Krannert Dress Rehearsals

The Krannert Dress Rehearsal (KDR) programs provide an opportunity to hear context about a performance from a director or other expert, and then to experience the production. The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is an educational and performing arts complex located at 500 South Goodwin Street in Urbana. Students may register for Krannert Dress Rehearsal (KDR) events on the events calendar.


The following 2025 Krannert Dress Rehearsals are available for registration on our calendar. You must attend the talk and the performance to receive credit for the KDR. If the program is full when you go to register, please email chp@illinois.edu to be placed on a waitlist, and if there is a spot open, you will be notified by the day of the events.

“Studiodance 2025” (dance performances)

Presenter Tere O’Connor

Date: Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Presentation:  6:30 – 7:15 p.m., Krannert Room

Performance: begins at 7:30 p.m., Studio Theatre

Description:

This concert re-imagines the relationships between space, sound, and movement as choreographers reinvent the visual environs of the magical “black box” theatrical laboratory. Premieres from faculty members Professor Jennifer Monson and Assistant Professor Serouj Aprahamian; MFA candidate and ballroom champion Alex Tecza; and fellow graduate students, e g Condon, Nik Owens, and Maggie Segale conjure new takes on kinesthetic performance art.

“The Winter’s Tale” (Shakespearean tragedy)

By William Shakespeare

Director Bill Kincaid

Assistant to the Director Julie Oelerich

Dramaturgs M. Landon and Chancellor’s Scholar Leoni Reilly

Date: Thursday, April 3, 2025

Presentation: 6:30 – 7:15 p.m. Krannert Room

Performance: begins at 7:30 p.m., Colwell Playhouse

Description:

In Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, a jealous king accuses his wife of infidelity, plunging the family and the kingdom into turmoil. This sets the stage for a sweeping story of abandonment, betrayal, romance, concealment and possibly reconciliation. Through rich language and playful theatricality, Shakespeare’s surprisingly timely play questions power, loyalty, and the transformative force of forgiveness.

“Plumas Negras” (new play)

By Juliette Carillo

Director Marie Ramirez Downing

Assistant Director Toyosi Morgan

Dramaturgs Madeline Santori and Yiqi Zhang

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025

Presentation:  6:30 – 7:15 p.m., Krannert Room

Performance: begins at 7:30 p.m., Studio Theatre

Description:

Based on stories from the Latina community of East Salinas, California, this magical realist play follows three generations of women struggling to keep their dreams alive. Two jaunty crows watch over the farming community as it changes over 50 tumultuous years trying to understand the people and their relationship to the land and each other. Mothers and daughters tussle over choices of the past and the present as they seek a better future for the next generation. Through magic, dreams, and the power of maternal love, the play offers a heartrending view of one community’s immigration experience. Supported by the Anda New Works Theatre Production Endowment.

“Orfeo” (Monteverdi opera)

By Claudio Monteverdi

Production conceived by Nathan and Julie Gunn

Stage Director Dawn Harris

Choreographer Rachel Rizzuto

Featuring the University of Illinois Chamber Singers, conducted by Andrea Solva

Date: Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Presentation:  6:30 – 7:15 p.m., Krannert Room

Performance: begins at 7:30 p.m., Tryon Festival Theatre

Description:

Monteverdi’s Orfeo, originally performed in 1607, is the first unquestioned masterpiece of opera. A “musical fable,” it tells the story of Orpheus, the demi-god whose music had the power to conquer the forces of Hell. Orpheus struggles with melancholy – he sees the sun hidden behind the clouds – and his love for Eurydice brings the sun out, only to have the all the stars completely blocked out by her death and his descent into the Underworld. Choruses of nymphs, shepherds, and otherworldly spirits embody humanity’s struggle with love, death, and the power of music.