Events

A play "Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches" will be presented at the Freed Center from Sept. 28 until Oct. 1. The drama is an examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America in the 1980s.

The writer, Tony Kushner, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993 for the play that has been described as the most influential play of the last 25 years.

Set in 1985 in Manhattan, in the age of Reagan and at the onset of the AIDS epidemic, Kushner’s play faces head on the central crises of American culture. Political, religious and social conflicts underpin a story with characters whose personal crises of love and abandonment interconnect with larger societal questions.

The Parker Presents jazz group will perform at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28 in Presser Hall. The event is free and open to the public. The group consists of Gene Parker on saxophone, Ray Parker on bass, Harry Allen on tenor sax, Tad Weed on piano and George Schuller on drums.

 Gene Parker, an adjunct professor of jazz at Ohio Northern, plays more than 12 instruments. He has been a professional musician in the Toledo area for many years. His son, Ray Parker, is a New York City bass player. Both men have performed nationally with some of the biggest names in show business.