The “DaVinci & Michelangelo: The Titans Experience” original, national touring theatre performance makes its University of Chicago debut at the International House at the University of Chicago in Assembly Hall Wednesday night Nov. 9th, 2016 at 7:00PM.

Mark Rodgers, the creator and host of the multi-media performance, is also the curator of the DaVinci Machines and Michelangelo Exhibitions for North America.  Rodgers originally developed the idea to compare and contrast the two geniuses while curating the DaVinci and Michelangelo Exhibition in Denver, CO.

“I realized you can’t talk about DaVinci without Michelangelo,” explained Rodgers. “Many people don’t know that they were not only contemporaries but also fierce competitors.”

The performance has evolved over the last couple years starting as a tour of only DaVinci then, over time, Rodgers incorporated Michelangelo into his tours with the addition of the Michelangelo Exhibition arriving from Florence.  According to Rodgers, the more tours and presentations he gave, the more information people wanted to know about these two monumental geniuses.

“There has never been an exhibit or museum, that I am aware, that has ever compared or contrasted DaVinci and Michelangelo in the same presentation,” explained Rodgers. 

The multi-media event is a combination of host Rodgers and a presentation that includes movies, 3D-animations of machines and inventions, images of codices, artwork, paintings and sculptures.  “DaVinci and Michelangelo have an outreach and following that everyone can relate to,” explained Rodgers.  “Everything they said and did relates to our lives today.” 

“We were always comparing Michelangelo and DaVinci, and to me it seemed like a natural step to combine them.  I started to integrate the life stories of these two iconic men into the docent guided tours at the exhibition.”  The guided tours became so popular and was the basis for the development of this multi-media Broadway production that have been successfully touring the United States. 

“For our performance to be co-sponsored by the Global Voices Performing Arts and Lecture Series is truly an honor.  Our performance strives to make a difference by understanding these incredible geniuses and applying them to our world today.

The goal of the Global Voices Series and our performance is the same in presenting the inspiring individuals to help transform our lives”, states Rodgers.

Free and open to the public. 

Presented by the Global Voices Performing Arts and Lecture Series.