U.S. Goodwill Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand will bring his celebrated solo play “LET IT BE ART! Harold Clurman’s Life of Passion” to the Walla Walla University Donnie Rigby Black Box Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 7:30 p.m.
In this tour-de-force performance, Rand brings to life Harold Clurman, considered by many to be the elder statesman of the American theater. Through the play, audiences will meet inspiring personalities including Stella Adler, Marlon Brando, Lee Strasberg, Clifford Odets, Constantin Stanislavsky, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and will experience Clurman’s boundless passion for life and theater as well as his courage and irresistible humor.
Harold Clurman was cofounder of the famous Group Theatre of the 1930s and was an award-winning Broadway director. He was considered America’s preeminent theater critic and is considered by many to be the most influential figure in the history of the American theater.
Ronald Rand is in his 16th year touring around the world and has received rave reviews off Broadway in two critically-acclaimed productions. He has performed in 23 countries and 20 U.S. states and was chosen by the U.S. State Department as the first Fulbright Specialist to perform and teach in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Malaysia. He has appeared in more than 200 films and television shows with actors such as Kevin Kline, Richard Pryor, Gene Wilder, Christopher Plummer, Ralph Fiennes, and Yoko Ono. His soon-to-be-released book, “CREATE!,” includes interviews with Carol Burnett, Kelsey Grammer, Chaka Khan, Christopher Plummer, Ellen Burstyn, Bill T. Jones, Dick Cavett, and Elie Wiesel.
“I travel to all the countries I’ve been to in friendship and peace, sharing what I’ve learned, and together we learn from one another. We find out how much we have in common,” said Rand. “My work is dedicated to healing, to revealing our humanity, how together through the magic of theater and art we create friendship, healing and the deep desire for good will. I’ve been fortunate to perform this play in Tangier’s Dar el-Majzen Palace in the Casbah, in a grass-roofed tribal hut in Harare, in Minsk’s Palace of Culture, Bangkok’s famed Patravadi Theatre, Paysundu’s regal Teatro Florencio Sanchez, and even at the foot of Mt. Everest in Kathmandu.”
In addition to his Saturday evening performance of “LET IT BE ART!,” Rand will present an “Art of Transformation” master acting workshop for WWU Drama Club members on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 2 p.m. He will also present a colloquium titled “Connecting Across International Cultures” on Monday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. in the WWU Donnie Rigby Black Box Theatre.
Learn more about “LET IT BE ART!” and see a video about the play at www.LetItBeArt.com.
Tickets for Rand’s performance of “LET IT BE ART!” are free to WWU students, with first seating for Drama Club members. For ticket information and reservations, email wwudrama@wallawalla.edu, call (509) 527-2832, or visit drama.wallawalla.edu. Tickets will also be available at the door.
Posted September 29, 2016