Clowes Memorial Hall is home to hundreds of shows every year, including comedy shows, student performances and Broadway productions. Photo by Elle Rotter.
ELLE ROTTER | STAFF REPORTER | earotter@butler.edu
From a Broadway production to student-run performances, Butler Arts and Events Center has a lot in store for the community this semester.
Butler Theatre presents “Radium Girls” on Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Clowes Memorial Hall. The one-night-only student performance is based on a true story. Tickets for this event are $20 for the general public, but the event is only $10 for Butler students who bring their student ID. Additionally, this event will count as a Butler Cultural Requirement (BCR) credit for Butler students.
“Radium Girls” is based on the real lives of women working in the radium industry during the 1920s. Women working in this industry thought their jobs were providing prosperity when, in fact, they were killing them.
Residential College Faculty-in-Residence Karina Hamamouche bought 20 tickets for the students who live in her wing. She bought these tickets because she thought that they could attract a wide range of students.
“I hope it will open people’s eyes to seeing some connections between the things that they’re studying or their core curriculum classes that they’re taking,” Hamamouche said.
Once a semester, Butler University invites a Broadway show to perform on the stage at Clowes Memorial Hall. This semester, Broadway’s “Mamma Mia!” will have eight performances at Clowes Memorial Hall from Feb. 27 to March 3. The show is based on the 2008 movie directed by Phyllida Lloyd. Tickets range from $35 to over $150 and can be purchased on Ticketmaster or at the Clowes Box Office.
According to Clowes Memorial Hall’s Head of Production Jeff Gooch, the Broadway show is typically the biggest and busiest show of the semester.
“Well, it’s pretty busy,” Gooch said. “We get real busy right after winter break, and we’ll go right up through graduation, and then we’re busy all through summer. We’ve got some of the bigger ones coming here [including] ‘Mamma Mia!’ for Broadway.”
Additionally, first-year music education major Antonia Ayala Lopez is excited to work as a front-of-house worker during one of the “Mamma Mia!” shows. She will get to watch the show after the audience is seated.
“I have no clue what ‘Mamma Mia!’ is about, but I kept hearing from my suitemates and other friends that ‘Mamma Mia!’ is a wonderful show and that you should go,” Ayala Lopez said. “[I am just] excited to enjoy it and be in the moment. I just like seeing it up and up close and in person.”
Five writers will be hosting a session at the Visiting Writers Series in the spring of 2024. Graphic courtesy of David Downham.
Every semester the Visiting Writers Series hosts five writers across different genres to Butler’s campus to speak about their work and how it is culturally impactful. This may include nonfiction or fiction writers, poets and journalists. This semester the Visiting Writers Series has invited Leah Johnson, Masha Gessen, Tiana Clark and Michael Torres. Brandon Hobson was also included, but his event took place earlier in the semester.
All of these events are free and open to the public. Additionally, the events count as BCR credits for students.
Adriana Jones, administrative specialist for the Visiting Writers Series, believes these events provide a connection between cultural experience and what students may be learning in classes.
“I think [the Visiting Writers Series] is a service to the community — both the Indianapolis community and the Butler community — to expose people to authors, to their work, too,” Jones said. “We try to focus on up-and-coming authors. We’re trying to bring in literature that we’re teaching in the classrooms, the work that these professors want to teach. It’s important to have access to that and to be aware that there’s more to life than just television.”
Out of the Dawg House is one of Butler’s a cappella groups on campus. This semester they will perform at the Schrott Center for the Arts on April 21 at 4 p.m.. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased online or at the Clowes Box Office. This event has counted for a BCR credit in the past, and they hope it will again this semester.
Luke Barath, a senior music education plus music performance double major, is the music director for Out of the Dawg House. Barath said the most rewarding part of the process is seeing the work from the entire semester come to fruition at the performance held at the end of the semester.
“People should come to our show because I think it’s super fun, and other than Freshly Brewed there’s really nothing like it at Butler,” Barath said. “I feel like it’s always a super fun time, [and] the people in the group are super high-quality musicians.”
This year Freshly Brewed A Cappella will be hosting their 20th Anniversary Concert on April 26 at 7:30 p.m.. Tickets are $12, and this event will count as a BCR credit for Butler students.
Gabriella Tzougros, a senior arts administration major and co-president of Freshly Brewed A Capella, said this performance will be the first time their group will be performing in Schrott Center of the Arts.
“I think it’s gonna be really cool to perform in Schrott,” Tzougros said. “People should come because this year specifically, we are at our best yet, and I think Butler should see that. You should see how much we’ve grown the last 20 years. I know I wasn’t there 20 years ago, but I know that we definitely are continuing the legacy [of women before us].”
Overall, there are a variety of events hosted by Butler’s Arts and Events Center this semester that are culturally important, count for BCR events or will provide students with a fun night out. Check out Butler’s Arts and Events Center for more information on all programs.
