Public Radio Series ‘Selected Shorts’ on Stage Live at Fine Arts Center

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The hit public radio series Selected Shorts comes to the Fine Arts Center (FAC) Concert Hall on Friday, Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. with a night of funny, surreal, moving and romantic tales about the LGBTQIA+ community.

The evening is hosted by Valorie Curry (“The Tick”), with performances by Becca Blackwell (“They, Themself and Schmerm”) and Sam Underwood (“Fear the Walking Dead”).

First broadcast in 1985, Selected Shorts is produced by Symphony Space in New York City and broadcast on more than 150 stations around the country. The stories are mostly fiction, sometimes classic, sometimes new, and always performed by great actors from stage and screen.

Aaron Shackelford, FAC director of programming, said “One of the core values of the Fine Arts Center is to be a space where everyone feels welcome. To be not just an artistic sanctuary, but a space of inclusion for all of our students, staff, faculty and community members. This evening of ‘Selected Shorts’ represents these values. For the performance at the FAC, we asked ‘Selected Shorts’ to put together a program that reinforces the belief that everyone’s stories can and will be told at the FAC.”

Curry is a founding member of Los Angeles’ Ovation Award-winning Coeurage Theatre Company, with which she starred in “Balm in Gilead” and the West Coast premiere of “Shakespeare’s Double Falsehood.” On television, she has appeared in “Veronica Mars,” “CSI: New York,” “House of Lies,” and currently the “The Tick.” Her film credits include “Twilight: Breaking Dawn,” “Blair Witch” and American Pastoral.”

Blackwell is a NYC-based trans actor, performer and writer. Existing between genders, and preferring the pronoun ‘they,’ Blackwell works collaboratively with playwrights and directors to expand our sense of personhood and the body through performance.

Underwood is founder and artistic director of New York’s Fundamental Theater Project, with which he produced and starred in “One Day When We Were Young” by Nick Payne with Curry. His New York theater credits include “Candida” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Equus,” in which he starred opposite Alec Baldwin. Underwood’s television credits include recurring roles on “Dexter,” “Homeland” “The Following” and most recently “Fear the Walking Dead.”

Tickets are $35 and $25; Five College Students and youth 17 and under are $10. Faculty and staff are eligible for 15 percent off tickets (limit two) for this performance. For tickets call the Box Office at 545-2511, toll-free at 800-999-UMAS, or purchase online at fineartscenter.com/Shorts.