For some people in Alabama, live theatre performances can seem as far from their everyday life as Barbour County is from Broadway. UAB theatre students are challenging that notion, taking Shakespeare, musicals and more to the rural main streets of Alabama to enlighten, educate and entertain folks who haven't had the chance to experience live theatre. The students are part of a Community-oriented program that travels to counties throughout the state to offer live theatre performances at schools, after school care programs, community centers, nursing homes, parks and libraries.

The program includes the performance groups (JAB Bookends, UAB Rhythms of Life, UAB Kids on the Block the UAB Cabaret and the UAB Shakespeare Ensemble. The performances are made possible by grants from the Birmingham Arts and Culture Commission, the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Honda. The students perform 26 Fridays a year. The program is well received, said Joyce Whitten, program manager for the UAB Department of Theatre.

"A lot of the schools arid places we visit are in smaller counties. They don't have drama departments or live theater, and this is their students' only opportunity to experience it," Whitten said.

The performance groups have 127 performances scheduled for the current school year, and performed 110 times last school year. They perform often in Jefferson County but they regularly visit counties including Limestone, Madison, DeKalb, Cleburn, Calhoun, Chambers, Lee, Russell, Barbour, Coffee, Houston, Baldwin, Dallas, Montgomery, Chilton, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Fayette, Lamar, Lawrence, Marshall and Blount. The experience also is good for the student performers, Whitten said.

"They get many different reactions and this helps them grow in their training and acting ability. It teaches them schedule discipline, and they have to react quickly to whatever surroundings in which they find themselves performing. It teaches them to be flexible," Whitten said. The groups present different programs.

UAB Bookends presents "The Traveling Aesop Show," a program for children in grades K-6, which is compiled, written and directed by UAB play-wright-residence Lee Shackleford. "The Traveling Aesop Show" is a rambunctious re-telling of well known fables by this ancient author. Four actors perform the fables with physical comedy, dance and lots of laughs, all while explaining the morals of the fables.

UAB Cabaret is an eight-member team of students performing a new show of current Broadway hits and old favorites, under the direction of UAB musical director Michael King. The review, appropriate for any age, features songs from "Rent," "The Wiz," 'Chicago," 'Cabaret" and many others.

UAB Kids on the Block, directed by Lee Shackleford, is a program that has been delighting children in grades K-5 for more than a decade, using life-size puppets, songs and stories to teach children an understanding of disabilities. Disabilities explored include blindness, cerebral palsy developmental disability and deafness.

UAB Shakespeare Ensemble features "Servant of Many Masters," a program directed by Dennis McLemon, that explores the many hilarious situations and relationships that servants and their masters find themselves in, using farcical scenes from "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," "The Comedy of Errors" and "The Twelfth Night." This program is a great way to introduce students in grades K-5 to the comic elements of Shakespeare.

Rhythms of Life is a new program written and directed by Cheryl Hall that explores cultural diversity through songs, poetry; percussion, dance, music and humor. The program is culturally and socially diverse, designed to complement the public school curriculum reading assignments for grades K-6.

These programs are essentially provided free of charge, although there may be a small charge for travel to help defray the costs of van rental and gasoline. For more information or to schedule a performance, contact Whitten at the UAB Department of Theatre at 204-934-3236.