the Center for the Arts website.

The Premier Sponsor for ARTS by George! is Dominion Energy.

The Presenting Sponsor for ARTS by George! is Sandy Spring Bank.

Learn more about ARTS by George!

Purchase tickets for culminating concert, An Evening with Lea Salonga

“‘Something for everyone’ might be an overworked phrase, but it fits ARTS by George! perfectly.”

~ Rick Davis

Topics

President Washington updates Safe Return to Campus

Melanie Balog — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 00:35:08 +0000

President Washington updates Safe Return to Campus Melanie Balog Mon, 08/10/2020 - 20:35

Dear Fellow Patriots:

We are fewer than two weeks from the start of the Fall semester and soon will be welcoming many of our faculty, staff and students back to George Mason University’s campuses. We do so with a mix of excitement that accompanies every fall return to campus – and trepidation, because this is 2020 and the pandemic has changed just about everything.

My leadership team and I have been watching the ebb and flow of the COVID-19 virus in northern Virginia, and have determined that it is best to stay the course with our modified re-opening of campus, with continuing flexibility for faculty with respect to the format of their classes. Faculty members who will be delivering their curriculum in person or via hybrid experiences should continue to use the Safe Return to Campus Plan to guide their efforts.

Tracking pandemic conditions

While most public discussion centers on COVID-19 cases nationally and statewide, we are closely monitoring Northern Virginia pandemic conditions, because they give us a more accurate understanding of what is occurring in the communities in which we live and serve. Specifically, our decisions are driven by data from Fairfax, Arlington and Prince William counties.

One data point we track particularly closely is the Positivity Rate, the percentage of those receiving COVID-19 tests who test positive for the virus. Virginia’s seven-day rolling average as of Monday afternoon was 7.4 percent, while Fairfax County’s was 5.1 percent and dropping, and Arlington County’s was 4.2 percent.

Changing of conditions, change of plans

Unfortunately, Prince William County’s rates have headed in the other direction, and stood at 9.0 percent on Monday. And that trend has troubled us, particularly because we operate the Science and Technology Campus there, and many who work at Mason live in Prince William County. Therefore, we have made two decisions that affect classes this fall:

We will continue to provide faculty at all Mason campuses flexibility to offer their classes through face-to face, hybrid or fully online formats. By applying the public health and safety best practices set forth in our Safe Return to Campus Plan, we have confidence to deliver our academic programs as had been planned and given evolving circumstances. However, if individual faculty member circumstances have changed, and individuals want to request a change in their course format, they should immediately be in contact with their academic program chair/director and dean.
We will move to all-online instruction on November 30, following the Thanksgiving holiday. We have decided to do this upon recommendation of our Emergency Management Executive Committee and public health advisors, in order to minimize the risk of transmitting both COVID-19 and influenza, both of which are expected to begin seasonal surges around then.

Why not just keep campuses closed and go all online?

This is a very reasonable question, and one I am asked often, especially because many other universities have opted for online-only instruction, though no public university in Virginia is requiring all online instruction.

The reality is, there are no good solutions to carrying out our academic mission in light of the pandemic. Every solution carries a host of negative side effects that threaten people’s ability to stay healthy and safe, and to remain affiliated with Mason.

Quality of instruction – For many classes, online instruction is just as effective as in-person teaching; in fact, we are seeing excellence in online instruction that we could not have predicted pre-pandemic. But that is not universally true, for environments like laboratory learning, or for disciplines like the performing arts. Of course, we will adapt as necessary, but driving all courses to online environments is an option we will avoid until it is necessary.

Inclusion of international students – By going fully online, we could exclude international students from coming to our campus, because the federal government is refusing to process student visas for international students whose course content is all online.

Human toll for university faculty and staff – Closing the campus to all instruction would come at a significant financial loss to the university – a devastating loss if we were to re-close residence halls. Such measures would cripple the university’s ability to deliver on its education and research mission, not just for this academic year, but for years to come. The numbers of furloughs and layoffs that would be necessary to balance our budget would be staggering, made all the more challenging in an economy of 10 percent unemployment. Those employees’ ability to keep health insurance, pay their rent or mortgage, and meet basic living needs would be imperiled. Furthermore, the impact would extend beyond our campuses to surrounding communities where the affected employees live.

Should evolving public health conditions make it necessary to fully close our classrooms, or even our residence halls, of course we will do so. But each of us should be mindful of the devastating impact this will have, not just on the university, but on the people who rely on it for their education and their livelihoods.

The academic calendar remains the same

Classes will begin on August 24 and end on December 16 as scheduled, with all-online instruction starting on November 30, following the Thanksgiving holiday. As part of our effort to minimize the risks that increase in the winter months, we plan to hold Winter Graduation online.

Staff on campus

As the campus reopens, staff should work with their unit leaders to determine the proper balance of their work to be performed on campus versus from home. With the goal being to de-densify the campus and observe all health and safety protocols, every department has been required to submit its own safe return plan. As a general guideline, employees should avoid spending more than 50 percent of their time on campus. Social distancing rules will be in effect for all offices, just as they are in classrooms.

Residence halls will stay open throughout the semester

Mason’s residence halls will remain open under all of our planning scenarios. We will reduce occupancy from 6,200 students to approximately 3,350 students to achieve appropriate physical distancing. In the event of another Governor’s stay-at-home order, we anticipate considering residence halls to be our students’ homes away from home. We will take appropriate measures to keep them as safe, hygienic, and comfortable as possible, as well as offer appropriate public health and safety measures to the university employees who staff residence halls and dining facilities. In addition, University Life has planned a robust line-up of programming to ensure residential students continue to experience a full and satisfying on-campus experience.

Pre-move in testing required for all residential students

All students planning to live on campus in Mason’s residence halls have been recommended to self-quarantine two weeks ahead of their arrival. In addition, Mason has contracted with a vendor to provide comprehensive at-home testing kits to all students who plan to live on campus. Residential students are in the process of receiving and returning their test kits. Starting August 15, at move-in, every student will be required to have both a health screener green light as well as proof that they have taken a COVID-19 test to be cleared to stay in a Mason residence hall. We anticipate that residential students will be tested again periodically throughout the semester.

Daily health checks required for all who step onto campus

All students, faculty and staff who come to campus must complete an online health survey every day before arriving on campus. This tool – the Mason COVID Health Check™, an online health screening protocol developed by the College of Health and Human Services – will serve as a quick and effective way to track the health conditions of all students, faculty, staff and contractors who will work, study or live on campus.

Voluntary testing throughout the semester

Throughout the semester, students, faculty and staff working on campus will be asked to engage voluntarily in random COVID-19 tests. This protocol, recommended by Mason faculty experts and in collaboration with university leadership, will help to track the spread of the virus, should cases emerge. We encourage all members of the Mason community to agree to be tested if requested to do so. Working in partnership with our local public health officials, case investigation and contact tracing protocols also will be in place.

Safety measures being taken in our classrooms

Our classroom spaces will look and feel different this fall. Classrooms and instructional spaces have been modified such that seating has been spaced out to allow for six feet of distance between students; faculty have been allocated more space, up to 100 square feet. Some classrooms will have seats noting they should be left empty to ensure physical distancing; others will simply have fewer seats. High-contact surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected with an EPA-approved disinfectant twice each day during normal operation hours, in addition to regular overnight cleaning. In addition, disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer stations are available in or near classrooms.

Reminders to do our part

Signage will be posted throughout campus to illustrate required physical distancing and point to hygiene practices such as frequent hand washing. All students, faculty and staff will be required to wear face coverings. Everyone will be given two reusable face coverings to use. And a multimedia communications campaign is planned to encourage all Mason community members to do their part to stop the spread of COVID-19.

This will be a Fall semester unlike any other we have experienced. The unknowns far outnumber the certainties. But together, we will continue to deliver on our academic mission, and I deeply appreciate the dedication and innovation of each and every one of you at this historic moment for George Mason University, the nation and the world.

With gratitude,

Gregory N. Washington, PhD

President

Mason professors host emergency conference to help theater faculty nationwide

Colleen Rich — Tue, 04 Aug 2020 09:00:17 +0000

Mason professors host emergency conference to help theater faculty nationwide Colleen Rich Tue, 08/04/2020 - 05:00

Sherrice Mojgani

Sherrice Mojgani, an assistant professor of theater at George Mason University, was troubled by how she was going to teach her classes this fall, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Theater, said Mojgani, is a discipline that “thrives on being together.” As she thought about her lighting design classes, she struggled with how to teach them in a way that encouraged community, creativity and engagement.

Mojgani decided to create an “emergency virtual conference on undergraduate theater education” for faculty to commiserate and discuss ways to teach during the pandemic. With help from fellow theater faculty within Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, Mojgani hosted the virtual conference in mid-July, with 50 attendees from universities and colleges nationwide.

“I thought, ‘I need to rethink how I teach. I need to pivot, and I need help,’ ” said Mojgani. “It felt like an emergency to me. I knew how much our students crave connection to each other, so teaching in an intentional way that centered on our students seemed important.”

Mimsi Janis and Debra Sivigny, assistant professors in Mason’s School of Theater, helped plan the conference, including inviting fellow professors and determining the schedule. The conference included working groups on different areas of theater studies, a keynote speaker and a discussion on diversity initiatives.

“We had a day where the theme was on teaching in trauma,” Mojgani said. “We talked about how to create an anti-racist classroom and foster diversity.”

Much of the conference focused on ideas for encouraging community and teaching aspects of theater that normally rely on a hands-on approach.

“It was important to talk about how we teach theater and build relationships when we are online or socially distanced and can’t stand in front of each other and breathe and look into each other’s eyes,” Janis said. “We ended up getting a lot of ideas from each other. My main take away was not to fight the medium, like Zoom, but to use it, and it will still be theater. It will be different, but it will be theater.”

All of Mason’s theater classes will be online in the fall. The attendees, said Mojgani, were planning classes under a variety of circumstances, from all online to in-person but socially distanced.

Samuel Ray Gates, a theater professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said he got “community and camaraderie” from the conference.

“It was soothing, actually, to talk to people about the challenges we face this year,” said Gates. “We talked about how important it is to think about our students’ mental health and well-being during the year, as well as our own, as we plan our courses.”

Janis said that they used both Zoom and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra for the virtual conference. She said they discussed learning to “embrace the moment” and how they were training their students to be adaptable, which would help them in their careers.

“We all left the conference feeling more inspired about ways to do new art and less worried about how we were going to do it,” Janis said.

President Washington addresses Safe Return To Campus

Melanie Balog — Thu, 09 Jul 2020 11:15:33 +0000

President Washington addresses Safe Return To Campus Melanie Balog Thu, 07/09/2020 - 07:15

Dear Patriots,

Preparation is underway for what may be the greatest campus-wide challenge the George Mason University community has ever taken on – our safe return to campus.

We have no playbook – none exists to navigate any modern university through a global pandemic, much less the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression.

So, like every university, we are in the process of writing our new playbook, observing the best public health expertise that exists – often from the Mason community itself – to address the unknowns that await in months ahead.

The quality of education you can expect to receive will not change. We will not retreat from our mission to provide the very best, most inclusive education possible, to create a more free, just, and prosperous world. And we will support the health and safety of our community in pursuit of that goal.

To stay focused on our mission, we just have to think like Patriots. That means bridging often-competing interests to find our own way forward, like insisting on both excellence and inclusion as a core value of who we are.

For this challenge, it means both committing ourselves to the health, safety, and well-being of everyone in our community and maintaining the most complete university experience possible, as circumstances allow.

It means finding excellence through online instruction and through in-person coursework – and knowing when it’s best to use which technique.

And it means having the discipline to act in ways that protect our own health and look out for the health and safety of our fellow Patriots.

Instruction

We will offer the same robust academic plan for this fall that we always do, in a mix of in-person instruction and online classes. We will start and end the semester classes on time, beginning August 24 and ending December 19.

Drawing on our knowledge that in-person instruction makes a difference, particularly in smaller learning environments, we will preserve this environment where we are able to. Students learn best through dialogue and experience, when they can interact directly with other students and have more direct access to faculty. At the same time, larger classes can be just as effective online, and for some the convenience makes a difference. We’ll develop excellence in blending both forms of instruction.

When in-person classes are best, we will observe public health best practices including social distancing in classrooms, enhanced cleaning procedures, and the requirement that everyone wear masks.

Coming back to campus

We know that bringing people back to campus is a major effort, and we will be conducting this effort in stages. Students who are living on campus will begin to come back in phases. Student staff will move in on August 8. Upper class students will move in between August 15 and 18. Freshmen will move in between August 19 and 21. Students will receive time slots from University Housing and Residence Life, and will need to follow those instructions closely.

Reducing campus density

The university you return to won’t look like the university you left. Everyone must wear face coverings in public places. Physical distancing will be required. We are reducing density in classrooms, residence halls and administrative offices. Supervisors will create safety plans and telework will remain an important component of work plans. Our goal is to greatly reduce the density on campus while providing outstanding service to our students.

A lot can change in the next six weeks. We will be working closely with the local health department, Virginia Health Department and through Centers for Disease Control guidelines to put the safest environment in place. We will also continue to work with renowned experts in public health who work right here at Mason to guide the way.

Public health and safety

The university will not reopen until public health officials deem it safe for us to return. We also will remain agile. Should circumstances change, we are prepared to pivot back to full online instruction.

Shared commitment to each other

Each of us will need to do our part. We must complete online training to understand the new environment on campus. Anyone coming to campus is required to conduct a daily self-health check.

And, I cannot emphasize this enough: If you feel sick or are symptomatic, stay home.

It is not possible to make our university 100 percent risk-free. But we can greatly minimize risk, and our new playbook has been written so that we can make that happen, even without knowing exactly how this year will play out.

Each of us should review the university’s Safe Return to Campus website. For those who want to go even deeper, feel free to read our Safe Return to Campus Plan.

Above all, get ready for an academic year like none other. We will move through this year together, stronger and wiser for our efforts.

Alright, Patriots. Let’s get to work!

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington

President, George Mason University

Mason honors 2020 graduates with a virtual celebration featuring Stacey Abrams

Colleen Rich — Tue, 19 May 2020 09:00:16 +0000

Mason honors 2020 graduates with a virtual celebration featuring Stacey Abrams Colleen Rich Tue, 05/19/2020 - 05:00

Stacey Abrams
Photo provided

George Mason University honored the largest and most diverse graduating class in its history with a virtual Celebration of the Class of 2020 on May 22.

The online event recognized the graduates whose final semesters were impacted by the COVID-19 crisis and was livestreamed on GMU-TV. The celebration included remarks from Mason Interim President Anne Holton, a graduating student, and a special congratulatory message from Stacey Abrams, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, author, entrepreneur and voting rights advocate. In addition, the Green Machine performed.

As part of the event, each school or college had its own slide show, including personalized slides for graduates.

In surveys, the 2020 graduates noted a strong preference for a future ceremony at EagleBank Arena. With a traditional Spring Commencement not possible because of the pandemic, the virtual event was a way to acknowledge students’ achievements until an in-person ceremony can be safely held on campus. The virtual program will last about 20 minutes.

Holton has frequently noted how proud and impressed she has been by the resilience of the 2020 graduates, who pushed through the unexpected challenge to complete their degrees. The university shifted 5,200 courses online and extended the academic calendar so classes could be completed.

The 2020 graduating class is projected to include 9,719 degree earners and 744 certificate earners, from 83 countries and 45 states, plus the District of Columbia, Guam and foreign military installations.

A projected 50.5% of the 6,018 bachelor’s degree earners are part of minority populations—an all-time Mason high—and 32% of undergraduates say they will be a first-generation graduate in their family.

The graduating class reflects Mason’s standing as the largest producer of tech talent in the state. Thirty-five percent of the 2020 undergraduate degree earners are in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, and 24% of the 3,528 master’s and doctorate degree earners are in STEM fields.

The top undergraduate majors are criminology, law and society; information technology; psychology; information systems and operations management; and computer science.

The top degree programs for the 3,222 master’s degree earners are curriculum and instruction, special education, data analytics engineering, education leadership, and business administration—the same five and same order as last year.

Of the 306 doctoral degrees to be awarded, the top five PhDs choices are education, psychology, economics, conflict analysis and resolution, and public policy.

The university will also award 173 law degrees.

Dean Davis Dishes About The D.C. Premiere of Rags

00e244ad-799b-49e3-9eb2-9827af34594c (Stacey Schwartz) — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 18:01:55 +0000

Dean Davis Dishes About The D.C. Premiere of Rags 00e244ad-799b-… Thu, 10/03/2019 - 14:01

Buy Tickets

The company of RAGS performs an excerpt at the 14th Annual ARTS by George!

Presented by Mason’s School of Theater and School of Music

“It’s not every university that gets the chance to work on a major musical during its developmental process,” shares Rick Davis, Mason’s Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, but that’s exactly what Mason’s School of Theatre and School of Music students are doing for their upcoming collaborative production of Rags, which runs from October 31 to November 3, 2019, at the Center for the Arts.

With book by Joseph Stein (Fiddler on the Roof), music by Charles Strouse (Bye, Bye Birdie), lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Wicked), and a newly revised book by David Thompson, Rags tells a heart-warming story of loss and hope surrounding a group of Jewish immigrants as they arrive to start a new life in America at the turn of the 20th century.

Participating in a D.C.-area revision is not only exciting for our student artists, but it’s also a great thrill for Davis, who directs the production, with musical direction by Joe Walsh and choreography by Ahmad Maaty.

Davis took time to talk with the Center about the production.

Can you tell us what drew you to Rags as a director?

DAVIS: I am drawn to works of scale and sweep—in theme, action, language, and (when possible), music. That's why much of my work has been in opera, musical theater, and the classical repertory such as Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Ibsen. Rags is a big show in all of those ways. It has the dramatic momentum of a full-scale musical and the thematic heft of a classic.

As a story of the immigrant experience in America, Rags couldn't be more timely to perform in the D.C. area. The core of the show is built around the story of a group of Jewish immigrants from Central Europe who emigrate to New York in 1910—it wouldn't be wrong to think of them as, in a way, the people of Fiddler on the Roof after they've escaped from Anatevka—and find all the obstacles and opportunities that confront new Americans then and now. There's an intimate, familial quality to the central characters that plays in counterpoint to the busy, freewheeling, dangerous world of New York City that swirls around them.

Because Mason is such a diverse and international campus, and because the immigration story today is truly a global one, and because we believe there are common, even universal threads that unite so many varieties of the immigrant experience, we have cast a large, diverse, international ensemble. The early-20th-century world of the play is intact, but it's embodied by the faces and voices of our contemporary world, which makes the larger themes come alive in every scene and song, connecting them to the present without any overt "updating."

How is directing a new revision of a musical different than directing a classic?

DAVIS: There are no tricks to fall back on, no traditions to honor or reject, except those that belong to the genre as a whole. I find that liberating, and it's hard work, too. You have to invent it all. Fortunately, this version is the evolutionary product of two strong professional productions (Goodspeed Opera House in Conneticut and Hope Mill Theatre in the U.K.) so the script and score fit easily into the mouths and voices and bodies of the performers.

Has Mason previously premiered other new works?

DAVIS: We have a strong commitment to new writing and writers, dating back to the days of Theater of the First Amendment, our award-winning resident professional company that operated from 1990-2012 and produced dozens of world premieres and engaged actively in new play development. A culture of support for writers continues in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, as for example with the annual "Mason Players Originals" program, featuring an evening of short new works created entirely by students; strong coursework in writing for both stage and screen; and various formal and informal workshops and readings throughout the year.

How did Mason get the chance to work with the show creators on this new adaptation?

DAVIS: Sometimes, it's not what you know; it's who you know. The librettist for this new version of Rags is my brother-in-law—David ("Tom") Thompson. Thanks to his willingness to advocate for us (and to make sure the script and score were ready in time!), we were able to do the show in the middle of its commercial development process, which is leading toward a full production in London sometime this coming season.

Have there been any additional changes/tweaks to the script or music since rehearsals began?

DAVIS: The script (and score) changed some between both of the two most recent professional stagings of this new version—some major re-ordering of scenes and numbers, for example, happened after the Goodspeed production, making the whole show tighter and leaner. Tom and I have been in close contact about the script, and he has been very generous with notes and wise counsel and advice. So far I haven't pestered him with any script notes, but we're just getting into the heart of rehearsals now so that may change!

Can you describe the music? Do you have a favorite number?

DAVIS: The musical style is classic Broadway, with a soaring, lyrical feeling in places, an edgy, almost dissonant quality at times, a jazzy/ragtimey flavor once in a while, and all infused by the presence of Klezmer musicians who help remind us that we are in a specific part of New York at a very specific time. My absolute favorite tune is an iconic ballad, "Children of the Wind." It's introduced as a single-line violin melody in the prologue and then developed throughout the piece in bits and pieces until it becomes a beautiful solo for the leading lady and is reprised by everyone in the Finale. It actually brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, both because of the heartfelt depiction in the text of the immigrants' commitment to making a better world for their children, and the way the tune and its supporting harmonies make emotional sense of that vision.

Can you tell me about the visual for the play? What does the world look like, and what did you want to convey visually?

DAVIS: Our set designer, Debra Sivigny, has created a world that is both specific and abstract. There are many different textures on the stage, most created through fabric of various kinds—you might say that we have woven a tapestry that evokes the tenements and streets of New York without trying to be at all literal. I love the way the set interacts with the big Concert Hall stage, filling it with color and life but not weighing it down with mass or volume. The costumes are rooted in the period and place of the piece for the principal characters, and the ensemble stretches just a little further afield, in keeping with the theme of immigration from around the world.

What do you hope audiences take away from this production?

DAVIS: First and most important is the very personal story of a strong young woman and her brave son making a new life in a difficult world, but one that holds much promise for them. If we tell that story well, all of the parallel stories and ideas will fall into place. Second, I hope that everyone in the theater, on stage and in the audience, comes away with a larger sense of our shared humanity, a renewed desire to live together in a peaceful and loving world. And third (with my professor and Dean hat on), I hope that more and more folks discover the excellent work that is going on in the arts at George Mason University!

Rags presented by Mason’s School of Theater and School of Music, with book by Joseph Stein (with revisions by David Thompson) lyrics by Steven Schwartz, music by Charles Strouse, adapted by David Thompson, and directed by Rick Davis will be performed at Mason’s Center for the Arts from October 31 to November 3, 2019.

Tickets and more information is available here.