It is a glorious thing to watch“Pirates”
May 9, 2019
April 25-28, NVU Johnson’s theatre department put on the comic opera "Pirates of Penzance," directed by Erik Kroncke, a vocal teacher here at NVU-Johnson. I went to the first performance on Thursday, April 25 and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The play takes place in Penzance, which is a town in Cornwall, En...
Bloody, bold, and resolute
February 21, 2019
One of Shakespeare’s best known plays took the stage at Dibden Center for the Arts Feb. 14-17... “Macbeth” was directed by Laura Roald, who previously directed “Nine” also at Dibden. This “Macbeth” is an adaption set in a future Scotland after the collapse of the European Union and the...
“Mr. Burns” perplexes despite valiant cast efforts
December 6, 2018
A hush falls over the crowd as four actors march onto the stage, silently taking a seat in dilapidated furniture. The dappled lighting casts star-like shapes across the actors’ faces, the ceiling, and the rest of the set as they begin an almost-stinted conversation about a Simpsons episode that they...
Defying expectations in Dibden
November 9, 2018
"Defying Gravity" defied my expectations. "Defying Gravity" was NVU- Johnson student Jessica DeRosa’s senior thesis project for her BA in theater and drama. DeRosa directed the show and gave a brief introduction before the play began. DeRosa has been the stage manager of over 20 productions at Johnson ...
Mending Masculinity through poetry
October 2, 2018
Kavi Ade and Vision are not only mending masculinity, but also spreading mass amounts of inspiration and healing energy one poetry performance at a time. Both of them are nationally recognized poets and they use their performances and writing workshops in schools and other facilities around the country to...
Growing up dyslexic
April 26, 2018
On March 27, JSC welcomed Lida Winfield to Dibden to put on her dance performance, “In Search Of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic.” She was born with dyslexia and had trouble coping with everyday life, especially at school. She wasn’t able to read until she was in her early 20s, leading to her mother...
Original play offers unique look at mental illnesses
April 14, 2017
The theater is dark and quiet until white lights suddenly sweep across the stage, accompanied by the sound of a car’s engine. It quiets, white lights shift to red, and the sound of a blinker is heard. After a moment, the sounds fade and the play begins. “The Cover of a Book” is an original play...
A behind-the-scenes look at “Beauty Queen of Leenane”
March 23, 2017
In the dark, winding halls of the Dibden Center of Performing Arts, Emily Pike, special effects makeup specialist, frantically looks for the gelatin-based prosthetic molding compound she uses to make life-like burns and injuries. Finding the compound, Pike hurries back to where the crowd of four is. In...
Dark wit and shocking twists in “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”
February 16, 2017
Walking into the Dibden auditorium, it seems as if no one is there. All of the seats are empty and the heavy blue curtains are drawn across the stage. Tentatively, I step onto the stage and am ushered behind the curtain by the two people waiting on the platform. “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” was...
Shakespearian comedy brings hilarity to the Dibden stage
November 10, 2016
The works of William Shakespeare are among the most timeless stories in history. They have been reworked and reimagined time and time again, and now “Much Ado About Nothing” has come to the Dibden stage. Directed by Isaac Eddy (“Eurydice”), this version of the play kept Shakespeare’s original...
An iconic musical comes to Dibden
May 5, 2016
For their final play of the year, the cast and crew of Dibden brought to life the 1950 musical “Guys and Dolls.” The play’s main story follows a cast of characters living in New York City during the roaring era of gangsters and gambling. While the play shows its age in some awkwardly sexist...
Dance club performance well-rounded
December 17, 2015
This semester’s Johnson State College dance club performance, a campus event always highly anticipated and well-attended by the JSC community, was well-rounded and found a good balance throughout dance complexity, energy level and song selection. The show opened with a high energy mash-up of burlesque...
Gunn’s “12 Angry Men” offers a provocative view of rough justice
December 17, 2015
The Johnson community got a glimpse into the complicated and controversial world of courtroom drama when the classic “12 Angry Men” was performed on the Dibden stage. “12 Angry Men” was written by Reginald Rose as a play broadcast on television in 1954. It was widely successful and was adapted...
“Grease” brings Rydell High to JSC
Marilyn Tagliavia, Managing editor
May 7, 2015
Johnson State College’s Dibden stage became Rydell High in the school’s portrayal of “Grease” April 23-25. Director Patrick Sawyer-Houle sought to bring the musical back to its raunchy and quirky roots while still giving it an original feel. Those thinking that going back to the roots meant...
Performance a success after minimal rehearsal time
April 23, 2015
With dance club being one of the biggest, if not the biggest club on campus, Dibden’s 500 seat capacity auditorium is typically close to packed with the JSC community, family and friends each and every time that JSC’s dance club holds a show. These shows, which frequently happen during the last couple...
Houle can’t wait to grease up Dibden
Chelsea Bingham, Staff Writer
February 18, 2015
An iconic American musical, Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s "Grease" will be performed on the Dibden stage April 22-24. Directing the play will be Patrick Houle, JSC alumnus and part-time professor of performing arts. Houle said he chose the play for a variety of reasons. "My belief is that no musi...
“Amadeus” keeps the wolf gang of sudden complications at bay
May 8, 2014
A crowd of 48 people filed into Dibden Center for the Arts on Friday, April 25, to witness an interesting rendition of Amadeus, a play by Peter Schaffer, directed by Patrick Houle. Two of the 48 people in the audience brought with them bouquets of flowers for a few of the actors, but ended up leaving...
Double Vision at JSC requires a double take
March 27, 2014
Absurdist ballet: that’s the best description of Double Vision’s Mar. 19 performance at Johnson State College. Double Vision was co-created by intermedia artist Sean Clute and choreographer Pauline Jennings, local residents and husband and wife. Clute’s work has been presented at The Kitchen...
Students expose the NSA, on-stage
March 15, 2014
Torture, murder, and suicide were brought to the Dibden stage Thursday, March 6, with JSC Alum and Burlington playwright Eric Hill’s one act, “Exposé in the NSA.” Hill established his production company, Seeing Redd, upon graduating from Johnson State College in 2012, and has since produced...
Talent show showcases FUN, “Dancing” and fathers
December 10, 2013
Eleven students showcased their talents in the Bentley Auditorium on Wednesday Nov. 20 to a meager crowd of about 20 students and faculty. The show was sponsored by Living for Giving and the JSC Chorale to benefit “Toys for Tots.” Judges for the event included Director of First-Year-Experience...
Fall musical “Pippin” wonders: Better to burn out than fade away?
September 11, 2013
Kurt Cobain suggested new adjunct theater professor Patrick Houle should make JSC’s fall musical "Pippin." "I was listening to Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album and I thought of the line in Kurt Cobain’s suicide note that stated it was better to burn out than to fade away," Houle said. "That’s ...
“Into the Woods” fills seats and enchants the people in them
May 3, 2013
“I’m in the wrong story,” the Baker’s Wife (Kate Kendall) said to Prince Charming (Marcus Provost) after an illicit tryst in the woods. Throughout this fractured fairy tale, things that seem out of place continue to confuse, then delight the audience. Steven Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1988...
“Into the Woods” almost on to the stage
April 18, 2013
Once upon a time... they lived happily ever after. Fairy tales should always have a happy ending, right? Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods will try to answer that question as Russ Longtin directs what might be his last musical at JSC. "Students have been badgering us about [performing Into the Woods] for ...
Local “Vagina Monologues” coming soon
April 18, 2013
"My vagina is angry!" Several passing college boys snicker, as they peek over their shoulders to see why such an outrageous statement is being screamed from Dewey 132 at 8p.m. on a Friday night. Their curious glances are met by a room full of laughing women. The chairs in the usually structured classro...
“The American Dream,” Dibden’s best since Shakespeare
March 28, 2013
Only one thing reeked about the Mar. 22 performance of Edward Albee’s "The American Dream": audience members’ pants, half of which were promptly filled at the gargantuan volume of the doorbell sound effect. All stinks aside, "The American Dream" is the best play I’ve seen in Dibden since "A Midsum...
Thompson brings “American Dream” to Dibden
March 14, 2013
Graduating Senior Liz Thompson will be directing fellow students in a production of "The American Dream," for her senior project, a one-act play written by three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Edward Albee. In the preface, Albee explains, "an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitut...
Roman Baca: Ballet with bullets
March 14, 2013
"He has a gun!" A man dressed in military fatigues stalks an imaginary enemy down the stairs through the audience. He holds an M16 against his shoulder, finger on the trigger, ready to jerk it backwards. A small red laser darts from the blackened screen on stage to the ceiling. This is a marine. The stage ...
One-woman “Secret Life” sweet as honey
March 14, 2013
A spotlight shone center stage, illuminating a empty stool. A timid woman portraying a young girl entered stage right. Students packed the Dibden Center for the Artson Wednesday Feb. 20 to see a one-woman performance of "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd, adapted for the stage by Wynn Handman...
Temptations abound in “Learned Ladies”
February 22, 2013
“The Learned Ladies” by Moliere kept audiences laughing over the weekend of February 14. This 1672 play, directed by Christopher Colt, examines the dichotomy between the attractions of the mind and the attractions of the flesh. Moliere was the playwright for the French royal court and is considered...
Taiko drumming: the new Zumba
February 7, 2013
On Thursday Jan. 24 the Burlington Taiko Group took to the Dibden Stage with their stomach-rumbling and propulsive sounds. Taiko, meaning "big drum" in Japanese has been practiced in the culture through war and religious ceremonies for over 1500 years. The founder of Burlington Taiko, Stuart Paton, us...
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