The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University presents Coffee House: An evening of performance by Princeton students featuring songs from musicals, folk music, and original compositions in a cabaret-style atmosphere. The showcase, directed and produced by Princeton senior Lev Ricanati, is on May 6 at 8 p.m. in the Wallace Theater at the Lewis Arts complex on the Princeton campus. Free and open to the public, tickets can be reserved through University Ticketing. The Wallace Theater is fully accessible with an assistive listening system. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week prior to the event date.
Songs from musicals range from “Everything I Know” from In the Heights to “Sarah Brown Eyes” from Ragtime, as well as the Scottish folk song “Caledonia” by Dougie MacLean, among other selections. The performers come from all class years at Princeton, including senior Charlie Roth, an experienced actor and vocalist who has performed in numerous Lewis Center productions, and first-year student John Heitz, who has already become very involved in the Princeton theater community, performing in Lewis Center productions and serving as production manager for the Princeton University Players.
Ricanati is a senior majoring in economics and pursing minors in history and the practice of diplomacy, political economy, and theater and music theater. His work on Coffee House represents his independent work for the theater minor along with producing Safe Harbor in February, an original piece of interactive theater where audience member choices have a direct impact on the story. His other work in the Program in Theater and Music Theater has included serving as production coordinator for She Loves Me, stage manager for Disorder and Not Your Buddy, and as assistant stage manager for Hello Girls and Early Decision/Late Bloomer. Ricanati has been awarded the Program in Theater’s Award for Outstanding Work by Underclassmen for three years in a row. He has been extensively involved in student theater groups as a lighting designer, producer, and stage manager. Ricanati served as the vice president, production manager, and tour manager of the Princeton Triangle Club.
In addition to Ricanati, student members of the production team include Daniel Liu as music director and piano accompanist, Vera Fei as lighting designer, and Zach Lee as stage manager. Professor Stacy Wolf is faculty advisor.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about this event, the Lewis Center for the Arts, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them free.
