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Located on the Rio Grande Campus, with certain classes being offered at the
Northridge, South Austin, and Round Rock campuses, Austin Community College Drama Program
provides students with the first two years of college drama education.
Please see the catalog for complete degree requirements.
Our non-traditional and diverse population creates a lively atmosphere in which to study. Degreed and non-degreed, beginning and advanced, students representative of all levels of drama come to ACC to learn all aspects of the theater.
Our class size creates an opportunity for students to get the attention they need and offers a unique, nurturing environment in which students can flex their creative muscles.
ACC’s two-year program is an in-depth study without the commitment of a four-year or graduate degree. Students not seeking a degree often retake classes as they explore the many options ACC offers.
ACC productions in both the 250-seat Mainstage Theater and the 70-seat Gallery Theater offer drama students the opportunity to perform onstage, work tech and design positions, and collaborate with other artists from the community.

Robert
Johnson: Trick the Devil
Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil opens Thursday, April 17, 2008 in
the
Rollins Theater at the Long Center for the performing Arts. The
play runs
April 17- 20 and April 23-27, at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturday
and 3
p.m. on Sundays.
The ProArts Collective and the Austin Community
College District (ACC) drama department will produce a compelling
drama
about the last days of famed legendary blues artist Robert Johnson
in a
piece written by Bill Harris, Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil
The cast includes Austin Community College students Michelle Flanagan
as Kimbrough, and award winning actress Feliz McDonald as Georgia.
We also see the one of Austin's favorites Billy Harden as Stokes
the blind pianist, the multi-talented Aaron Alexander in the title
role of Robert Johnson and the return of award winning ProArts stalwart
Levan Owens as Lem.
Admission is $12 for the general public and $10 for students. All
proceeds go towards the Boyd Vance Scholarship Fund, named in honor
of ProArts Collective founder Boyd Vance. The scholarship will be
awarded to an African American drama or dance student.
"Robert Johnson is considered the most famous of the Delta
blues musicians", says Harold McMillan, Director of Diverse
Arts and the curator of the Austin Blues Family Tree. "Much
of what we know about Johnson comes down through myth and a few
recordings." He is considered by some to be the "Grandfather
of Rock-and-Roll", his vocal phrasing, original songs, and
guitar style have influenced some of popular music's most famous
guitarists and songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Led
Zeppelin, The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones, The Band,
Neil Young, Warren Zevon, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton,
who called Johnson "the most important blues musician who ever
lived".
This collaboration will be the first self-produced production in
the Rollins Studio Theater at the new Long Center for the Performing
Arts. Tammie Ward Programming Director for the center was very pleased
to hear that ProArts Collective and ACC wanted to move their annual
collaboration to the Rollins."I heard such wonderful things
about their production of Funnyhouse for a Negro; we were excited
to know they wanted to expand into the Rollins. We think their collaboration
fits perfectly with the Long Center's mission".
This is the second co-production between Austin Community College
and ProArts Collective. Last year's co-production was the critically
acclaimed Funnyhouse of the Negro. The co-productions advance the
educational mission of the College and allow ACC to have a greater
presence in the Austin community, says Lyman Grant, Dean for Arts
and Humanities at ACC. Lisa Byrd Executive Director of ProArts Collective
says that collaborations with institutions like ACC and St. Edwards
allows a small organization with very limited resources to have
a greater impact on the cultural life of all Austinites.
The title, Trick the Devil alludes to one of the many myths surrounding
the musician as described by blues historian Cub Koda:
Robert Johnson was a young black man living on a plantation in rural
Mississippi. Branded with a burning desire to become a great blues
musician, he was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near
Dockery's plantation at midnight. There he was met by the Devil
who took the guitar from Johnson, tuned the guitar so that he could
play anything that he wanted, and handed it back to him in return
for his soul. Within less than a year's time, in exchange for his
everlasting soul, Robert Johnson became the king of the Delta blues
singers, able to play, sing, and create the greatest blues anyone
had ever heard.
But the myths abound. How did he die, where and when did he die.
Robert Johnson: Trick the Devil adds its own spin to the legacy
and myth of Robert Johnson.
For more information, please call (512) 223-3343 or email mmcquirt@austincc.edu. Please join us!
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