In the Spring semester of 2010, theatre professor Beth Turcotte directed a Virginia Ball Center immersive learning seminar in which she and fourteen undergraduate students worked to write and produce a musical based on Ball State English professor Cathy Day’s book, The Circus in Winter. Since its beginnings, the musical has gone on to the 2012 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Washington D.C., where it won many distinctions, including “Outstanding Production of a New Work,” “Outstanding Director of a New Work,” and “Outstanding Scenic Design,” before being selected as one of only eight musicals for inclusion in the NAMT festival. Now, The Circus in Winter musical will be performed in regional theatres across the country with the hopes of being produced as a Broadway musical in a few short years. Follow the link below to read a Stage Magazine article about the musical including an extensive interview with Beth Turcotte, Ben Clark, and Cathy Day:

http://www.stagemagazine.org/2012/12/the-circus-in-winter-a-new-musical-on-a-unique-journey/

The cast of Ball State University’s production of THE CIRCUS IN WINTER. Photo credit: Ball State University Photo Services.