Modlin offers a wide array of shows for the spring

Musicians, actors and dancers from around the world-- including many performers who have taken the stage at the University of Richmond before -- highlight a diverse list of shows at the Modlin Center for the Arts during the spring semester.

The performances many Richmond students may find most interesting will occur on Sunday and Tuesday evening when L.A. Theater Works presents "The RFK Project: The Journey to Justice," chronicling the political life of Robert F. Kennedy, said Tiffanie Chan, the marketing director for the Modlin Center.

"[The show] had a lot of broad applications to any academic study that pertains to that subject," Chan said. "We're hoping that students will turn out for it. I think of it along the lines of historical movies that explore that era."

The Modlin Center is a commissioning partner for the show, which means it provided funding for the research and the writing of the script, Chan said.

"We've had L.A. Theatre Works here before," she said. "They're the nation's most well-known radio theatre company, so we're confident in their work."

Some of the actors performing during the RFK show include Philip Casnoff from HBO's "Oz," John Wesley from "Remember the Titans" and Ross Hellwig, who has appeared on Numb3rs and Law & Order: SVU.

With the exception of the L.A. Theatre Works show, most of the performances at the Modlin Center this semester will be musical.

On Feb. 8, the Luciana Souza Trio will take the stage at Camp Concert Hall. The group has performed at Richmond before and may be one of the most entertaining shows of the year, Chan said.

The group includes vocalist Luciana Souza, guitarist Romero Lubambo and percussionist Cyro Baptista.

"This is one of those concerts that a student might not feel they know much about, but if they come it will blow their minds," Chan said. "They are all impeccable artists. It will be interesting to see them all here at once."

On Valentine's Day, the Modlin Center will host the Shanghai Quartet featuring pianist Yuja Wang. Wang, 22, and all but one of the other performers hail from China. Coincidentally, the show falls on the Chinese New Year.

On Feb. 23, the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour will make a stop at Modlin Downtown. Different artists from the Monterey Jazz Festival, which is held in California, tour every year, and Chan said they were some of the best in the country.

"They always bring in some great artists," she said. "Monterey was here two years ago for the 50th anniversary. It's a great opportunity to see some really high-profile jazz artists all on the same stage."

Richmond's University Dancers will perform their anniversary show, "Twenty5," in the Modlin Center on Feb. 26-28. This year's group consists of 21 females and Myra Delang is the director.

Senior dancer Audrey Innella said the show would be unique this year because it's the 25th anniversary of the group. In honor of that, University Dancers will welcome back some of their alumni to perform during an insert into the show on Saturday night. Some of the music for the show will be played live, including pieces performed by Rattlemouth, a local eclectic group that has played during past University Dancers shows.

"I think people will like the variety," Innella said. "It's not just one kind of dancing throughout the whole show. There are some modern pieces, there's some ballet and there's even a tap piece, plus there's good live music."

The artists-in-residence at the Modlin Center, eighth blackbird, will return on March 3 to perform "Slide."

"It's very edgy," Chan said. "I think it'll be really neat. They're going to use a lot of audio visual and a pretty large set. It's music theatre and it's still pretty accessible to someone who might not think that contemporary music is for them."

All the preparation for the spring season at Modlin has been done without a director. The former director, David Howson, left the position earlier this year, but that did not stop the staff from assembling a fine schedule.

"We have an interim director who is kind of helping us funnel things in the same direction, but we're all pretty well versed in how to run the season," Chan said. "We're going to finish the season well and hopefully be able to announce a new director once the search is done."

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu