The Department of Theatre at Coastal Carolina University presented "Legally Blond The Musical," directed by Jason Gillman, an original Broadway cast member. The performances ran for two weeks at the end of February in the Wheelwright auditorium on CCU's campus. Based on the Hollywood film, the story follows Elle, a sorority-girl-turned-Harvard-law-student, in pursuit of winning back her ex-boyfriend, Warner. As she tackles stereotypes and scandal in school and the courtroom, Elle must successfully defend exercise queen Brooke Wyndham in the murder trial of her life.

The Coastal Carolina University Wind Ensemble presented the "Well-Aged" music performance on March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wheelwright Auditorium on CCU's campus. The program included Ten Masterworks for Woodwind Choir, arranged by William Pelz; "Finlandia," by Jean Sibelius; "Old Wine in New Bottles," by Gordon Jacob; "Invictus" by Karl King; "Savannah River Holiday by Ron Nelson; and "First Suite in E Flat" by Gustav Holtz.

The Department of Theatre at Coastal Carolina University will be presenting "The Crucible," directed by John Woodson, starting on Friday, Nov. 9, in the Edwards Theatre. This is a student-led performance and will transport the audience to the Puritan world of 1692 Massachusetts, where Abigail Williams and her cohort of girlfriends lead a Puritanical assault against a local farmer and his wife. In this production, jealousy and seething resentments pit neighbor against neighbor as a community is thrown into turmoil while accusations of witchcraft stain the people in paranoia. Two dozen students have been cast in the play.

Forty Coastal Carolina University students have been accepted into Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) theatre program at Coastal this fall. The four-year course of study is highly competitive and recruits high school students from across the country. The BFA program is competitive and by audition only, and it is divided into four concentrations: musical theatre; design and production; acting; and physical theatre. The acting program is for students who are willing to commit to structured, intensive, studio-based training and are searching to become a part of a company of actors, singers, designers, directors and technicians. The design and technology degree prepares students for professional careers as designers, technical directors, costume directors and technicians in professional entertainment or for continued study in graduate school. The musical theatre program is intended for students who are willing to commit to structured, intensive, studio-based training and are searching for a degree that prepares them to function in the professional theatre as actor-singers.

The CCU Department of Theatre presents "Bright Star" Thursday, Oct. 10, to Friday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 13, 3 p.m., and Wednesday, Oct. 16, to Saturday, Oct. 19, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. "Bright Star" is a new work with a country and bluegrass score from Academy Award-winner Steve Martin and Grammy-winner Edie Brickell. "Bright Star" tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and '40s, directed by Adam Pelty, associate chair and assistant professor in the Department of Theatre.

Eleven students at Coastal Carolina University were a part of the cast of a new play that was presented by the CCU theatre department. The play is called "Dance Nation" by Clare Barron, and it is about a young adolescent girl that is filled with laughter, anger, and tears. "Dance Nation" is a powerful drama that embodies the insecurities of young women and shows them overcoming obstacles in life to show that they are powerful. This drama aims to show the world the humanity of young women and attacks our tendency to "cutesify" girls by casting adult age women to play their roles. This play was performed in the Edwards Theatre for two weekends.

More than a dozen Coastal Carolina University students performed in a percussion ensemble performance April 16 alongside marimbist Andy Harnsberger and under the direction of Jesse Willis and James Pendell.

More than a dozen Coastal Carolina University students performed in a percussion ensemble concert featuring Andy Harnsberger on April 16 in the university's Wheelwright Auditorium. The concert featured several of Harnsberger's pieces, as well as a variety of others, including Dvorak's String Quartet No. 12 in F Major. Harnsberger has been the featured artist at the Tamborimba Percussion Festival in Cali, Colombia, and the Patagonia Percussion Festival in Argentina. He is an associate professor of music and percussion coordinator at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn.

Nineteen Coastal Carolina University students performed in a spring concert as members CalypSamba, CCU's premier world percussion ensemble, in April. The concert was under the direction of Jesse Willis, CCU associate professor of music. The concert was held in CCU's Wheelwright Auditorium on campus and integrated unique collaborations of students, music faculty and alumni. The performance also featured steelpan player Liam Teague from the University of Northern Illinois. The ensemble played six different percussion songs, including "Sunday Morning Funk," "Pearls" and "Steel Band Times."

Twenty-eight Coastal Carolina University students performed in the music department's wind ensemble concert on Friday, April 26, in Wheelwright Auditorium. The performance featured an "American sounds, American voices" theme through seven different songs. The ensemble was under the direction of Garrett Griffin, associate professor of music and director of bands.

Sixteen Coastal Carolina students have been carefully picked to star in this Spring season's theatrical event "She Kills Monsters," directed by Coastal's own Benjamin Sota. This diverse and professional cast will deliver a high-octane, action-packed adventure that inspires the geek and warrior within us all.

The seventeen members of the CCU Percussion Ensemble performed a variety of music on Nov. 13, 2018, in Coastal Carolina University's Wheelwright Auditorium.

Twenty-two Coastal Carolina University students will bring to life Thornton Wilder's timeless, Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town," on Wednesday, Nov. 7, through Thursday, Nov. 15, in the Edwards Theatre at CCU. The landmark American drama tells the story of a small community that represents every town the world over. Wilder delivers universal truths on what it means to be human.

CalypSamba, the Coastal Carolina University World Percussion Ensemble, presented an evening of cross-cultural fusion music featuring percussionist Scott Kettner on Nov. 7 in CCU's Wheelwright Auditorium.

Forty Coastal Carolina University students will perform in the Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Garrett Griffin, assistant professor and director of bands for the Department of Music. The performance is on Thursday, Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in Wheelwright Auditorium. The concert includes six pieces, including traditional American river songs like "Shenandoah" and "Down the River."

Eighteen Coastal Carolina University students will perform in the Stephen Sondheim classic musical "A Little Night Music" from Wednesday, Oct. 24, through Saturday, Oct. 27. The musical revolves around the themes of love and grief and is infused with humor, irony and warmth.

Forty-five Coastal Carolina University students were accepted into Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) theatre program at Coastal this fall. The four-year course of study is highly competitive and recruits high school students from across the country.

Seven Coastal Carolina University theater students put their acting to the test with CCU's production of Martin McDonagh's "The Pillowman." The play runs from Thursday, Oct. 11, through Monday, Oct. 15, in the Edwards Theatre.

The Coastal Carolina University Department of Music, in partnership with the Skipp Pearson Jazz Legacy Foundation, presented "Come Let Freedom Swing," a dual performance by the CCU Jazz Big Band and Carl Payne Big Band presented on Singleton Lawn East on Saturday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m.

Musical theatre students at Coastal Carolina University brought "35MM," a musical exhibition, to the stage April 19-21. The production was billed as "a groundbreaking reimagining of what the modern American musical can be," and was directed by Robin Edwards Russell.

The Coastal Carolina University Department of Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar" featured an all-female cast of more than 25 CCU students.

Sporting Hawaiian shirts and a pitch pipe, a student barbershop quartet called the Fortissibros is serenading the Coastal Carolina University campus with nostalgic tunes. Ben Southerland, a senior of Dalton, Ga.; Kaleb Jenkins, a sophomore of Concord, N.C.; Gavin Carnahan, a junior of McKeesport, Pa.; and Carson Matte, a sophomore of Duluth, Ga., met in the musical theatre program at CCU. The foursome started the group as a fun, innovative and creative way to hone their performance chops outside the class curriculum.

The Coastal Carolina University Guitar Ensemble performed a concert of songs ranging from the Baroque period through the 21st century on Feb. 21. This concert showcased solo and ensemble performances of songs by Johann Sebastian Bach to the Beatles by the students of Daniel Hull, lecturer of music.

More than 30 Coastal Carolina University students will be performing in the Wind Ensemble concert "Reflections" on March 1, directed by T. Andre Feagin, CCU director of bands. The program features the music of Ron Nelson, Percy Aldridge Grainger, Frank Ticheli and David Maslanka.

Some 36 theater students at Coastal Carolina University had roles in "Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical," which ran from Feb. 8 to 17. The 1920s come roaring to life in this musical adaptation of Woody Allen's Academy Award-winning film. Nominated for six Tony Awards, "Bullets over Broadway: The Musical" is set amid tap-dancing gangsters and high-stepping chorines with a pretentious playwright, an aging leading lady, a ditsy leading man, a desperate producer, a dimwitted chorus girl and her gangster sugar daddy. Adam Pelty, CCU assistant professor of theatre, directs and choreographs the production. The cast includes Benjamin Southerland, Sophis Kider, Bryce Ridley-Williams, Austin Dare, T.J. Little, Erin Paxton, Hannah Garmon, Noah Pelty, McKenna O'Grodnik, John Dudley, Terrell Jones, Kaleb Jenkins, Ethan Babson, Jason Skibinski, Emma VanDeVelde, Emilee Hassanzadeh, Peyton Smith, Grainger Russell, Bailey Foard, Tessa Belongia, Hannah Wilson, Chloe Campbell, Will Shafer, Christian Ruiz, Jared Sayers, Carson Matte, Briar Presley White, Collin David Beach, Hank Santos, Isabel Dorst, Nikko Smith, April Pollock, Drake King, Guy Bannister and Amelia Dobbs.

Coastal Carolina University Department of Music presented its 18th annual Choral and Holiday Concert recently at the First United Methodist Church of Conway. Directed by Timothy Koch, teaching associate in the Department of Music at CCU, students performed classic Christmas pieces as well as international pieces including Italian, Nigerian, French and Moravian carols.

The Coastal Carolina University student ensemble Acoustic Songbook performed a concert of unplugged versions of popular songs on Nov. 28. The ensemble was directed by David Bankston, a professor of music at CCU. The student performers showcased their skills on piano, guitar and vocals.

Coastal Carolina University students read their original works of poetry at an International Poetry Slam on Nov. 16 at James J. Johnson Auditorium. The Center for Global Engagement and the International Programs Committee coordinated the event for International Week at Coastal that is celebrated Nov. 13-17. International Week is recognized worldwide as an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange. The event featured 11 CCU students selected as finalists.

Coastal Carolina University's Percussion Ensemble performed its fall concert on Nov. 7 at Wheelwright Auditorium. Sixteen studens in the ensemble performed a wide variety of music composed specifically for percussion instruments under the direction of Jesse Willis, associate professor of music. The group's repertoire includes 20th-century works by composers including John Cage, Edgard Varese and Steve Reich as well as recent composers such as David Gillingham, Bob Becker and John Psathas. The ensemble also performed pieces composed by CCU faculty, students and local composers.

Coastal Carolina University's CalypSamba world music percussion ensemble performed a concert with guest steel pan virtuoso Aldwin Albino on Nov. 3 at Wheelwright Auditorium. CalypSamba collaborated with Albino to present high-energy interpretations of music styles from around the world under the direction of Jesse Willis, associate professor of music. CaylpSamba was created 13 years ago and has since performed music styles from Africa, Japan, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Cuba and Brazil. The ensemble recently won the prestigious Percussive Arts Society World Percussion Ensemble Competition and was invited to perform at PASIC 2015 in San Antonio, Texas.