In the Heat of the Night, East Central University’s first featured stage performance of the 2014-2015 Fine Arts Season, is set for 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the Ataloa Theatre of the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center.
L.A. Theatre Works, with Susan Albert Loewenberg as producing director, is presenting In the Heat of the Night, based on John Ball’s novel by the same name.
Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at tickets.ecok.edu or at the box office the night of the show. Season passes are still available for $90 for seven events and more in the fine arts season while a $60 patron card can be purchased for the three featured performances, including In the Heat of the Night.
Ball’s novel, In the Heat of the Night, was published in 1965, as signs reading “Whites Only” and “Segregation Forever” were seen throughout much of America in a time when the country grappled with integration and an evolving acceptance of the Civil Rights Movement.
Nearly 50 years later, have we arrived? Playwright and screenwriter Matt Pelfrey sets his riveting stage adaptation of this classic American thriller in the environment of gradual change, rebellion, anger, frustration and stubborn clinging to old ways of life. This production, semi-staged by the superb L.A. Theatre Works, demonstrates how the piece remains shockingly emblematic of America in the 1960s.
L.A. Theatre Works is a non-profit media arts organization based in Los Angeles, whose mission for over 25 years has been to present, preserve and disseminate classic and contemporary plays such as In the Heat of the Night.
The 2014-2015 fine arts season is sponsored by the ECU Foundation, Inc., Oklahoma Arts Council, Communication Federal Credit Union, Vision Bank, Citizen’s Bank, Santa Fe Steakhouse, Blue Moon Café, ECU Bookstore, Polos Mexican Restaurant, Vintage 22 and La Quinta Inns and Suites.
Those who want to make it a dinner-and-show night can present their season ticket patron card and receive a 10 percent discount at Blue Moon Café, Rib Crib, Santa Fe Steakhouse and Vintage 22 on the night of the performance.
For more information about the performance, contact the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center Box Office, 580-559-5751 or visit tickets.ecok.edu.
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