The stage at the College of Central Florida’s Dassance Fine Arts Center will be transformed into a roller disco when CF Theatre presents “Xanadu” live on stage April 13-16.

The musical is based on the 1980 film, which starred Olivia Newton-John as Greek muse Clio who calls herself Kira and inspires mortal Sonny to open the world’s first roller disco in an old Southern California theatre. CF’s production features a cast of 28 students, including Kelli Piel as Clio/Kira and Jackson Reed as Sonny Malone, with an array of goddesses, sirens, stunt skaters and poi dancers.

The musical score includes all the hits from the film, including the Billboard No. 1 hit “Magic,” originally recorded by Olivia Newton-John, and integrates two classic Electric Light Orchestra songs, “Strange Magic” and “Evil Woman.” CF’s set, designed by Tyler Stentiford, features two stunt skating ramps.

“‘Xanadu’ is high-energy fun that will keep audiences laughing,” said Nonalee Davis, CF assistant professor of theatre and the play’s director. “Plus, the music will make you want to get up and dance! This Tony Award-nominated musical comedy, complete with roller skating, was an easy choice to celebrate Olivia Newton John’s legacy after the legendary singer passed away in August 2022.”

Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, April 13-15, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at the Dassance Fine Arts Center, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for non-CF students and can be purchased by calling 352-873-5810. Tickets are free for CF students, faculty and staff with valid I.D.

For more information, visit CF.edu/VPAEvents.

Seven outstanding students at the College of Central Florida have been named to the Florida College System 2023 All-Florida Academic Team and will be recognized at a team ceremony on March 31.

Ebony Baxter, Jessica Diers, Sydney Henninger, Mindy Jean-Gilles, Kaleb Leslie, Krishma Patel and Stephen Ward are members of the CF chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the largest honor society in American higher education. They were selected based on academic performance, leadership and community service.

“These CF student leaders consistently excel,” said Dr. Allan Danuff, associate vice president of Arts and Sciences and Phi Theta Kappa advisor. “Not only do they maintain the highest academic performance, they also serve our community and contribute to CF’s supportive, high-quality learning environment.”

The College of Central Florida invites the community to a free presentation, “Winning the Mental Game: The Simple Solution to Overcoming Performance Anxiety,” on Wednesday, March 8, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the Webber Center on the Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road.

Nicholas Pallesen, mental performance specialist and Juilliard-trained opera singer, will lead the virtual session. He specializes in helping performing artists succeed, both onstage and off, and regularly offers workshops relating to the psychology of performance. Not just for performances and auditions, Pallesen’s strategies can help all attendees with everyday communication.

This simulcast workshop is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and event giveaways will be provided. Participants also may choose to join the workshop from anywhere via Zoom. Please visit CF.edu/workshop for registration and login details.

The lecture is funded by the Mr. and Mrs. Seymour B. Robinson Memorial Endowed Chair. Co-chairholders Dr. Sarah Satterfield and Associate Professor Lori Witkowich have used this chair to explore how music was used to reduce feelings of social isolation in the wake of COVID-19, and how music can be used to alleviate performance and test anxiety and improve reading comprehension.

In January, the Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, refreshed 4,000 square feet of its European art galleries, located on the second floor. With major recent acquisitions and a comprehensive permanent-collection reinstallation plan underway, visitors will enjoy a cross-section of the Appleton’s holdings and over 20% more works on display.

Visitors will find many works on view that have never been exhibited or have not been exhibited in quite some time. A recent world-class addition is “The Dance of Love” by Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (1824-1888), a 19th-century French oil painting that complements academic figurative works by William Adolphe-Bouguereau and Elizabeth Jane Gardner. Boulanger’s large scale and exceptionally rare painting is the preparatory version that served as the model for a larger painting that still exists in the world-famous Paris Opera House in France.

For those familiar with the space, visitor-favorites remain on view, such as “The Young Shepherdess” and “The Knitter” by William Adolphe Bouguereau and “The Watering Trough” by John Sargent Noble.

In addition to two-dimensional works, visitors can enjoy a large selection of sculpture and decorative works that are rarely on display, including a 17th-century English embroidery panel, 18th-century French world maps and a marble portrait bust by the noted 19th-century French sculptor Jean Baptiste Carpeaux.

“This completes the first phase of a two-part refresh in the second-floor European galleries,” said Jason Steuber, Appleton Museum director. “We look forward to adding more works to the European galleries in the coming month.”

The Appleton Museum, Artspace and Store are open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. A campus of the College of Central Florida, the Appleton Museum of Art is located at 4333 E. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala, east of downtown on SR 40 (exit 352 east off I-75 or exit 268 west off I-95). Parking is free. For more information, call 352-291-4455 or visit AppletonMuseum.org.

The College of Central Florida’s innovative educational series, “Patriot Project: Bringing History to Life,” continues on Wednesday, March 1, with “History of the Colonial Period” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the CF Webber Center, 3001 S.W. College Road, Ocala. Jay Thompson, associate professor of political science, and Jennifer Ambrosia, social sciences faculty member, will present the joint lecture, delving into pivotal events in the founding of our nation.

The Patriot Project lectures are free and open to the public. Light refreshments and event giveaways will be provided.

The Patriot Project: Bringing History to Life is a year-long lecture series developed by Dr. Sarah Satterfield, CF senior professor of music and humanities, and funded by the CF Foundation’s Sharon and Jerome Glassman New Initiative Grant. Other lectures in this series have explored diverse topics including art, music, literature, theatre and science.

Series Schedule:

April 5, 2023 – “Religion in the Colonial Period” presented by Dr. Ron Cooper

For more details, visit CF.edu/PatriotProject.

The College of Central Florida invites the community to a ribbon cutting for the newly remodeled Allied Health Sciences building at the CF Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. On Friday, March 3, at 10:30 a.m., the Ocala Metro Chamber & Economic Partnership will join college officials to cut the ribbon for Building 6, which has been transformed into a hub for Health Sciences programs.

Attendees will be invited to tour the classrooms and laboratories that currently house the college’s Surgical Services program and will be home to new programs in Cardiovascular Technology, Respiratory Care and Sonography, which are expected to serve 200 students each year.

“We are committed to serving the health care needs of the community as we provide opportunities for high-wage careers for our graduates,” said Dr. Jim Henningsen, CF president. “This project was made possible by the generous support of the Florida Legislature and the Marion County Hospital District.”

To learn more about CF, visit CF.edu.

The College of Central Florida’s Debra Vazquez Memorial Poetry Series presents poet Adrian Matejka on Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Matejka will read from his collection at 12:30 p.m. in Building 8, Room 110, and at 7 p.m. in the Dassance Fine Arts Center on the CF Ocala Campus, 3001 S.W. College Road. Both readings are free and open to the public.

Born in Germany to a military family, Matejka grew up in Indiana. The editor of Poetry magazine earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Southern Illinois University and served as Indiana’s poet laureate in 2018-2019.

Matejka’s most recent collection of poems, “Somebody Else Sold the World,” was a finalist for the 2022 Rilke Prize. His third collection of poems, “The Big Smoke,” was awarded the 2014 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the 2013 National Book Award, 2014 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and 2014 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. He has collaborated on mixed media projects, and his first graphic novel, “Last on his Feet,” will be released this year.

The poet’s other honors include fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation.

The Debra Vazquez Memorial Poetry Series honors CF English and creative writing professor Debra Vazquez, who died as a result of domestic violence in 2004.

For more details, visit CF.edu.