News release Public Information Office  SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 2/20/04   “METAMORPHOSES” OPENS AT SLU’S VONNIE BORDEN THEATRE MARCH 9       HAMMOND -- Vonnie Borden Theatre is being transformed into a huge, shimmering pool of water for the upcoming Southeastern Louisiana University Theatre production of Mary Zimmerman’s award winning play, “Metamorphoses.”       Once one of the hottest tickets on Broadway, the play has been performed throughout the world “despite the considerable technical difficulties of construction and then performing in the pool of water!” said director Larry Gray.       “Metamorphoses” will run March 9-13 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale March 1 at the theater box office, 985-549-2115, in the lobby of D Vickers Hall. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 6:15 p.m. to curtain time on performance nights.        Gray, a veteran director of Southeastern plays and operas, has assembled a cast of 12 actors to retell the ancient and compelling story of Greek gods and heros who all underwent powerful and life altering changes – metamorphoses. The play weaves a contemporary and frequently humorous sensibility through Ovid's Greek myths of love and loss, triumph and transformation.       “The play is an ensemble piece with each actor performing several different parts,” Gray said. He also stressed that “Metamorphoses” is a play for adults. “It has some brief nudity and several of the stories are about love, sex, death, and other themes that require some maturity,” he said.       Six men and six women will portray a variety of characters such as Midas, Eros, Bacchus, Zeus, Aphrodite, Ceres and Psyche. Cast members are Chad Michael Harelson, Baton Rouge; Rachel Hogan and Dennis Thomas, Hammond; Shiloh Klein, Ponchatoula; Brian Baker, Bremen, Ind.; Tara Sandifer, Lee Jeansonne, and Dave Manning, Covington; Amanda Pulliam and Rachael Johnson, Mandeville; Duke Harbison, Slidell; and Maya Ferrara, Zachary.        Southeastern students David Prejeant of Mandeville and Josh Tillotson of Hammond are stage manager and lighting designer, respectively. Set and costumes are being created by theater faculty members Steve Schepker and Rick Walsh. Schepker designed the set and is technical director, while Walsh designed and constructed the costumes.       Set in a 30-foot wide pool, “Metamorphoses” has been hailed as “visually stunning.” The Wall Street Journal said, "Funny one moment, achingly sorrowful the next, ‘Metamorphoses’ somehow manages both to lift you out of the moment you're living in and speak to it with piercing directness."       “The stories in ‘Metamorphoses’ are the most exciting and astonishing stories ever written. They are the stories that are underneath all other stories,” Gray said. “They are full of comedy, tragedy, pathos, laughter, tears, passion, violence, grief, regret and redemption. They are about all the important things in life -- love, sex, loyalty, bravery, obsession and death. Audiences all over the world have said that they laughed, they cried, they felt transformed. They all seem to be filled with a kind of awe.       “And, of course, they say it’s so beautiful,” Gray added.       For additional information about “Metamorphoses,” contact the Department of Music and Dramatic Arts, 985-549-2184.