Broadway stars, local MSU students and high school students are coming together to develop a new musical through the annual program, imáGen. imáGen is a collaboration between Wharton Center Institute for Arts and Creativity and MSU College of Arts and Letters. In its sixth year, this unique program calls for new musical theater works, selects one show for that year’s program and then produces a staged concert in three short weeks.
This year, the Department of Theatre received its highest number of new work submissions, and the musical chosen is “Dr. Fox and the Impossible Cure for Death.”
“This program is helping us gain national attention,” said Kirk Domer, a member of the MSU Department of Theatre. “It’s one of a kind in Michigan and we are so proud of how much it continues to grow. It’s an educational experience for high school students and college students, an opportunity to work with professionals in show business while still in school.”
In past years, imáGen students have continued work with mentors after the program finished. “It’s an amazing program and we are all so proud,” said Bert Goldstein, the director of Wharton Center’s Institute for Arts and Creativity.
“Dr. Fox and the Impossible Cure for Death,” follows a precocious 13-year-old girl and her overly imaginative father as they search a storybook world for a cure to a brain tumor. This musical twist on the water of life myth was originally conceived at New York University; the selection committee was drawn to the show’s malleability due to how new the piece was.
Now, it is up to the creative team that will join forces for three short weeks to bring this piece to life again.
Tickets for the staged concert are on sale now, starting from $18.50, at Wharton Center’s official ticketing outlets: whartoncenter.com, at the Auto-Owners Insurance Ticket Office at Wharton Center or by calling 1-800-WHARTON.