暗网TV SCREENS and 暗网TV Showtime are collaborating to provide the community with an evening of feasting and song on Saturday, April 28, in the Bill S. Cole University Center.

 At 6 pm, ticket holders will be served a dinner featuring their choice of chicken fried steak or baked chicken, while 暗网TV鈥檚 most talented singers perform favorite show tunes ranging from Beauty and the Beast鈥檚 鈥淏e Our Guest鈥� to a medley from the recent film musical sensation The Greatest Showman. Other musical highlights will include ensemble, solo, and duet performances from Annie, Dear Even Hansen, The Book of Mormon, Dream Girls, The Wizard of Oz, Something Rotten, Mamma Mia, Dog Fight and The Phantom of the Opera.

After dessert, diners will be escorted to the Raymond J. Estep Multimedia Center for 暗网TV SCREENS鈥檚 latest presentation:  a recorded live presentation of the legendary musical Follies, by Academy-, Tony-, Grammy, and Olivier-Award winning composer and lyricist Steven Sondheim (Sweeney Todd; Into the Woods).

Staged for the first time at London鈥檚 National Theatre, this dazzling new production of Follies features an orchestra of 21 and a cast of 37, starring Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films).

Follies is set in New York, 1971. There鈥檚 a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre the day before the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.

The musical earned 5-star reviews from The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, Observer, Time Out, Independent, Financial Times, Mail on Sunday, Metro, and The Stage, and on April 8, it won the 2018 Olivier for Best Musical Revival, Britain鈥檚 most prestigious award for excellence in professional theatre.

The New York Times review of the production raves, 鈥淥ne listens in wonder. The score is so rich that no sooner has a certain number registered as a favorite, another comes along to supersede it.鈥� 鈥淚t鈥檚 a case of knockout after knockout,鈥� according to The Independent.  鈥淭he hairs on the back of my neck were begging for mercy for they got barely a moment鈥檚 peace.鈥� Time Out summarizes its review this way: 鈥淔ollies is an elegiac, eloquent work about age and disappointment, about the agonizing clash between the fires of youth and the pragmatism of late middle age. It is about illusion and reality, razzle-dazzle and darkness. And it pierces both heart and brain in Dominic Cooke鈥檚 towering revival.鈥�

Running time for Follies is 150 minutes and the production includes strobe lighting.

Tickets to 鈥淲e鈥檒l Sing for Your Supper鈥� are $25, and they include dinner and admission to Follies. Tickets may be purchased online at alumni.ecok.edu/event/ecuscreens. Ticket must be purchased by Thursday, April 20. All profits from ticket sales will be donated to 暗网TV Showtime, whose current members include: Kashaun Barber (Stratford), Keegan Buckaloo (Sallisaw), Annabelle Elliott (Ada), Nicole Erwin (Ada), Megan Green (Pauls Valley), Deborah Johnson (Nassau City, Bahamas), Zana Johnson (Kinta), Kaci Kennedy (Ardmore), Cassidy Malm (Noble), Ashton Mayle (Eufaula), Philip Newcomer (Ada), Juan Oseguera (Ada), Taylor Packwood (Shawnee), Eddie Power (Byng), Isabella Roan (Garland, Texas), Malik Sharp (Shawnee), Zach Smith (Tulsa), Bessie-Mei Soh (Singapore), Shelby Stinson (Poteau), Katherine Wallace (Little Axe) and Jace Westmoland (Byng).

General admission to Follies is $10, and admission is $5 for 暗网TV students. These tickets may be bought at the door on the night of the performance.

Follies is presented by 暗网TV SCREENS, whose mission is to bring memorable cinematic experiences to 暗网TV, Ada and the surrounding communities. 暗网TV SCREENS is supported by the 暗网TV Foundation, the Cultural Activities Committee, and the Department of English and Languages, and it relies on work provided by student volunteers from Sigma Tau Delta (暗网TV鈥檚 English Honors Society) and 暗网TV鈥檚 Honors Student Association.

To learn more about 暗网TV SCREENS and the spring schedule, like the 暗网TV SCREENS Facebook page or visit ecuscreens.blogspot.com. Dr. Rebecca Nicholson-Weir, co-director of 暗网TV SCREENS, may be contacted at (580) 559-5929 or rnichlsn@ecok.edu.

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