What’s on Tap at DPAC
By Jennifer Warfel '09 M.A., NDAA Staff Writer

The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center strives to inspire and inform students, the community, and alumni by hosting performances that both provoke questions and seek answers. This season, the DPAC welcomes to its stages, and to the new Irish Green and Terrace, a range of international and homegrown performers.

Visiting Artist Series: Again, this season, the Visiting Artist Series will bring world renowned performers to the stage of the Leighton Concert Hall. Among the performers in the series are:

  • South Bend native and world-class opera singer Nathan Gunn (Sept. 4, 2009)
  • Country singer Roseanne Cash (Sept. 13, 2009)
  • Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves (April 17, 2010)

Some sample songs from these performers are available on the performing arts website.


Theater: The 2009-2010 season is highlighted by two performances focused on the integration of art and recent social history.

  • The world premiere of L.A. Theatre Works presentation of the RFK Project (Jan. 21-23, 2010), chronicles the transformation of Robert F. Kennedy from a civil rights skeptic to one of its champions.
  • DPAC also welcomes the return of Tim Robbins’ The Actors’ Gang with its theatrical interpretation of The Trial of the Cantonsville Nine (Feb. 11-13, 2010). A resource guide is available for The Trial of the Cantonsville Nine, including photographs and quotes from the nine Catholic protestors who burned draft documents at the Selective Services Office in Cantonsville, Maryland in 1968.   

Both events contextualize the performances with history through half-hour discussions prior to each show.


Children: One can never introduce children to art too early, an idea embraced by the DPAC. This summer, DPAC will host a free month of programming, including the first annual ANDKids World Film Festival. These July events include:

  • The first annual ANDKids World Film Festival (July 23 and 25, 2009) This festival also will offer opportunities for children to interact with members of the performing arts field, such as actor Sean Astin, star of Rudy and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
  • The entertainment will move outdoors to the new Irish Green and Terrace in front of the DPAC when the Notre Dame Concert Band and the Jazz Ambassadors of the United States Army Field Band perform on July 1 and 6 respectively.
  • The Andreas Kapsalis Trio will perform the world premiere of the accompaniment to the 1927 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed, as well as offer a film-scoring workshop for kids (July 23, 2009).
  • The Performing Arts Center will again partner with Downtown South Bend and the College Football Hall of Fame to present three family-friendly films on Gridiron Plaza: Some Like it Hot (July 10, 2009), Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (July 24, 2009), and  Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (July 31, 2009).

The fun for children continues into the year with such performances as:

  • The Enchantment Theater Company’s presentation of The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon (Feb. 26, 2010)
  • Eva Price, Maximum Entertainment Production’s presentation of Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona (March 5, 2010).


The Metropolitan Opera: New York’s Metropolitan Opera performances continue to be broadcast live in high definition on the Browning Cinema screen this year. On offer for 2009-2010 are:  

  • Puccini’s Tosca (Oct. 10, 2009)
  • Verdi’s Aida (Oct. 25, 2009)
  • Puccini’s Turandot (Nov.14, 2009)
  • Offenbach’s Les Contes D’Hoffman (Dec. 19, 2009)
  • Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier (Jan. 9, 2010)
  • Bizet’s Carmen (Jan. 16, 2010)  

For more information on these or any of the other performances, please see the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center website or call the Ticket Office at 574-631-2800.