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Department of Theatre and Dance NewsletterAlumni Edition
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Alex Lewin |
Ronald McCants, Jr. |
Jennifer Barclay Newsham |
Faculty member Kim Rubinstein has directed The American Plan currently running at the Old Globe with costume design by Emily Pepper (MFA '05) and lighting design by Chris Rynne (BA '00), who is lighting director at the Old Globe.
Dance faculty Judy Sharp, Ballet Mistress of California Ballet, would like to pass along info about an exciting program from the Ballet on March 28th and 29th at the renovated Balboa Theater. This is a program of contemporary ballets - not a tutu in sight! Titled First View, the program features Opus M, a company visiting from Munich, Germany. Students can attend the Saturday, March 28th, 2:30pm show for only $20. If you are interested, please contact the California Ballet box office at 858-560-6741. Click on their link, above, for more information.
In Honor of Emeritus Professor Floyd Gaffney - The late Professor Gaffney was honored on Friday, February 29th, in the Weiss Theatre with An Evening of Theatre, Music, Song and Dance celebrating Gaffney’s lifelong achievements and contributions in the arts. Theatre professor Jorge Huerta served as master of ceremonies, with UCSD Chancellor Marye Anne Fox giving opening remarks. Among the performers were be Gaffney’s daughter and Department Alum Monique [Gaffney], actor and dancer; UCSD music professor and pianist Cecil Lytle; former Gaffney student actor James Avery; actor Karole Forman, and dancer Sandra Foster King. Read more here. A reception preceeded the event.
Commencement Approaches - As always, separate commencement ceremonies will be held on different dates by the undergraduate colleges, the School of Medicine, the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, the Rady School of Management, and Graduate Studies. Graduate Studies will hold their Commencement Ceremonies on Sunday, June 22nd, as will Warren, Roosevelt, and Revelle Colleges. Muir, Marshall, and Sixth Colleges will hold their Commencements on Saturday, June 21st. You can read more specifics here. The link also will lead to information for visitors, arrangements for regalia (caps and gowns), gifts, and diploma information.
Next Week - The Baldwin New Play Festival 2008: Five world premiere plays by UCSD Playwrights
Bureau of Missing Persons, by Lila Rose Kaplan (MFA '08), directed by Sarah Rasmussen. A man loses his wife. A fourth grade teacher loses a child at the zoo. A maid obsessed with obituaries brings two strangers together to find the loved ones they lost. They end up in a cave in Pakistan where nothing is quite what it seems. What does it mean to be missing? And how do we recover from catastrophic loss?
OPENS: Friday, 4/18 at 8:00pm
Saturday, 4/19 at 2:00pm
Wednesday, 4/23 at 8:00pm
Thursday, 4/24 at 8:00pm
Friday, 4/25 at 8:00pm
The Further Adventures of Suzanne and Monica, by Alex Lewin (MFA '08), directed by Lori Petermann. An acerbic young actress, Monica Grant, has been hired as the body double for Suzanne Baxter, sagging doyenne of the silver screen. But when Suzanne up and disappears, Monica must stand in for her in more ways than one.
OPENS: Wednesday, 4/16 at 8:00pm
Saturday, 4/19 at 8:00pm
Tuesday, 4/22 at 8:00pm
Saturday, 4/26 at 2:00pm
Saturday, 4/26 at 8:00pm
The Attic Dwellers, by Jennifer Barclay (MFA '09), directed by Adam Arian. As a natural disaster ravages LA, two strangers find refuge in the attic of an abandoned house. But inexplicable noises rumble from below, the radio has a split personality, and the only exit has been sealed shut. A dark and twisted comedy about a toxic past that just won’t stay buried.
OPENS: Saturday, 4/19 at 8:00pm
Tuesday, 4/22 at 8:00pm
Wednesday, 4/23 at 8:00pm
Thursday, 4/24 at 8:00pm
Friday, 4/25 at 8:00pm
Wading in the Water (a staged reading) of a new play from the winner of the second national Dr. Floyd Gaffney National Playwriting Competition on the African-American Experience, Maya L. James. Set in the backwoods of Baton Rouge, Wading in the Water explores the harsh impact of Hurricane Katrina on an African-American family. Saturday, 4/26, at 10:30am in Galbraith Theatre (GH 157).
The Strangest Fruit, by Ronald McCants (MFA '10), directed by Isis Misdary. Inspired by true stories of Springfield, MO, a detective investigating a star basketball player’s lynching encounters two people who challenge his understanding of race, identity, and history’s legacy.
A Cure for Pain, by Stephanie Timm (MFA '10), directed by Tom Dugdale. A 21st century couple struggles to remedy their troubled relationship. A Victorian doctor strives to heal a beautiful madwoman. A group of abused internal organs contemplate their suffering and the role of pain in strengthening the body and the soul.
OPENS: Thursday, 4/17, at 8:00pm
Friday, 4/18, at 8:00pm
Saturday, 4/19, at 8:00pm
Friday, 4/25, at 8:00pm
Saturday, 4/26, at 2:00pm
Surf Orpheus, a new world premier co-developed by Guest Director Corey Madden with choreographer Jacques Heim in conjunction with the UCSD Department of Theatre and Dance. May 13th through the 17th.
Highly Sprung , created by the UCSD Student Choreographers and directed by Allyson Green. June 5th through the 7th.
Click here for ticket information.
Pericles. The Play: The character of Pericles has often been compared to the biblical Job, or Greek Ulysses. On a more contemporary note, his journey approaches an Indiana Jones tale of twists and turns. The story begins when Prince Pericles seeks to escape from answering a dangerous “no win” riddle that will surely cost him his life regardless of what he answers. Thus, he sets out on a journey that is beset with storms, famine, the winning and loss of his wife, the abandonment of his daughter, a few assassination attempts, pirates, a brothel, and a resurrection or two. What are the odds that virtue can win out over evil in this Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Drama! The incomparable Andrei Belgrader directs in the intimate black box venue of the Mandell Weiss Forum Studio.
The Cast: Marshel Adams, Maren Bush, Liz Elkins, Joel Gelman, Johnny Gill, Greg Moody, Ria Murphy, Irungu Mutu, Jiehae Park, Pearl Rhein, Daniel Rubiano, Milana Vayntrub, and Josh Wade. The Creative Team: Director - Andrei Belgrader, Production Stage Manager - Sandi Kroll, Scenic Designer - Tom George, Costume Designer - Allison Crutchfield, Lighting Designer - Stephen Sakowski, Sound Designer - Alyssa Ishii, Asst Director - Adam Arian, Asst. Stage Managers - Hannah Wichmann and Matt Valenti, Asst. Costume Designers - Whitney Adams and Kristin Ellert, Asst. Lighting Designer - Matthew Bright.
The Physicists, directed by Lori Petermann. Director Petermann is a third-year MFA candidate. Her UCSD directing credits: The Love of the Nightingale (2006 Patté Award for Theatre Excellence in direction), and Baldwin New Play Festival plays Wildflower (’07), and Water Street (’06). Her UCSD assist directing credits: Moliere: A Cabal of Hypocrites, and Arms and the Man. NYC credits include: Sleepless Somniloquy (BAM Park); The Intoxicating Accelerating Death Machine (Theater for a New City); Inhale / Exile (Sacred Circle Theater); Righteous Acts Like Filthy Rags and Green Eyes Dreaming (Lincoln Center/ HERE); The Tram and 1968 (78th Street Theater); and Dreamscape Machinal, and Bed Manners (The Loewe). In Los Angeles: Mud, Ladies and Rain, Circus People, and The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria (The Black Box); and SEARCHING (The White Gallery). After receiving her BA from UCLA, Ms. Petermann studied in Germany, Austria, Italy, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand. She is an acclaimed mask and puppet maker, an Artistic Associate of Theater Mitu and a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab.
The cast included: Dorian Baucum, Seth Baumhover, Walter Belenky, Maritxell Carrero, Michelle Diaz, Molly Fite, Larry Herron, Bailey Hopkins, Liz Jenkins, Michael Kelly, Luke Lopez, Evan Powell, Patrick Riley, Katie Willert, and Johnny Wu. The creative team were: Director Lori Petermann, Production Stage Manager Kristi L. Clarida, Scenic Designer Steven Kemp, Costume Designer Emily DeAngelis, Lighting Designer Hong Sooyeon, Sound Designer Toby Algya, Assistant Director Kendra Miller, Asssistant Stage Managers Deirdre Holland and Tareena Wimbish, Assistant Costume Designer Christine Crook, and Assistant Lighting Designer James Tan.
Tango, by Slawomir Mrozek, directed by Gabor Tompa. A young man stages a revolution against his free-spirited parents so he can turn the family to traditional values. But at what cost for a little order and clean linens? Head of Directing Gabor Tompa received his training at the Theatre and Film Academy in Bucharest, Romania, and began working as a professional director in 1981. Since then, he has directed more than 60 productions worldwide including plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, Chekhov, Beckett, Bulgokhov, Camus, and Ionesco. He is the recipient of many awards (four times Best Director of the Year in Romania, Best Foreign Performance of the Year in England, etc.) and has received widespread recognition in Europe for his physically adventurous and conceptually audacious productions of classic plays.
The cast of Tango were: Jessica Watkins, Ross Crain, Peter Wylie, Brandon Taylor, Rebecca Levy, Rufio Lerma, and Lorene Chesley. The creative team are: Director Tompa, Production Stage Manager Jinny Parron, Scenic Designer Nikki Black, Costume Designer Maggie Whitaker, Lighting Designer Steven Sakowski, Sound Designer Chris Luessmann, Assistant Directors Thomas Dugdale and Isis Misdary, Assistant Stage Manager Kevin Fitzpatrick, Assistant Scenic Designer Robert Tintoc, Assistant Costume Designer Soohee Han, and Assistant Lighting Designers Stephen Siercks and Sarah Kranz.
Dakghar (The Post Office), by Rabindranath Tagore. A fatally ill boy engages passers-by through an open window from his sickbed as he awaits a letter from the King....Directed by Robert Castro, in 157 Galbraith Theatre. The Nobel Prize winner in Literature for 1913, Tagore was the youngest son of Debendranath Tagore, a leader of the Brahmo Samaj, which was a new religious sect in nineteenth century Bengal and which attempted a revival of the ultimate monistic basis of Hinduism as laid down in theUpanishads. Tagore was knighted by the ruling British Government in 1915, but within a few years he resigned the honor as a protest against British policies in India. Tagore had early success as a writer in his native Bengal. With his translations of some of his poems he became rapidly known in the West. For the world he became the voice of India's spiritual heritage; and for India, especially for Bengal, he became a great living institution. Director Robert Castro received his MFA degree in Directing from Yale School of Drama in 1998. He was later the recipient of a Fox Foundation Fellowship (2000) and a Van Lier Directing Fellowship (2003-2003). In addition, he has been a resident or associate artist at such significant venues as the Institute for the Arts and Civic Dialogue at Harvard University (1998-1999), the Mark Taper Forum (2003-2005), and El Teatro Campesino. Mr. Castro was a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in 1998 and a member of the New York Theatre Workshop in 2000. Mr. Castro’s productions feature a formal and highly visual approach utilizing masks, stylized movement, and choreography. They have been mounted at some of the premier regional theatres and performance schools in the nation, including the Santa Fe Opera, the Mark Taper Forum, and the La Jolla Playhouse. Mr. Castro has been a frequent collaborator with some of the towering figures of the American stage such as director Peter Sellars. He has taught at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, in the “Speak to Me” Program, at San Francisco State University, in Chicano/a and Latino/a theatre, and courses in acting and directing. The cast: Katarina Beckman, Carol Cabrera, Christina Cervenka, Aileen Cho, Tom Dadourian, Yasmine El-Azzeh, Anna Griffiths, Karina Gutierrez, Carolina Lombardi, Nick Louie, Simon Quiroz, Ian Sanderson, Dan Shapiro, San Tillis, and Aidee Walker. The Creative Team: Director Castro, Production Stage ManagerAmanda Salmons, Scenic Designer Amanda Wilczynski, Lighting Designer Sean Keehan, Sound Designer John Zalewski, Assistant Stage Managers Meggie Danielson and Brian Dehr.
danceALIVE!, directed by Liam Clancy. danceALIVE! featured an exciting blend of dance, theater, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Director Clancy (Assistant Professor, MFA in choreography, University of California, Los Angeles) began his career in New York City dancing in Elizabeth Streb’s Ringside Company. While with Streb he participated in the PopAction National Tour performing in venues that included the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, The Wexner Arts Center in Columbus Ohio and the Joyce Theater in New York City. He later began creating his own hybrid style, blending contemporary American dance and theater with elements of vaudeville and circus to explore issues of identity, culture, humor and survival. His work has been presented at the New York International Fringe Festival, HERE Arts Center and Dance Theater Workshop in New York as well as at REDCAT Theater at Walt Disney Hall, Highways Performance Space, The Hammer Museum and Sushi Performance & Visual Art in California. This year’s choreographers were Liam Clancy, Eric Geiger, Allyson Green, Margaret Marshall, Alison Dietterle Smith, and Yolande Snaith. The Dancers: Trixi Agiago, Michelle Anthony, Leslie Armstrong, Matthew Armstrong, Ilenia Battiato, Rebecca Bruno, Alison Chaikittirattana, Hannah Yo Chang, Nicole Chen, Stephanie Chen, Lindsey Covarrubias, Kenna Crouch, Elizabeth Diaz, Traycie Dohzen, Kelsey Dye, Hector Fletes, Daniel Flores, Tricia Frazier, Joanna Gartner, Noemi Giraud, Christine Herde, Arthur Huang, Samara Kaplan, Ayumi Kondo, Sarah Larson, Jessie Levine, Katherine Lorge, Dana Lossing, Morgan McGreevey, Jean Murata, Eric Nickerson, Ashley Pellegrini, Jessica Pusateri, Danielle Rosen, Phoebe Sanderson, Sharon Skare, Anna Spalding, Sydney Sprung, Gidget Tay, Cara Tedone, Calvin Tsang, Christina Uribe, Michelle White, Alissa Wilcox, Jennifer York, and Nicola Zenaty. The Creative Team: Director Liam Clancy, Production Coordinator Kelly Glasow, Production Stage Manager Erin Albrecht, Scenic Designer Robert Tintoc, Costume Designers Rachel Shachar and Christine Cook, Lighting Designers James Tan, Stephen Siercks, and Mathew Bright, and Assistant Stage Managers Kristi L. Clarida and Tareena Wimbish.
Tickets to all productions are available for purchase by calling the Box Office at (858) 534-4574 or in person at the Theatre District’s Central Box Office at the Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre. Visit the Theatre Department website for complete season information.
Monique Gaffney (BA '93) won the Lead Performance in a Play (female) category of the recently announced Craig Noel Awards for Theatrical Excellence from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She was recognized for her work in Yellowman, which won for Best Drama. The Awards honor the best of stage work of 2007, with forty-one awards presented in twenty-seven categories to fourteen theater companies this year. The critics also gave a posthumous salute to our late emeritus professor Floyd Gaffney, who for decades was San Diego's driving force in African-American theater. (Gaffney was also the artistic director of Common Ground Theatre.) The La Jolla Playhouse was a multiple winner for its Broadway-bound musical Cry-Baby, taking honors in choreography and lyrics.
Stephanie Gatton (MFA '05) stage managed the off-Broadway production of Deathbed, produced by fellow alums David McMahon (MFA '00) and Emily Donahoe (MFA '03). Performances ran January 23rd - March 1st at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre in NYC.
M. Scott Grabau (MFA ‘03) dropped a line to let us know that "I received a Patte award for Outstanding Lighting Design for Dracula at North Coast Repertory. I'm also on the faculty at Grossmont College these days. I hope that all is well with you."
Carmelita Becnel (MFA '99) is the new Production Stage Manager at Princeton University's Lewis Center for the Arts.
Jonathan Josephson (BA ‘05) writes: Variations on a Theme: The Best just finished its run at The Chance Theater in Anaheim (my play Bitches and Cocks was part of the evening of short plays and I also served as the Literary Director for the project) and I’m now dramaturging a production of Assassins and a new British drama called Talk About the Passion for the same theatre. My play The Giant and the Pixie will have a reading at the Syzygy Theatre Group later in January. Oh – and Katy Muzikar (BS, Chemistry, 05) and I got engaged in June!"
Silas Weir Mitchell (MFA '95) will appear in A Fork in the Road, an upcoming comedy film directed by Jim Kouf. Filming began last fall, and the movie is expected in theaters in 2008. Silas is in another production slated for release next month, a western titled Prairie Fever. Silas also appeared in the feature film Flags of Our Fathers, released in 2006. You might catch Silas in re-broadcasts of 2004's The Whole Ten Yards.
Don Mackay (MFA '90) “just found out this afternoon that I'm "the choice" for one of the roles in the Will Smith feature, Seven Pounds.... I'll find out whether it's a scene with Will Smith or Woody Harrelson when they officially "book" me next week. (In other words: "don't start spending the money just yet.") Same director as The Pursuit of Happiness." This is Don’s first role in a major feature film.
Caridad Svich (MFA '88) announces: "NoPassport presents a one-day conference with the support of The Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, Translation Think Tank, and in collaboration with Frank Hentschker and the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center. The conference will focus on a wide range of contemporary works for theatre and performance, viewing the body politic from a variety of formal perspectives. Topics that will be addressed in panels and special presentations include: the myriad articulations of political theatre, the face of theatre and social justice, mending democracy through theatre, dramaturgy affected by new technologies, performing the borderlands in and outside the US, intercultural negotiations in acts of translation, reconfiguring the classics, history, memory and transculturation in new writing. There will also be a book launch event for the release of three volumes from NoPassport Press. NoPassport was founded by playwright Svich as a Pan-American theatre alliance and press devoted to action, advocacy, and change toward the fostering of cross-cultural diversity and difference in the arts with an emphasis on the embrace of the hemispheric spirit in US Latina/o and Latin-American theatre-making." Click here for more information. The conference was Friday, February 22nd.
Brett Leonard sends: "I wanted to give you the info for ... my play "Unconditional". It [ran in] February at NY's Public Theater in a LAByrinth production. Producers include Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Ortiz and John Gould Rubin. Mark Wing-Davey is the director - one of the theater's true greats. And we have a terrific cast, including William Forsythe, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Elizabeth Rodriguez, Kevin Geer, Chris Chalk, Anna Chlumsky, Trevor Long and Yolanda Ross. Tickets are on sale at www.labtheater.org." The New York Times reviewed the production a few weeks ago.
Ryan Shams' (MFA '07) appearance in episode eight of this season's Law & Order was aired in January. He also appears very briefly in a "viral" commercial spot for Southwest Airlines titled "Testimonial". (Yes, that's him, catching a flying coffee mug and pouring coffee down someone's throat using a beer bong.)
Steve Cosson (MFA '99) sent us an update: "A very busy season for The Civilians. Just closed our seven-month Off Broadway run of Gone Missing—200 performances. Cast recording just released on Ghostlight Records, and the script will be published soon by Dramatists Play Service. We’re gearing up to premiere our new show about Evangelical Christianity in Colorado Springs, This Beautiful City, at the Humana Festival this March in co-production with the Studio Theatre in Washington D.C. Company includes two UCSD alumni – Marsha Stephanie Blake [MFA '01] and Alison Weller [MFA '01]. The D.C. opening is in June. In between those I’ll be directing a Civilians play I co-wrote with Michael Friedman, Paris Commune, at The Public Theater, opening in early April. (My fave photo from the La Jolla production attached.) Two UCSD actors in that cast as well, Brian Sgambati [MFA '01] and Sam Wright [MFA '99]. We’ll also be in Los Angeles next fall, would love to catch up with people wherever whenever. If you want direct updates just sign up on our email list."
Brian Hostenske (MFA '07) appeared in and Robert Brill (BA '88) designed a new "emo rock" musical, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, that played recently at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles.
Jennifer Chang (MFA '06) sends "I'll be doing Charlotte's Web (as "Fern" and "the Goose") at South Coast Rep and am reunited with Paloma Young [MFA '06] who designed the amazing costumes of course -- seriously, everyone should see her costumes for this show! Also, I'm in a Diet Pepsi Max commercial, supposedly running for the SuperBowl -- you can see me pushing a cart of Diet Pepsi Max in an office."
Kyle Lemieux (MFA '01) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Dallas and will begin teaching there next fall.
Maria Mileaf (MFA '90) is directing the New York premier of Lee Blessing's A Body of Water at Primary Stages in New York. The production, which opens on September 15th, according to press notes, tells the story of "Avis and Moss who awake one morning in a house set in the forested hills above a picturesque body of water. The weather's great, the view's magnificent. However, neither of them seems to know whose house this is or who they are. Will a stranger at their doorstep be able to help?" Blessing is the author of A Walk in the Woods and Going to St. Ives.
Michael Bakkensen (MFA '00) appeared in the U.S. premiere of Brian Friel's The Home Place at the Guthrie Theatre this past fall.
Guillermo Aviles-Rodriguez (MFA '02) sent word that his Watts Village Theater Company recently staged La Mujeres del Mar (The Women of the Sea), by Janine Salinas, at the Ford Ampitheatre in Los Angeles. Alum Grace Kim directed. The Company also staged Axiom, by Sigrid Gilmer, at the Bradley-Milken Youth and Family Center, 1773 E. Century Boulevard in Watts, and at the Ford in February. Watts Village Theatre Company was mentioned in the New York Times recently.
Deborah Vandergrift (MFA ‘91) is the new Director of Production at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C. She’s moved to Silver Spring Maryland with husband Louie Baxter and 2 1/2 –year-old daughter Serena.
Andrew Smith and Lisa Velten-Smith (both MFA '05) are preparing for upcoming projects. Andrew is currently in The Imaginary Invalid at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and Lisa is appearing as Octavia in Antony and Cleopatra at Theatre for a New Audience in New York, directed by UCSD's Darko Tresnjak.
Matt Henerson (MFA '95) will be "Tevye" in Fiddler on the Roof and "Ragueneau" in Cyrano de Bergerac at the Utah Shakespearean Festival this summer.
Yusef Miller (MFA '01) sends: "Hey, I just wanted to invite your support. I'm having an industry reading of one of my plays (view invite below). It would be comforting to have some regular people, slash uber-exuberant colleagues slash friends who cheer to get producers excited in the audience. If you must boo...well...yeah, you come too." Presented at The Dramatists Guild of America, Inc. you are cordially invited to the reading of Aaron & Tekla Starring Zonya Love, Celie from "The Color Purple" Monday, April 21,2008, 6-7:30pm, DGA Building, 1501 B'way (btwn 43rd and 44th) Frederick Loewe Room, Ste.710, Please RSVP, 212.802.7422 yusef@yusefmiller.com.
Amy Cook (PhD '06) has just accepted a tenure track position at Indiana University. She is currently a Mellon Fellow Visiting Professor at Emory University. The December, 2007 issue of Theatre Journal (59.4) includes an article by Amy, entitled "Interplay: The Method and Potential of a Cognitive Scientific Approach to Theatre." The article is a central contribution to this special issue on "Performance and Cognition."
Caleb Levengood (MFA '07) is settling in after a move to New York. Caleb recently designed The Main(e) Play, for Partial Comfort Productions at Theatre Row, ( N.Y. Times Review ) directed by Robert O'Hara, who wrote and directed Good Breeding, the 2007 QM production. Caleb has also been assisting designers like UCSD alum Robert Brill (BA '88) on several projects and Louisa Thompson on Of Thee I Sing this summer at Bard College.
Steve Tate (BA '04) wrote to let us know that he is making his NYC producing debut with the production of The Blue Flower, now playing at The West End Theater on 86th and Broadway. "Beautiful, ravishing...an incredibly personal musical world and yet enormously evocative and universal." states Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz. >From casting to equity contracts to budgets and marketing, Steve reports that he has been deeply involved with this production for the past five months and is proud to help foster new and innovative work. He continues his involvement in the Broadway realm, working in the online advertising world at Situation Marketing, handling shows such as A Chorus Line, Steppenwolf's August: Osage County, and Spring Awakening.
Mysti Stay (MFA '06) is a new mom. She writes: "On January 25th, Abigale Lynn and Baylee Jean Mugleston were born. Abigale was 4lbs 8oz and 17 1/2 inches, and Baylee was only 4 lbs and 16 1/2 inches. Now for the rest of the story. I went in Friday for a normal perinatologist's appointment where they measure the growth of the twins. After they did all the measurements, the doctor came in and said that the girls had stopped growing and it was time to have them. I called Randy who was at work, he found a ride to the hospital and the doctor's office wheeled me over the labor and delivery. 3 hours later there were 2 little girls and I was in recovery. It was all very fast. Because of their size the girls were put in the NICU. They graduated though all of the stages quickly surprising all of the doctors. I came home from the hospital Tuesday night and the twins came home the next morning. So, after not expecting them for 2 more weeks, everyone is doing well. Although they are small, they are very healthy. They have both grown back their birthweight (Baylee was under 4 lbs when we left the hospital), and are very content cute children. They look exactly like Randy." Congratulations to all!
Michael Chybowski (BA '79) did the lighting for Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? at the Public Theatre in New York.
Zina Camblin's (MFA '01) play, And Her Hair Went With Her, will have its West Coast premier at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles in April. The production will star Tony Award winning actress Tonya Pinkins.
Owiso Odera (MFA '05) just completed filming a short independent film, titled Acholiland, about UN Relief workers trying to deliver food to Northern Uganda while dealing with the civil war that has left much of the region and the Acholi people devastated.
Michael Jaros (PhD '08) has accepted a job as assistant professor of dramatic literature at Salem State College in Salem, MA. He plans to defend his dissertation in June and move to the Boston area in early August.
Stanley Brode (BA '07) is appearing in Wonder:lust at the Beckett Theater in Theater Row in New York City. He writes: "The play takes Alice in Wonderland and sets it at odds with themes from Waiting for Godot for a darker look at the well known story." Stanley plays "Dr. Pill" (as pictured with Alice), an androgynous "Mad Hatter", and "The Man." The show runs March 28th through April 19th. Also, Stanley has just finished playing "Rosalind" in a staged reading of As You Like It at Manhattan Theater Source. "More may be to come if it is picked up for the NYC Fringe fest!"
Dileep Rao (MFA '98) wrote to let us know; "I'm shooting a new picture for Sam Maimi and Universal Pictures, called Drag Me to Hell. Cool role, can't say much about it, but he's a great director and a lovely man." [Due out in 2009.]
Keiana Richard (MFA '07) recently appeared in the Pearl Theatre's production of Ibsen's Ghosts, which closed March 30th.
John Behlmann as Osvald and Keiana
Richàrd as Regina in Ghosts.
Photo: Erin Beth Donnelly.
Ashley Lucas (PhD '06) has accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Dramatic Art Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Anne Kauffman (MFA '99) has directed and Quincy Bernstine (MFA '99) is appearing in a production of the new play, Stunning, at the Wooly Mammoth Theater in Washington, D.C. Read the Variety review here. Stunning closes April 6th.
Housekeeper Quincy Tyler Bernstine, right, as Blanche,comes to the aid of cloistered teen bride Laura Heislerin Stunning. Photo: Variety.
Eric Bowling (BA '04) dramatured the San Diego Repertory Theatre's production of Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House, directed by Sam Woodhouse, in March. Christian DeAngelis (MFA '07) was lighting designer for the show, and Head of Design Victoria Petrovich (MFA 1988) designed the scenery.
Geno Monteiro (MFA '05) appeared in CBS's Jericho on Tuesday. March 4th. He wrote: "Me and a grad school classmate of mine Brad Fleisher [MFA '05] (for those that don't know him) aka "Da Rooster" will be in next week's episode...and I will be in every episode in March."
Joshua Wolf Coleman (MFA '96) writes from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: "my show The Clay Cart opened on Saturday night.... Our Clay Cart opening was kinda rapturous ... our director is famous for his bursts of emotion and -- after our standing ovation, after the champagne toasts -- he, on cue, burst into tears and congratulated us all on a job well executed. I personally had thought I kinda missed the boat on the show, but have been persuaded that I gave one of my best performances so far (we've had open Dresses and two Previews in the last two weeks before opening) and am choosing to believe that for the moment, happy if ignorant. We did our second show yesterday and the four day break was noticeable; we do our third show today. If you choose to visit, you clearly can get from smorgasbord of theater whatever it is you may be lookin' for. My show will run with these large one, two or three days breaks between nights for the rest of the year this way, but in April I will begin rehearsal on another play (Comedy of Errors) so my weeks will feel a little fuller in the near future." Emeritus faculty Deb Dryden designed the costumes. Alum Christopher Acebo (MFA '98) did the lighting. He is also the Artistic Director for the Festival.
Deborah Black (BA '97) writes: "We opened Tir Na nO’g (Land of Youth) at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco last Saturday. Hope you get a chance to see this brand new play by Edna O'Brien, based on the characters in her book THE COUNTRY GIRLS. This time around I play the part of the Singing Woman, who weaves in and out of the play with traditional Irish songs. It has been extremely exciting to be a part of this new work, and I hope you can come and be a part of it as well. There is some fabulous acting, a terrific fiddler, pennywhistle, banjo, and dance in this coming of age story set in Ireland in the 1950’s."
From Makela Spielman (MFA '04): "I'm writing from snowy Cincinnati, where I'm playing Sister James in DOUBT. It's a fantastic cast, including Caitlin O'Connell, Ted Deasy, and Joy Hooper, and directed by Wendy Goldberg. We began performances March 4th and will run here through April 4th. The production will then transfer to Actors Theatre of Louisville and continue running through May 10th. If you happen to be in either of these cities this spring, please let me know!"
Christine Albright (MFA '04) will participate in Shakespeare at Sea later this year. Christine appeared with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for the last two seasons - this year's roles include "Titania" in A Midsummer Night's Dream and "Radanika" in The Clay Cart.
Tom Nelis (MFA '90), who appeared in Great Falls, at the Humana Festival, Steve Cosson (MFA '99), and the the Civilians were mentioned in the New York Times recently by critic Charles Isherwood. Of the Civilian's latest production he writes: "This Beautiful City is not a polemical exposé in the Michael Moore mold. It is a thoughtful, exploratory foray into a world that, as the interviews make clear, was alien territory...." Click for the article.
Michael Keyloun (MFA '03) let us know that he "will be appearing as "Leo Bloom" in Pioneer Theatre Company's production of The Producers April 24th through May 10th (possibly through the 17th, if we are lucky enough to extend)." Michael also appeared as the Bellhop in the Cape Playhouse production of Lend Me A Tenor, then went on to play "Cohen" in Steve Martin's The Underpants at Actors Theatre of Louisville. In February, he begins rehearsals for Taming of the Shrew at Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany.
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Links Of Interest:
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Theatre Forum - An international theatre journal since 1992 |
9500 Gilman Drive MC0344 La Jolla, CA 92093 Tel: (858) 534-3791 |
Department Chair Charlie Oates has announced that the faculty has chosen Professor Allyson Green to to be the next department Chair beginning July 1st of this year. Green joined the department in 2003 and has maintained her professional career while teaching and, recently, serving as Head of Dance. Her company Allyson Green Dance has been presented to critical acclaim in Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Macedonia, Portugal, Slovakia, Romania, Venezuela, and the United States. Her work is produced regularly in New York by such venues as Danspace Project, Dance Theater Workshop and Symphony Space. She has been a frequent international collaborator with such noted choreographers as Ben Wright in London, José Navas and Dominique Porte in Montreal, Meg Stuart in Brussels and the Lux Boreal company in Mexico.
Dance faculty member Allyson Green recently participated in a panel discussion of the relationship between art and politics and how art (and specifically dance) have been used historically both as a propaganda and tool of resistance. Other panelists included Martin Wollesen, Artistic Director of ArtPower! at UC San Diego, Dr. Mariam Lam, Professor of Comparative Literature at UC Riverside, and local San Diego dance critic Janice Steinberg.
Guest Professor Carl Weber of Stanford University lectured in the Department in directing, history, and design classes recently. Weber is a highly distinguished figure in the field of modern German theatre. He began his career as an actor with the Heidelberg City Theatre while completing his BA in Philosophy, German, and English Literature at Heidelberg University and was one of the founders of the Heidelberg Zimmertheater, directing the company's opening production. In 1950 he joined the company of Theater der Freundschaft, and later became Bertolt Brecht's directing assistant and a dramaturg and actor at the 
Staffers Mark Maltby, Carolyn Passeneau, Michael Francis, Eva Barnes, Ursula Meyer and Chair Charlie Oates recently headlined the Department Talent Show in support of