Dear Arts Patrons,

Welcome to this 2023–24 performing arts season production. The quality programming you are about to enjoy, and in which the university community takes so much pride, would be impossible without our friends, benefactors, and audience members. We are very pleased to have you join us.

This season is an expanded and eclectic mix of music, drama, music theatre, and stand-up comedy performed by outstanding artists ranging from nationally known acts to Viterbo students. The carefully crafted schedule reflects our dedication to upholding the legacy of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and their goal of sharing the wonder of the arts with everyone in the region.

To all Viterbo arts patrons, benefactors, sponsors, volunteers, artists, and students, thank you very much for your continued support.

“Pace e Bene”
Peace and all good

Rick Trietley
Viterbo University President

Welcome to the Viterbo University Conservatory for the Performing Arts. We’re so glad you’ve joined in this shared experience of live theatre and music. There’s nothing else quite like it.

This season promises a tapestry of emotions, stories, and melodies, from the enchanting glamour of 42nd Street to the quirky brilliance of Bat Boy: The Musical, and the soul-stirring magic of Godspell.

We’re pleased to bring you new works from some of the most current voices in American theatre. In She Kills Monsters, Obie-award-winner Qui Nguyen offers up a genre-bending Dungeons and Dragons romp that can make you laugh even when you’re not supposed to. Tar Beach by Tammy Ryan drops us into 1977 on a New York City rooftop where an overstressed electrical grid leads to a city-wide blackout and the loss of innocence.

Feel the warmth of the holidays with the music of A Viterbo Christmas: The Holly and The Ivy, blending timeless carols and modern classics to launch the season. And in February, mark your calendars for the jazz-inspired romantic short opera, Later That Same Evening.

Thank you for joining us on this artistic journey as we explore new worlds, challenge perspectives, and create memories that last long after the final curtain.

Rick Walters

Executive Artistic Director
Conservatory for the Performing Arts

Welcome and thank you for attending She Kills Monsters. We are so excited for you to escape into this fantasy world filled with kobolds, skeletons, magic, and so much more! Like the show, the journey has been long and arduous in its path to completion. There was laughter, tears, lots of fight choreography, and bruises. It often felt like we were actually fighting a dragon.

But, this isn’t my first bout with a dragon.

In 1995, at the same time I was a high-school nerd playing Dungeons and Dragons in the basements of my friends' houses, I was told I had cancer for the first time. The journey was not the same as Agnes, but the shadows and scars echoing with the soundtrack of the time was so familiar to me. Every time I visit the world of She Kills Monsters, it teleports me to the greatest battles that I have overcome, and I can only hope that the story teleports you to visions of resilience and hope. Our version of this show is a period piece. You’ll be able to tell that once you hear the music and catch on to some of the Easter eggs hidden in the designs. We have gone to great lengths to take you to 1995 in Athens, Ohio, to sit at our Dungeon Master’s table and experience this once-in-a-generation theatrical experience.

So again, we welcome you to join our party in the Quest for the Lost Soul of Athens!

Benjamin Gonzales
Director