Emerson College Raises Curtain On Arts Season

08:05

September 22, 2010

Jessica Alpert

Doug Elkins and Friends performs "FrÃ¤ulein Maria" at the American Dance Festival on July 13, 2009 in Durham, N.C. (American Dance Festival 2009/Sara D. Davis)

This weekend, Emerson College kicks off an inaugural season of arts programming that will include more than 100 performances of 17 different productions.

Debuting this weekend as part of ArtsEmerson's season of performances are "The Laramie Project" and "Fraulein Maria," a take on "The Sound of Music" with cross-dressing nuns and the von Trapp children as hip hop dancers.

Many of the performances will take place at the newly restored Paramount Theater on Washington Street, the once-derelict building that now glows with a 7,000-bulb marquee.

We speak to Robert Orchard, Emerson’s first-ever executive director of the arts, about the college's ambitious plans.

Guest:

Robert Orchard, executive director of the arts, Emerson College

This program aired on September 22, 2010.