News Release

Ohio Wesleyan University 2009-2010 Performing Arts Series Kicks off with Gale McNeeley Performing ‘Archy & Mehitabel’

October 5, 2009

Image courtesy of Gale McNeeley

Click here for a high resolution head shot. (508k JPG)

The performance features McNeeley’s light-hearted portrayals of Archy, a literate cockroach, and Mehitabel, a morally careless alley cat. The duo first came to life in the editorial column of journalist Don Marquis in 1916 and since then has been the subject of a 1950s-era musical and a 1990s-era cartoon.

McNeeley’s career spans more than 36 years with performances on Broadway, regional theatre, television, film, and the circus. He grew to love the Marquis characters when he was cast as Archy, the singing and dancing cockroach, in the musical “Archy & Mehitabel” in 1980.

McNeeley is a graduate of John Carroll University, the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, and Antonio Fava’s Scuola Intenazionale Dell’Attore Comico in Italy.

His performance will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 25 in Ohio Wesleyan’s Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave.

Tickets for “Archy & Mehitabel,” and all Performing Arts Series events, are $20 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens and non-Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid ID. Tickets are free for Ohio Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased online at www.ticketweb.com or by calling the Performing Arts Series phone messaging service at (740) 368-3629.

Additional 2009-2010 Ohio Wesleyan Performing Arts Series events will include:

• 8 p.m. Jan. 16, 2010 – “The String Machine,” featuring the Columbus Dance Theatre, with artistic direction by Timothy Veach. This evening-length work questions our relationship with the technology that surrounds us. It includes live music by the Carpe Diem String Quartet and features dancers and musicians hooked to a “machine of sound and movement.” “The String Machine” will be performed in Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave.
• 8 p.m. Jan. 31, 2010 – Cecile Licad, piano performance. Hailed as a “pianist’s pianist” by The New Yorker, Licad’s large repertoire as an orchestral soloist ranges from acclaimed interpretations of the classical works of Mozart and Beethoven, to the Romantic literature of Brahms and Tchaikovsky, to the 20th century compositions of Debussy and Ravel. Licad will perform in University Hall’s Gray Chapel, 61 S. Sandusky St.
• 8 p.m. Feb. 27, 2010 – Chanticleer, men’s chorus. Known around the world as an “orchestra of voices,” Chanticleer features a seamless blend of 12 male voices ranging from countertenor to bass. Performances include original interpretations of vocal literature from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. Chanticleer has been called “the world’s reigning male chorus” by The New Yorker and was named 2008 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America. Chanticleer will perform in University Hall’s Gray Chapel, 61 S. Sandusky St.

Ohio Wesleyan University is an undergraduate liberal arts college that transforms the lives of its students through a combination of rigorous academics, mentoring relationships, and real-world experiences. Featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” the private university’s 1,850 students come from 45 states and 39 countries. Visit www.owu.edu for more information.