{"475341":{"#nid":"475341","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Channeling Burdell:  DramaTech Showcases a  Variety of Talents","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOne of DramaTech\u2019s most cherished traditions is the \u003Cem\u003EGeorge P. Burdell Variety Hour\u003C\/em\u003E. Since 1999, the annual performance has showcased students acting, singing, dancing, and everything in between. This year\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EVariety Hour\u003C\/em\u003E, which played to packed houses on November 20 and 21, was the first one in which auditions were open to the entire campus community, a change that resulted in a lineup of diverse, entertaining acts.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOriginally, the \u003Cem\u003EGeorge P. Burdell Variety Hour\u003C\/em\u003E was an in-house performance that was created by a director and centralized around a theme,\u201d said Melissa Foulger, Ivan Allen College associate academic professional and DramaTech\u2019s artistic director. \u201cWe decided to simplify the process, open it up to all of the campus and make it a \u003Cem\u003Etrue\u003C\/em\u003E variety show.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESpread among the show\u2019s 21 acts were musical performances, slam poetry, reenactments of scenes from the movies \u003Cem\u003EPirates of the Caribbean\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Cem\u003EHigh School Musical\u003C\/em\u003E,and \u003Cem\u003EScott Pilgrim vs. the World\u003C\/em\u003E, tap and pole dance routines, a one-man rock opera about former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, and the debut of DramaTech\u2019s neo-futurist troupe Three Walls No Blinds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, three ensemble numbers parodied songs from the musical \u003Cem\u003EThe Book of Mormon\u003C\/em\u003E, twisting the original lyrics to poke fun at the notion of engineers putting on a theatrical performance. Between acts, emcees Neeta Thawani and Mikael Bucknavage embarked on a \u003Cem\u003EBook of Mormon\u003C\/em\u003E-esque mission to recruit Georgia Tech students for a fictional church based entirely on theatre. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs director of the \u003Cem\u003EVariety \u003C\/em\u003EHour, sophomore electrical engineering major Bryce Irvin enjoyed devising the show, writing the script, and teaching the actors music and choreography for the ensemble numbers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cVariety shows often seem divided, each act separated from the show as a whole,\u201d Irvin said. \u201cI worked to create a story that would link all of the acts, and seeing that come together was very cool.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking ahead, Irvin hopes the success of this year\u2019s \u003Cem\u003EVariety Hour\u003C\/em\u003E will help DramaTech attract its own new recruits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cDramaTech always has open arms to both the students of Georgia Tech and the Atlanta area, and we are always encouraging new people to participate in whatever way they can,\u201d Irvin said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOne of DramaTech\u2019s most cherished traditions is the \u003Cem\u003EGeorge P. Burdell Variety Hour\u003C\/em\u003E. Since 1999, the annual performance has showcased students acting, singing, dancing, and everything in between.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"One of DramaTech\u2019s most cherished traditions is The George P. Burdell Variety Hour. Since 1999, the annual performance has showcased students\u2019 acting, singing, dancing, and everything in between."}],"uid":"28513","created_gmt":"2015-12-02 16:30:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:12","author":"Daniel Singer","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"475371":{"id":"475371","type":"image","title":"Students perform a musical number during DramaTech\u0027s \u0027George P. Burdell Variety Hour\u0027","body":null,"created":"1449257202","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:26:42","changed":"1475895225","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:45","alt":"Students perform a musical number during DramaTech\u0027s \u0027George P. Burdell Variety Hour\u0027","file":{"fid":"99272","name":"good_img_0074_resize.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/good_img_0074_resize_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/good_img_0074_resize_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":611280,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/good_img_0074_resize_0.jpg?itok=whNepeRE"}}},"media_ids":["475371"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/dramatech.org\/","title":"DramaTech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"42951","name":"Student Art"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11272","name":"DramaTech Theatre"},{"id":"10279","name":"George P. Burdell"},{"id":"71961","name":"musical theatre"},{"id":"3954","name":"theatre"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Erebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}