The Davis-Waldorf series began its 21st season in late September with “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical”.

The remainder of the series will include four shows this year, including “Rhythmic Circus: Holiday Shuffle”, “The Peking Acrobats”, “Harmonious Wail”, and “Foreign Tongues”.

Davis-Waldorf Performing Arts Series is a producing and presenting company. This means that Katie Davis, executive director of the series and professor of theater arts, books touring companies to perform on USAO’s campus. Davis-Waldorf is the only organization in Grady County to bring professional artists to the community. Davis also produces and directs plays on campus.

This is the first year where students can register online for free season tickets. Davis said that almost 8% of students on campus bought tickets. In the past five years, the series has seen a 4,483% increase in ticket sales.

The first show of the season was “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical”, an improvisation theater troupe. The six-member group performed Sept. 30 in the Te Ata Theater in Troutt Hall. Freshman Avery Crawford, a theater and art major, was in the fourth row and said, “I missed seeing live theater and this show was great!”

While the Te Ata Theater can hold 900 people, Davis capped the theater at 300 people due to Covid-19 concerns. The improv group drew in 139 people in attendance, which Davis said was about half of the tickets sold. One of Crawford’s top picks for this season is “The Peking Acrobats”. When the troupe came a few years ago, the 900-seat theater sold out completely. Davis said she would feel comfortable opening more seats, depending on the campus and community vaccination rate. USAO’s campus vaccination rate surpassed the 50% mark. Davis said she feels comfortable allowing students to walk in last minute to attend the shows due to this percent.

The Davis-Waldorf series was created 21 years ago and is dedicated to giving students at a liberal arts college a chance to see professional artists perform. Davis said that for many of USAO’s students this is the first time they go to a theater performance. For other students who are interested in the arts, Davis said she thinks they should see a master-level act to give themselves a goal to work towards.

“Our series is about making art and culture accessible and affordable and having our community and campus be better,” said Davis.

While in town, the “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical” crew held a workshop for students. The workshops have limited seating, so Davis said she targets students who have similar interests before sending out a campus-wide email. As an example, she said, the Foreign Tongue’s workshop is geared towards English, creative writing, and poetry students.

Davis said that “Broadway’s Next Hit Musical” gave one of the best workshops she has ever seen, and she loved seeing the troupe teach their techniques and then use them in their performance.

Davis said she roughly plans four seasons at a time to ensure that students and community members will experience different kinds of shows each year. Each series has between four and five shows, it is guaranteed to have one dance, theater, and music performance. The other shows rotate between the other choices.

After being online last year, Davis said “I really missed watching people watch a show.” The next show “Rhythmic Circus: Holiday Shuffle” will contain live music and tap dancing in early November. The series has several posters around campus and has more information on USAO’s website.

Emily Loughridge is a freshman communication major from Union City, OK.