Okay, here is my semi-shameless self-promotion for Iphigenia Point Blank, a film opera, and the first production that I have been cast in at the University of Iowa. But, hey, a girl has a right to celebrate, right?

All jokes aside, the University of Iowa is a wonderful place where hundreds of productions are performed every year. Just in the past week, I watched Dance Gala (choreographed by the Dance Department and a guest artist and performed by both Graduate and Undergraduate Dance students), Love Bird was performed (by the Theatre Department), followed by the upcoming Pastoral Play (also by the Theatre Department) and Iphigenia (by the combined efforts of Dance and Theatre). These performances are far from the last this year, there are so many more to come! The best thing is that these shows are either free or cost only $5 for University of Iowa students; as someone who loves the arts, Iowa is an incredible revenue for a wide variety of productions.

For the last month, every single day from 7pm to 10pm, sometimes 11pm, the Iphigenia Point Blank ensemble cast has been rehearsing the musical for our upcoming performances from November 1 to 11. Although it has been exhausting at times (look below for a photo of “Dead Fish” Faces of Dhari and me!) it has been a fabulous experience and a really fun time. The musicians, actors and dancers are not only incredibly talented, but are also super fun to be around. All of us have bonded; some of my new friends have driven me home after late-night rehearsals, which is extremely kind of them to do so.

Iphigenia Point Blank is a film opera directed by Marion Schoevaert and choreographed by George de la Pena (assisted by Graduate student Jeremy Cline and the rest of us dancers); the film was created by Irina Patkanian and the music composed by Kinan Asmeh. It is a 90-minute theatrical production about the refugee crisis, seen through the eyes of the Iphigenia myth. The musical follows Iphigenia, a teenaged girl, and other women and children, tangled up in the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the journeys they travelled to escape danger and the tales they carry with them.

And now, after that introduction…please come and watch the fruits of our hard work! Iphigenia is on in the David Thayer Theatre in the University of Iowa Building from November 1 to 11. Buy a $5 ticket…and bring a friend!

Hope you enjoy the show….

Let’s break a leg!