OXFORD, Miss. – “DRUM!,”a musical production that brings
four principal cultures together in a lively show of music,
dance, poetry, video, rhythm and song, comes to the
University of Mississippi Feb. 15.
Described as “sensational” by a writer in the Chicago
Tribune and dubbed as “the musical heartbeat of Nova
Scotia,” the show is set for 8 p.m. at the Gertrude C. Ford
Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets are $25 for general admission and $7 for UM
students. They are available by visiting the UM Box Office
in the Student Union, Ford Center Box Office or online at
http://www.olemiss.edu/fordcenter/.
They also can be purchased by calling 662-915-7411.
The show’s 20 musicians, dancers, drummers and singers come
from four cultures – African, Acadian, Aboriginal and
Celtic – to deliver the message that “we can hold on to who
we are and still share a song, a stage, a country, a
world,” said Norm Easterbrook, Ford Center director.
“The performance is especially suited for 108 Ford Center
programming, a series of performances and related
presentations designed to inspire a deeper understanding of
the performing arts and perhaps challenge us all to see the
world in which we live from a slightly different
perspective,” Easterbrook said.
Since “DRUM!” first came to the stage in 1999, the
production has continuously received standing ovations and
rave reviews. One Boston Globe reviewer asked for an
“encore,” and a Halifax Chronicle Herald writer declared
the production “unreviewable – it has to be experienced.”
Originally conceived as a 45-minute tourism piece, “DRUM!”
was performed as the main-stage show at Tall Ships 2000,
featured at a series of international conferences and aired
as an hourlong television special in 2005 on CBC
Television.
The production debuted as a full-length production in 2004,
running for 10 nights in its own specially designed theater
at the Halifax waterfront. In November 2005, “DRUM!” took
the story of the rhythms of Nova Scotia across the United
States, starting in Florida’s Van Wezel Center and
finishing to a packed 1700-seat theater in Park City, Utah.
Recently, “DRUM!” was nominated for two East Coast Music
Awards.
For a complete list of upcoming performances or more
information about the Ford Center at Ole Miss, visit
http://www.olemiss.edu/fordcenter/.
For assistance related to a disability, call 662-915-7411.