eInside Events

Porthouse Theatre’s 2015 Season Continues With Critically Acclaimed Violet

Journey of self-discovery and acceptance teaches true meaning of love and courage

On a journey of healing through the 1960s
Deep South, Violet (Amy Fritsche) meets
soldiers Flick (Jared Dixon, on left) and
Monty (Ian Benjamin) and learns beauty is
more than skin deep.

Porthouse Theatre, Kent State University’s outdoor, summer theatre located on the grounds of Blossom Music Center, continues its 47th season with the critically acclaimed musical Violet.

Directed by Steven C. Anderson, Violet opens July 10 and runs through July 25. A preview performance will take place on July 9. A musical of transformation, Violet chronicles a young, disfigured woman’s journey through the 1960s Deep South as she seeks the healing touch of an evangelical preacher. Along the way, Violet meets two soldiers who help her realize beauty is more than skin deep. Music is by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics and book are by Brian Crawley. Performances are July 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 at 8 p.m. and July 12 and 19 at 2 p.m.

Kent State Assistant Professor Amy Fritsche* performs as Violet. Music direction is by Assistant Professor Jennifer Korecki. Scenic design is by Terry Martin, costume design by Susan J. Williams (M.F.A. ’15), lighting design by Cynthia R. Stillings, acting associate dean and professor in the College of the Arts, and Yu (Leo) Lei, technical direction by Ryan T. Patterson (M.F.A. ’15), and sound design by Nathan Rosmarin (B.F.A. ’15). The production stage manager is Joshua Brown (B.F.A. ’14).

Tickets can be purchased by phone at 330-672-3884, in person at the Porthouse Box Office or online at www.porthousetheatre.com. Group tickets can be purchased at the Porthouse Box Office or by phone at 330-672-3884. The Porthouse Box Office is located in the Roe Green Center lobby of Kent State’s Center for the Performing Arts at 1325 Theatre Dr. in Kent, and is open Monday-Friday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Single tickets range in price from $32-$40 for adults, $30-$35 for seniors, $26-$33 for college students and $24-$30 for children 18 and under. Special rates for groups of 20 or more also are available.

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program/organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

For more information about Porthouse Theatre, visit www.porthousetheatre.com.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

Kent State Invites Community to Final Public Meeting for Airport Master Plan

The final public meeting for the Kent State University
Airport Master Plan will take place Tuesday, July 28, from
6-8 p.m. at the Stow-Munroe Falls High School Auditorium
in Stow, Ohio.

The final public meeting for the Kent State University Airport Master Plan has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 28, from 6-8 p.m. at the Stow-Munroe Falls High School Auditorium, located at 3227 Graham Road in Stow, Ohio. The first public meeting was held in 2013 to introduce the project to the community and seek input about the airport’s future. During the second public meeting in November 2014, the public had an opportunity to review and provide comments on the alternatives’ development and evaluation.

Beginning at 6 p.m., the project team will make a presentation on the project including the preferred alternative that will be submitted to the Kent State University Board of Trustees and senior leadership. Following the presentation, there will be a public comment period when attendees will be able to speak or submit comments in writing. Public comments will be summarized and provided to the Board of Trustees and senior leadership for their consideration. This public meeting will present information found in the project’s draft executive summary, which is available at the project website, www.KSUAirportPlan.com. The summary also can be viewed at the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, located at 3512 Darrow Road in Stow and at the Kent State University Airport, located at 4020 Kent Road in Stow.

Written comments will be accepted through Aug. 12, 2015, and may be submitted online via the project’s website, www.KSUAirportPlan.com, or sent via mail to Aileen Maguire Meyer, C&S Engineers, Inc., 20445 Emerald Parkway, Suite 100, Cleveland, OH 44135. Those unable to attend the meeting can view the meeting materials via the project website after the meeting has concluded.

In 2004, the airport completed a master plan, which was then updated in 2006. At that time, the university was considering closing the airport and moving operations to another nearby airport. University leaders are now reassessing the recommendations of the previous plan, and a new plan is required to take a fresh look at the airport’s assets and determine its needs.

Kent State has owned the public-use, general aviation airport since 1942 and uses the facility to support its Aeronautics program, one of 32 accredited aviation education programs worldwide. The airport is a critical asset for the Aeronautics Program, which serves students in five areas of concentration under the Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautics. Due, in part, to the increase in demand for airline pilots, the forecast for enrollment for Kent State’s Aeronautics Program saw its program grow 150 percent from 2005 to 2012 and now expects enrollment to grow from its current 638 students to more than 1,100 by 2022.

Kent State’s Flight Training Program is the only one of its kind, not only in Ohio but in the Northeastern U.S. region, and the cost to students is affordable when compared to similar programs.

The airport is a significant economic driver locally, supporting not only the university’s Aeronautics Program, but also local businesses, community services and private pilots. The new master plan must take into account how the airport can best serve the needs of all members of the community.

For more information about the development of the master plan, visit www.KSUAirportPlan.com.

Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences to Host International Conference on the Humanities

Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences will
host a four-day international conference on the humanities
from July 9-12 at the Kent State Hotel and Conference
Center.

Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences will host a four-day international conference on the humanities at the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center at 215 S. Depeyster St. in downtown Kent.

The conference, "Why the Humanities: Answers from the Cognitive and Neurosciences," will take place July 9-12 and features cutting-edge, empirical research demonstrating the ways that education in the humanities develops cognitive and emotional capabilities that are crucial for personal well-being, responsible global citizenship and social justice.

The conference is free and open to Kent State faculty, staff and students. Registration is requested, but not required. The conference is made possible, in part, by the Ohio Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Recent studies in the cognitive and neurosciences indicate how humanities education can develop the following key cognitive and emotional capabilities:

• Empathy, the ability to feel what others are feeling
• Mind-reading, the ability to understand the thoughts and intentions of others
• Metacognition, the ability to monitor and regulate one’s own perceptions and judgments of others
• Bias correction, the ability to compensate for distortions in one’s judgments of others
• Self-knowledge, the ability to recognize troublesome traits or motives in oneself
• Self-other overlap recognition, the ability to apprehend similarities between oneself and others who appear very different from oneself
• Moral judgment, the ability to form accurate and fair assessments of oneself and of others
  

“This event is part of an ongoing project of Kent State’s Social Cognition Research Group, a team of faculty from English, history, modern and classical language studies, philosophy, psychological sciences and sociology, that is conducting empirical research into the neurocognitive developments that humanities education can foster,” says Mark Bracher, Ph.D., Kent State professor of English and conference co-organizer.

For additional information including registration information, visit the conference website at www.kent.edu/cas/why-humanities or contact the conference organizers at whythehumanities@gmail.com.

It’s Summer Vacation Week on WKSU!

It’s the time of year to relax and try new things. In that spirit and to celebrate the station’s new weekend schedule, WKSU presents “Summer Vacation 2015,” a preview week of shows normally broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays that will take a holiday hop to weekdays. Monday through Friday the week of July 6, five weekend programs will take up very temporary one-day residence at 11 a.m. The “Summer Vacation” schedule is a mix of shows new to the weekend lineup and favorites that will now be heard at a different time. It includes: Monday – Reveal, Tuesday – America’s Test Kitchen, Wednesday – This American Life, Thursday – The Moth and Friday – Snap Judgment.

“Vacations are times we all break out of our routines and discover new things about ourselves in the process,” says Ele Ellis, WKSU program director. “WKSU’s ‘Summer Vacation’ is the perfect chance for weekday listeners to discover our weekend programming and weekend listeners to have a preview of something new!”

“Summer is a great time to shake up expectations and throw a spotlight on the different listening experience that is central to WKSU’s weekend schedule,” adds Dan Skinner, WKSU executive director.

About the Summer Vacation 2015 Programs (all shows air at 11 a.m.):

Reveal (Monday and during specials and documentaries on Saturday at 4 p.m.): The Peabody Award-winning investigative journalism program for public radio is produced by the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) and PRX. Reveal presents original work from CIR's team along with various partners: stations, producers, websites, journalism centers and reporters from around the world.

America’s Test Kitchen (Tuesday and Sunday at 3 p.m.): A food program for right now – filled with clear, practical information, without the gourmet fuss. The hour is all about insights, tips and techniques that illuminate the truth about real home cooking. Host Chris Kimball introduces listeners to an eclectic collection of test cooks and food experts from the Test Kitchen, and people who come at food and cooking from unique and useful perspectives, with rich stories to tell.

This American Life (Wednesday and Saturday at 12 p.m.): The program that started the neo-public radio movement and launched a thousand podcasts. Hosted and curated by radio rock star Ira Glass, each program brings together interviews and stories tied intriguingly to a specific theme. Glass attracts the best in the biz for this weekly compendium that is one of the most iconic and popular programs in the public radio spectrum.

The Moth (Thursday and Saturday at 1 p.m.): The Moth’s metamorphosis from small gathering to large staged events grew the audience without losing its intimate nature. The Peabody Award-winning Moth Radio Hour brings together voices – from the very famous to the completely unknown – who have taken the stage at a Moth event to tell their own unique and engaging story.

Snap Judgment (Friday and Saturday at 2 p.m.): Storytelling with a beat! This dynamic one-hour show with host Glynn Washington tells intriguing stories about extraordinary and defining events in people's lives. Snap Judgment’s fast-paced, intimate and musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see a sliver of the world through another's eye.

For more information about WKSU, visit www.wksu.org.