A group of Westmont students is getting a unique opportunity to work with an internationally acclaimed playwright, crafting a new production students will eventually perform in February. The Westmont Theater Arts department has commissioned playwright Erik Ehn to develop a new play as part of his ongoing Saint Play series.
Movers will be packing up a special Westmont wardrobe this week for a brief engagement at the Cerritos Library in hopes of inspiring youngsters to read. Westmont’s wardrobe was once owned by C.S. Lewis and closely matches the description of the one in his book, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
“The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” hits the big screen, Friday, Dec. 9. Westmont’s wardrobe was featured in this month’s National Geographic.
Hundreds of students, alumni and neighbors donning mittens and scarves will celebrate the start of the Christmas season at the fourth annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Westmont’s Kerrwood Lawn next week. The 70-foot redwood tree on the lawn will come aglow at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 30.
Santa Claus will stop by for free pictures with kids inside Kerrwood hall. Warm apple cider and cookies will also be available.
Westmont alumni are invited to mingle in the president’s office at 4:30 p.m. before the tree lighting ceremony.
Westmont’s Wind Ensemble and Chamber Orchestra will present a joint concert this week on campus. The free, public concert will be Friday, Nov. 18, at Deane Chapel, 8 p.m.
The wind ensemble will be under the direction of new Westmont music instructor Paul Mori. The 20-piece large ensemble is made up of brass, woodwind and percussion players. The large ensemble will feature compositions such as “Ode to Greensleeves” and Alfred Reed’s “Russian Christmas Music.” Trio and quartets from the ensemble will perform pieces by classic masters, such as Debussy and Mozart.
Roger Voskuyl, who served as president of Westmont College from 1950 to 1968, died Nov. 9 in Santa Barbara at the age of 95. The Harvard-educated chemist, who participated in the Manhattan Project during World War II, led Westmont during a crucial time in its history.
Westmont is hoping the allure of slime and liquid nitrogen ice cream will get youngsters interested in science. The college’s chemistry students recently held a Family Science Night at Westmont with another event scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 7-8:30 p.m.
About 35 fifth grade students and their parents came to the first event and made dry ice balloons, methane bubbles and explosions along with slime and ice cream.