The Harmon Fine Arts Center—FAC to those who know and love it—turns 40 in 2012, and in 1972 Drake University kicked off a yearlong “Festival of the Arts.” Throughout the year, people filled the $6.1 million building, featuring the 593-seat Hall of the Performing Arts, rehearsal space and a $113,000 pipe organ. Productions included “The Fantasticks,” “Stop the World I Want to Get Off” and a performance by the renowned Nikolais Dance Theatre.
Students also performed “Oedipus Rex,” which required both the scenery and audience to be encased in a massive plastic bag, as pictured above. The set was then placed on display at the Science Center to demonstrate the principle of aerodynamics.
On March 1, students will perform a thespian classic, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” in FAC’s Hall of the Performing Arts. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students, seniors and those with a Drake I.D. For tickets, call the Drake Fine Arts Box Office at 515-271-3841.