Thanks to the generosity of one of Uni's most enthusiastic graduates, the school raised almost $24,000 this fall to support faculty development. Last month, Uni held an art auction made possible by the donation of 23 pieces of art to the school by 1950 alumna Ellie Stoddard Seibold. Ellie donated the art upon her death in 2002.

Works by four Uni students have been selected for display in Millikin University's third annual high school invitational art show, which begins Saturday and lasts until Dec. 4. The show begins with a reception and awards presentation. The students whose works have been chosen are Eddie Diazmunoz, Lisa Sproat, Andrea Bajcsy, and Rohit Palekar.

In the weeks before "The Miser" was performed in front of enthusiastic North Attic Playhouse audiences, several actors sat down with fellow cast member Kahlilah Cooke to talk about getting ready for the play. Here is a chance to get the inside scoop on what it took to put on the performances that commanded the Uni stage last week.

After one day of auditions and nearly two hours of arguing over massively talented fellow students, the cast list for this year's Student Productions has been assembled and rehearsals have started. StudProd '09 is set to be performed 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4 and 5 in the North Attic Playhouse. Check inside to see who will perform in the five one-act plays, all of them written and directed by Uni students.

Not everything that goes into a play takes place in front of an audience. Even after all of the lines are learned, cast members must do their hair and put on their makeup and costumes to transform themselves into their characters. Uni thespians are no different, as Stephanie Overmier found out last week when she went backstage before a performance of Uni's 2009 fall play, Molière's "The Miser."

It's over — Uni's fall play, "The Miser," is over. "All the work we did since September came down to our closing-night performance on Saturday," writes actress Kahlilah Cooke. "Or rather, it was over for the audience. For everyone involved in the play, things weren't even close to finished even after the final bow."

Opening night finally arrived for the cast and crew of Uni's fall play, "The Miser." And, according to actress Katy Metcalf, it was amazing. "Today, I got all my lines," she writes. "Every single one. I did accidentally scream — but I can work on that later. And not just me. Monologues were finally in place, costumes were completed, everything went wonderfully. Taking the final bow was dreamlike."

"There is a particular set of smells that accompanies productions at Uni High," writes actress Anna Gooler. "I can't say exactly why I focus on these smells, but perhaps it's my brain preparing for nostalgia. I'll be flying around in my hovercraft someday in the future and smell something familiar, and I'll find myself yearning for the good old days of theater at Uni."

"I have a different perspective on this process from most, for I am a techie and I am not on stage," writes crew member Adam Joseph. "While the actors are worried about learning lines and entrances, I worry about knowing what lights to turn on when and making sure each light is where it needs to be. And just doing that presents a certain number of problems."

Four members of the Gargoyle staff — senior editor Anna Gooler and junior editors Kahlilah Cooke, Adam Joseph, and Katy Metcalf — are involved in this year's fall play, "The Miser." This week they will take us backstage to get a sense of what goes into putting on a school production. What happens in tech week doesn't always stay in tech week.

Last spring, Uni theater put on a successful production of "A West Side Story." Now, they are hard at work again on French playwright Molière's comedy, "The Miser." Directed by Barbara Ridenour, the cast includes theater veterans and newcomers. Performances will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday and at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in the North Attic. Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for students, faculty and senior citizens.

For the second consecutive year, a remarkable 27 of fine arts executive teacher Rick Murphy's students were named IMEA all-district musicians. The district jazz festival is scheduled for Nov. 7 at Illinois Wesleyan University, followed two weeks later by the district junior/senior festival at Illinois State University. Learn more inside.

More than 60 years ago, a girl named Eleanor "Ellie" Stoddard walked through the doors of Uni. Now, thanks to her generosity, the school will host "Uni Celebrates the Arts," an art auction that will benefit the faculty support endowment that she established in 2001.

Lots of good new releases in music (Sufjan Stevens, Flaming Lips), movies ("Where the Wild Things Are," "New York, I Love You"), and video games ("Demon's Souls"), but the real news is what's going on Friday night. An art auction to benefit Uni will be held on campus at 6 p.m., and the brilliant humorist David Sedaris will appear at the Virginia at 8. Go to both!

Director Barbara Ridenour has announced the cast of this year's fall play, Molière's "The Miser." Zack Goldberg will perform the title role of Harpagon, while Ethan Schiller and Stefanie Senior will play Harpagon's children. For the rest of the cast, check inside. "The Miser" will take the stage Nov. 5-7 in the North Attic Playhouse.