KeyFacts
Founded: 1853
Type of Institution: Coeducational, private, comprehensive university in suburban Philadelphia
Enrollment: Over 3,000 students, including 1,400 full-time undergraduates, more than 400 part-time undergraduates and more than 1,200 graduate students
Faculty: 306 faculty members. Eighty-five percent of full-time assistant, associate, and full professors hold doctoral or terminal degrees.
Student/Faculty Ratio: 12-1
Degrees Offered: B.A., B.F.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., and doctoral degrees in more than 40 majors.
Study Abroad: Students can study abroad in Australia, England, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, or Wales.
Residence Halls: Seven residence halls house more than 950 students and offer a variety of housing options.
Arcadia Theatre Announces 2003-04 Season: Oscar Wilde in the Fall and Schoolhouse Rock Live in the Spring Are Highlights
The Arcadia Theatre has set its 2003-04 schedule, with new director Reva Fox at the helm. This year, a play written by West Wing writer Peter Parnell and a classic by Oscar Wilde highlight the fall shows, while 1980s pop culture favorite Schoolhouse Rock comes to life on the Arcadia stage in the spring.
The season beings with The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, a Parnell play, that runs October 16-26. The show lets audiences into the world of 12-year-olds, including Daniel Rocket who truly believes that he can fly, a belief that causes him to be shunned and ridiculed by his classmates—including the girl he adores. When his flying prowess becomes apparent, he soars to fame and fortune; and in the second act, twenty years later, he returns home a renowned celebrity. But he has also become the symbol of an exceptional person—a genius who is isolated from his childhood and the tender emotions of those he has left behind.
Next comes The Importance of Being Earnest, one of Wilde's most famous plays, which will run November 20-23 and December 4-7. In Wilde's most brilliant tour de force, Earnest is a witty and buoyant comedy of manners. The play follows the romantic deceptions of two young, fabulous, society couples, Algernon and Cecily and Jack and Gwendolen. Unfortunately, both Cecily and Gwendolen are under the impression that their suitors each carry the name Earnest. The ladies are most definite in their opinion that they will only marry a man named Earnest. When the truth comes out at Jack Worthing's country manor in Hertfordshire, the sparks fly. The Importance of Being Earnest is celebrated for both the lighthearted ingenuity of plot and the inspired dialogue, full of witty repartee.
The spring semester begins with The Rivals, a Restoration Comedy by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, which runs February 19-29. The Rivals introduces audiences to the chatty Mrs. Malaprop, who has an alarming propensity for garbling the English language. She proudly tells viewers "if I reprehend anything in this world, it is the use of my oracular tongue, and a nice derangement of epitaphs." Audiences also meet her niece Lydia, lost in the world of lurid half-bound romantic novels; Sir Anthony Absolute, often wrong but never in doubt; Sir Lucious O'Trigger of BlunderBuss Hall, nothing more need be said about him; and the rest. As the romantic intrigue unfolds and the secrets are exposed, this hilarious Restoration Comedy infuses social commentary that is exceedingly perceptive and satisfyingly naughty.
Finally, Schoolhouse Rock Live ends the 2002-03 season with a run March 25-28 and April 1-4. A pop culture phenomenon and Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math, science and politics through clever, tuneful songs such as "Unpack Your Adjectives" and "The Preamble" is now a rollicking stage musical. Tom, a schoolteacher nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV. Various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show Tom how to win his students over with imagination and music with such beloved Schoolhouse Rock songs as "Just A Bill," "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly," and "Conjunction Junction." This show brings its infectious zest to a cross-generational audience. Everyone from children just discovering the TV series to Generation X-ers seeking a taste of nostalgia will enjoy themselves.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $10 for students and seniors, and $5 for Arcadia students. All shows run Thursday through Sunday, with 8 P.M. shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and a 3 P.M. matinee on Saturday and Sunday. For tickets or more information, call (215) 572-2112. The Arcadia Theatre is located at 450 S. Easton Road in Glenside.
