Performing Arts
Whether your passion is musical theatre, straight drama, comedy, choral music, dance (contemporary or traditional), cheerleading, or solo vocal and instrumental instruction or performance, at Mitchell College you can find your voice.
Participation in every Mitchell performing arts program is open to all Thames and Mitchell students, regardless of major. For many students involvement in our program is their first performance experience, and it is where they discover their passion.
Our home city of New London is steeped in the tradition of performing arts. Right in our own backyard is the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, called the “launchpad of American theater,” and the Garde Arts Center, which hosts hundreds of theatrical and concert performances each year.
Upcoming Performances
Fall Play: The Play That Goes Wrong
By Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields
Join us for a theatrical production in which everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. How many cast members can be knocked out? How many people can appear on stage with the same costume? How many set pieces can fail, fall down, or catch on fire? How many guns can fail to fire at the crucial time, only to go off when they shouldn’t? Join us on November 14, 15, and 16 to find the answers to these questions!
Thursday, Nov. 14 — 7:30pm
Friday, Nov. 15 — 7:30pm
Saturday, Nov. 16 —2:00pm and 7:30pm
Tickets
Students and Alumni: $5
Faculty and Staff: $10
General Admission: $15
Past Performances
Winter Play: It’s a Wonderful Life, November 2023
Fall Dance/Cheer Showcase, November 2023
Fall Weekend Cabaret, October 2023
Spring Dance/Cheer Showcase, April 2023
Select Chorus Spring Concert, April 2023
Spring Musical: The Fantasticks, May 2023
Mitchell College Players
Each year, the Mitchell College Players stage a fall play and spring musical in addition to other performances such as cabaret, improv comedy, and one acts.
Auditions are open to all Mitchell and Thames students and roles are available both on and back stage.
Learn More
Jonathan Babbitt
babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
860-701-7987
Auditions for Theatre Seasons
Mitchell College Select Chorus
This group, numbering 16 to 20 voices, is a curricular, all-auditioned ensemble and maintains a rigorous rehearsal schedule of two two-hour sessions per week, with additional individual coaching in Voice and Theory throughout each semester. The Select Chorus performs for College functions throughout the academic year and serves as an additional facet of the College’s public face by performing off-campus for recruiting events, alumni and development efforts, and community activities in southeastern Connecticut.
We begin our fifth year with a strong group of returning singers, and are eager and excited to meet all the singers of the incoming class! Our repertoire includes works by Mozart, Vaughan Williams, two brand-new settings by our own Select Chorus Director Jonathan Babbitt, folk songs, popular arrangements, music from Asia and Africa, and more.
Learn More
Jonathan Babbitt
babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
860-701-7987
Auditions for Select Chorus
Watch for information about upcoming auditions here! No prior singing/choral experience is required, and auditions are open to all Mitchell College and Thames students.
Dance/Cheer
The Mitchell College Dance/Cheer Team welcomes all incoming and returning Mariners, whether they have no experience in dance, a passing interest in dance, some experience in dance, or years of experience in dance! The ensemble presents a Showcase during each semester, offers cheerleading at select home basketball contests, and provides dancers for the spring musical when appropriate. Performances are choreographed to take into account the proficiency levels of all dancers!
All interested prospective members are invited to learn more about the program by contacting:
Jonathan Babbitt
babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
860-701-7987
Auditions for Dance/Cheer
Watch for information about upcoming auditions here! No prior formal dance/cheer experience is required, and auditions are open to all Mitchell College and Thames students.
Lessons & Ensembles
On-Campus Private Lessons
Mitchell is pleased to offer private lessons in voice and instruments through the College. Drawing upon the highly-trained pool of professional instrumental and vocal performers from throughout New London County and beyond, we offer private on-campus instruction in voice, piano, winds, strings, organ, brasses and percussion, while providing rigorous structure and accountability through the office of the Coordinator of Applied Music Studies.
Ensembles
The College is also coordinates the creation and coaching of instrumental ensembles of any sort, from rock and jazz to classical trios, quartets, chamber groups and pep bands. Opportunities for performance abound, and include college athletic events, gatherings and assemblies, and off-campus outreach events in the local community.
Jonathan Babbitt at babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
860-701-7987
About the Director
Jonathan Babbitt, M.M.
Jonathan Babbitt, Assistant Professor, Performing Arts, Director of Choral Activities, Coordinator of Applied Music Studies and Director, Mitchell College Players, earned his bachelor’s and master’s at Yale and Yale School of Music where he directed the Yale Freshman Chorus and was associate director of the Yale Glee Club. His numerous years of experience as a teacher, clinician, conductor, recitalist, adjudicator and composer contribute greatly to the performing arts landscape at Mitchell College. Visit Jono’s bio to learn more.
Jonathan Babbitt
babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
860-701-7987
Performing Arts Internships
When he first started as a Thames at Mitchell College student, Max Pevna would’ve never guessed that two summers later, he’d be a full-time communications major at Mitchell, performing Shakespeare at an outdoor amphitheater alongside one of the most adventurous classical theater companies in New England. Thanks to his Integrative Career Development (ICD) summer internship with Flock Theatre, Max gained a full range of experiences in the world of theater production as he helped Flock prepare for three weekends of Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, Part I. Read Max’s story.
“It’s a good way to make a lot of friends and kind of come out of your shell because you can’t just be your normal, quiet self – you have to open up as a different character and all that. You don’t know unless you try it.”
Learn more about Internships
To learn more about internships and career experiences through Integrative Career Development at Mitchell College, visit mitchell.edu/icd.
The Red Barn Performance Space
Completed in 2018, the Red Barn at Mitchell College offers a dramatic and innovative venue for Mitchell College performances. With state-of-the-art lighting and sound, black-out window capability for theater performances, a nine-foot Baldwin concert grand piano, resonant acoustics and a theatre-style seating capacity of 150-225, the Red Barn adds a fabulous, flexible space for student and community theatre and concert performances.
Boredom Is Not an Option
The local arts/music/theater scene is alive and thriving
New London and southeastern Connecticut might be thought of as a sleeping giant when it comes to the arts. For art, Mitchell students have quick access to the Hygienic Gallery and Lyman Allen Gallery. The Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme is a fun half day excursion and step back in time. For theater buffs, students can see a local performance at the Garde Arts Center or Eugene O’Neill Theater. Great theater options a short drive away include Ivoryton Playhouse and Goodspeed Musicals, both on the Connecticut River. Concerts at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods are readily accessible, and the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center in Old Lyme offers a full repertoire of cultural and performing arts experiences.
And of course, Mitchell is about 2 hours from NYC and 2 hours from Boston for near limitless big city entertainment, both accessible by train.
CONTACT
Jonathan Babbitt, M.M.
Assistant Professor, Performing Arts, Director of Choral Activities, Coordinator of Applied Music Studies, Director, Mitchell College Players
babbitt_j@mitchell.edu
Phone: 860-701-7987
