CSU Theatre Brochure

C S U TH E AT RE | State o f Im a g ination

The Hobbit by Patricia Gray

The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance empowers students to create, collaborate, innovate, and inspire.

Through teaching, creative artistry, research, advocacy, and service, we elevate arts education.

THEATRE AT COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY Storytelling. This is our passion at Colorado State University. Storytelling is the flame that burns from within our souls. We are actors, technicians, designers, playwrights, and patrons of the theatre. We are stewards of social interaction and catalysts for meaningful cultural colloquy. President John F. Kennedy, a lifelong advocate for the arts, once said “The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.” The performing arts can do just that through story and song, words, and action.

It is our goal to keep storytelling at the forefront of our minds as we push the performing arts into the coming times. It is our passion to empower students with the skills, training, and drive to carry the “torch of theatre” into the future.

Come join us and our vision for theatre in the modern age. Tell the stories of the lives around you and make a difference. Enter into a “State of Theatre” at Colorado State University.

Cheers,

PRICE JOHNSTON

Director of Theatre, School of Music, Theatre, and Dance

THEATRE TRAINING FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE BY EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS With a professional resident faculty and a full cadre of annual professional guest artists—all currently working professionally on and off-Broadway, in regional theatres, and around the world—students apply foundational knowledge of cognate disciplines such as history, philosophy, anthropology, political science, film, art, music, and literature through the lens of serious and disciplined study of acting, theatrical design and technology, dramaturgy, dramatic criticism, storytelling, and playwriting in theory and practice.

During their first two years in the 120-credit liberal arts Bachelor of Arts program, theatre students enroll in a core of courses that provide a solid foundation as they pursue excellence in their discipline.

Following their sophomore review, students are directed into one of three upper-division concentrations: Performance, Design and Technology, and General Theatre. No matter which concentration is selected, students are equally prepared for graduate work or entry-level positions in the entertainment industry. Course descriptions are available online at theatre.colostate.edu.

The most important training comes in production, the collaborative act produced by a collective of actors, directors, designers, and technicians. Each season includes classics, contemporary plays, and musicals.

With the quality of a LORT regional theatre, four main stage productions, including one musical, are annually produced in the University Theatre (a 300-seat thrust theatre) and the Studio Theatre (a flexible black box seating 100), two opera-theatre productions in a 550-seat concert hall, and four dance concerts in the 200-seat University Dance Theatre round out the production schedule.

Tartuffe by Molière

The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare

Orestes 2.0 by Charles Mee

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carol, adapted by Eric Prince

THE PERFORMANCE CONCENTRATION Students entering the Performance Concentration will have the ability, aptitude, and stamina to pursue a program of study intended to provide rigorous, training as a performing artist within the context of a liberal arts curriculum. Either as an actor or a creative collaborator with strong interpersonal communication and group problem-solving skills, the concentration provides a path for success in the public and private sectors of the creative industries. This course of study provides student actors with core physical and vocal technique and a variety of approaches to the acting process from which they may glean their own approach to character building.

The concentration emphasizes both theoretical and practical aspects of theatre as an art form, as well as a commercial industry, and trains well-rounded, responsible theatre artists who value ensemble and collaboration within an artistic community.

Course descriptions are available online at theatre.colostate.edu.

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 192 THEATRE FRESHMAN SEMINAR Collaborative creative processes required to transfer storytelling and self-scripting literature to theatrical performance with faculty artists/scholars. As a way for first year theatre students to solidify themselves in the program, the students from Freshman Seminar create and perform a derived production of their own, The Freshman Project.

CSU Theatre is committed to producing one full-scale musical each season.

SCHOLARSHIPS Theatrical scholarships are available. All scholarships require a personal essay, a current resume, two references from former teachers or directors, and a documentation of the student’s collaborative style. An additional consideration for scholarships to continuing students is the quality of their contributions to the program.

The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams

THE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

C O N C ENT R AT I O N

Students entering the Design and Technology Concentration are exposed to multiple disciplines and design areas within the performing arts, including scenic design and stage management, and courses chosen from theatrical construction, lighting design and electrics, digital media design, and costume design and construction. This program is geared towards creative and imaginative, open-minded individuals with a drive for excellence.

Students in this concentration explore creative concepts on a theoretical level, both in the classroom and studio, while reinforcing their training through practical application in main stage productions of theatre, musicals, opera-theatre, and dance. In addition to coursework, as they travel through the program, students take on roles as production technicians and assistants, stepping into leadership roles as designers or production stage managers. This fully collaborative and interdisciplinary program supports pre-professional development.

Design and Technology students have a multitude of facilities available for their use, including a design lab with 28 drafting and rendering stations, CAD Lab with 22 student workstations, scene shop, paint shop, costume shop, sound/video editing lab, lighting lab, and acting labs. World class venues include the University Theatre, the Studio Theatre, the University Dance Theatre, and Griffin Concert Hall.

Course descriptions are available online at theatre.colostate.edu

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 266 DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN FOR LIVE PERFORMANCE I Sound and projection design fundamentals: control, design and content creation for live performance settings.

Evil Dead the Musical by George Reinblatt

DESIGN/TECHNOLOGY EMPHASIS: LIGHTING DESIGN & PRODUCTION Students choosing an emphasis in Lighting Design and Production receive training in theatrical, operatic, concert, film, and dance lighting. Students have opportunities for handson applications of lighting technology, including automated lighting and moving light console training. A broad-based curriculum of theory, design, and practical application trains students to compete in the aggressive world of lighting design and production.

RELATED FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT: ⊲⊲ CAD Lab with 22 student workstations ⊲⊲ Lighting Lab

CAD LAB SOFTWARE TRAINING INCLUDES: ⊲⊲ Vectorworks Spotlight ⊲⊲ Lightwright ⊲⊲ WYSIWYG ⊲⊲ MakerWare 3D printing software

LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEMS INCLUDE TRAINING WITH: ⊲⊲ ETC Ion; ETC Emphasis/Express, ETC GI0 ⊲⊲ Flying Pig: Hog 3 iPC ⊲⊲ GrandMA dot-2

LIGHTING EQUIPMENT/MOVING LIGHT INVENTORY INCLUDES: ⊲⊲ ETC Source-4 Based Conventional Lighting Systems ⊲⊲ Vari*lite Automation ⊲⊲ Martin Automation ⊲⊲ High End Systems Automation ⊲⊲ Clay Paky Automation

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 264 LIGHTING DESIGN I ROCK BAND PROJECT

Join the TH 264 Lighting Design I class and Professor Price Johnston as they showcase a unique approach to teaching lighting, sound, and projection design by utilizing Harmonix’s video game, Rock Band. See how the article “How I Did That: Rock and Load with Rock Band” — Live Design Magazine, has spawned scores of universities across the country to create their own iteration of the project. This simulated Rock and Roll concert will have you on your feet and singing along. In fact, you may even forget it is a university lighting class final.

Rock Band

Exploring these newest areas of theatrical design, an emphasis in Digital Media Design and Production exposes students to current and relevant technologies and techniques emerging directly from

DESIGN/TECHNOLOGY EMPHASIS: DIGITAL MEDIA DESIGN & PRODUCTION

the field. Curriculum includes core elements of theory, content creation, and implementation in the ground-breaking and developing world of sound and digital media design for the stage. Students have the opportunity to explore digital show control systems, media creation technologies, current projection systems, and their application in live performance environments.

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 260 CAD FOR THEATRE Computer-aided drafting and conceptual articulation for theatrical design and production using entertainment industry standard: Vectorworks.

The Hobbit by Patricia Gray

DIGITAL MEDIA & SOUND CONTROL SYSTEMS INCLUDE TRAINING WITH: • Dataton Watchout • Q-Lab 4 Pro-Sound/Pro-Video • Isadora SOUND AND PROJECTION EQUIPMENT INCLUDES: • Yamaha LS-9 Digital Audio Consoles • Barco RLM-W8 Projectors • High End Systems DL-3 Digital LIght Projector

RELATED FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT: • CAD Lab with 22 student workstations • Lighting Lab; Sound/Video Editing Lab LAB SOFTWARE & TRAINING INCLUDES: • Adobe Creative Cloud Suite • Google Sketchup Pro • Final Cut Studio • Ableton Live • Avid Pro Tools

DESIGN/TECHNOLOGY EMPHASIS: COSTUME DESIGN & PRODUCTION Through the emphasis in Costume Design and Production, students explore the complex world of costuming for the stage and screen. With a curriculum based in the duel-environment of design and construction, a student will operate in a “hands-on” setting with immediate career based application.

RELATED FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT: ⊲⊲ ⊲⊲ ⊲⊲ ⊲⊲

Costume Shop CAD Lab with 22 student workstations Design Lab with 28 Drafting/Rendering stations Lighting Lab

CAD LAB SOFTWARE TRAINING INCLUDES: ⊲⊲ Adobe Creative Suite: Production Premium ⊲⊲ Poser

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 163 COSTUME DESIGN I Technical side of costuming for live stage performances with an emphasis on all aspects of construction.

DESIGN/TECHNOLOGY EMPHASIS: STAGE MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTION Students may choose an emphasis in Stage Management and Production where curriculum is based on developing the organizational skills required to run every aspect of a production, from auditions to striking or touring a show. Students apply their knowledge in realized productions of theatre, concerts, opera, and dance, leaving the program with a comprehensive portfolio of managerial experience. Instruction includes developing leadership skills, a familiarity with styles of conflict resolution, knowledge of the documents and forms required for every step of managing a major production, and an understanding for the procedure and logistics behind touring a major show. Students cultivate the professional demeanor and skill sets allowing for optimal success in the field. Specialized courses include Commercial Theatre, Not-for-profit Theatre, Floor Management (Television), and Second Assistant Directing (Film).

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 262 STAGE MANAGEMENT I Duties and responsibilities of stage managers.

Communication, rehearsal, performance techniques. Conceptual approaches to theatre.

A COLLABORATIVE EDUCATION

Collaborative opportunities across the School of Music, The including lighting, scenic, costuming, performance, and st dance concerts and operas each season, the annual Holida Organ Extravaganza concerts, and guest musicians and ar

Fall Dance Concert

visit www.smtd.colost

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman

N

eatre, and Dance are abundant, tage management for multiple ay Spectacular and Halloween rtists.

tate.edu for more details

Annual Holiday Spectacular

GENERAL THEATRE Students entering the General Theatre Concentration receive a broad spectrum of theatrical experiences in a liberal arts environment, from which they emerge as well-rounded, renaissance artists and technicians upon graduation. Students learn practical industry skills and conceptual techniques as they begin to develop an artist’s aesthetic and world-view.

Through real-time production experiences, they learn to think on their feet, adapting to the rapid-paced, high-energy world of the performing arts. Along with their diplomas, students graduate with the confidence, skills, portfolios, and industry connections needed to pursue a broad base of careers in the performing arts and other disciplines, or pursue further study at the graduate level. General Theatre Concentration students take a selection of courses from each concentration. Course descriptions are available online at theatre.colostate.edu

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht

Endgame by Samuel Beckett

CENTER FOR STUDIES IN BECKETT AND PERFORMANCE Samuel Beckett, an Irishman born in Dublin in 1906 who later made Paris his adopted home, died in his eightyfourth year in 1989. He produced an enormous body of critically acclaimed work, novels, short stories, criticism, poetry, and drama - written in two languages (English and French). In his later years, Beckett came quite unexpectedly to be regarded as the most influential and unconventional playwright of the twentieth century, and in 1969, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Center for Studies in Beckett and Performance serves to promote the creation and documentation of practice and performance of the theatre of Samuel Beckett and of new work that, similarly to Beckett, seeks to challenge the boundaries of contemporary theatre practice. The Center encourages interdisciplinary partnerships, artistic collaborations and performance opportunities, and actively works to sustain visibility and recognition of Beckett’s theatre, both as significant art and as living contemporary performance.

Eh Joe by Samuel Beckett

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 242 THEATRE HISTORY I

Theatre from its origins through the Renaissance.

DESIGN/TECHNOLOGY

EMPHASIS: SCENIC DESIGN & PRODUCTION

An emphasis in Scenic Design and Production for live performance and the stage features curricular training in design, drawing and rendering techniques, scenic painting, theatrical construction methods, and modern visualization and communication processes. As with each area within the Design and Technology Concentration, students have opportunities to apply their learning to realized productions and performances.

RELATED FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT: ⊲⊲ CAD Lab with 22 student workstations ⊲⊲ Design Lab with 28 drafting & rendering stations ⊲⊲ Scenic Shop ⊲⊲ Paint Shop ⊲⊲ Color printers, plotters, and Makerbot 3D Printers CAD LAB SOFTWARE TRAINING INCLUDES: ⊲⊲ Vectorworks ⊲⊲ Google Sketchup Pro ⊲⊲ Adobe Creative Suite: Production Premium ⊲⊲ MakerWare 3D printing software writers.

A Christmas Story by Philip Grecian

COURSE HIGHLIGHT:

TH 265 SET DESIGN I Technical side of costuming for live stage performances with an emphasis on all aspects of construction.

PERFORMANCE SPACES UNIVERSITY THEATRE ⊲⊲ The 300-seat University Theatre is a three-quarter wrap-around thrust theatre similar to the famous Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. ⊲⊲ The design creates the intimacy between actor and audience with its three-quarter round arrangement of stadium seating. ⊲⊲ Equipped with state-of-the-art lighting and audio-visual systems. ⊲⊲ CSU Theatre produces as many as four productions in this space each year with each production involving upwards of 60 students and 250 contact hours with faculty and staff. ⊲⊲ The University Theatre was built with funding provided by Bohemian Foundation. ⊲⊲ Patrons include CSU students, faculty and staff, and members of the Fort Collins community.

STUDIO THEATRE ⊲⊲ This space is a complete blank slate available to students to express their creative vision from the scenic design to the seating lay out. Some students have produced productions in the round, some end seating, some seating on two sides: all to fit the nature of the work being produced. ⊲⊲ The Studio is a flexible, experimental space where CSU produces three or four works annually. These productions are directed and designed, produced and performed by our faculty and talented theatre students. ⊲⊲ Depending on configuration, the Studio Theatre can seat up to 125 patrons, no patron further than 25 feet from the action. ⊲⊲ Each Studio production involves 60 students and boasts 200 contact hours. ⊲⊲ The Studio Theatre serves over 3,000 patrons annually, from the CSU student body, its faculty and staff, and the Fort Collins community.

LARGE ACTING LAB ⊲⊲ Located on the second floor of the University Center for the Arts, this multi-use acting studio and theatre is equipped with a full range of lighting and state of the art show control. ⊲⊲ The space not only serves as a classroom, but as a performance space for the Young Producers Organization, and a key space for the Kids Do It All musical-theatre camp.

visit smtd.colostate.edu/facility for a full tour

PROFESSIONAL ARTISTS / TEACHERS PRICE JOHNSTON DIRECTOR OF CSU THEATRE PROFESSOR OF LIGHTING, SOUND AND PROJECTION DESIGN price.johnston@colostate.edu Price Johnston’s career in design has spanned theatre, dance, and opera in both the U.S. and abroad. With work in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Moscow, Athens (Greece), London, Atlanta, St. Petersburg (Russia), and Denver, he has designed over 220 productions. His credits include: the world premiere of Jomandi Productions’ Lavender Lizards Lilac Landmines: Layla’s Dream by Tony nominated playwright Ntozake Shange (14th Street Playhouse, Atlanta, Ga. and the 2004 National Black Theatre Festival), the Off-Broadway production of Two Rooms (Trilogy Theatre, New York), Guys and Dolls (2000 British Tour), The Pee-Wee Herman Show (Club Nokia Theatre, Los Angeles), and the world premieres of Huckleberry Finn: The Musical, and A Southern Christmas Carol (Cotton Hall Theatre), written by award-winning playwright/director Rob Lauer. Mr. Johnston has served as production manager for Live Design International (LDI), the LDI Conference – LDInstitute and Live Design Broadway Training and Masters Classes (Lighting, Concert Sound and Projection Design). His recent work includes the 2015 Drama Desk Award Nominated – Best Projection Design – Donogoo (The Mint Theatre, Off-Broadway – New York), Young Frankenstein The Musical (Union Colony Civic Center Theatre - Greeley, Colo.), the world premieres of Eh Joe and Beckett’s Women (2015 Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival – Enniskillen, Ireland) and The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway (Stephen Sondheim Theatre – New York). Mr. Johnston holds a M.F.A in Lighting Design from the University of Florida, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatrical Design from Colorado Mesa University. He is a member of USITT and the iDMAA.

WALT JONES

playwrights Sam Shepard and David Mamet, John Pielmeier, Derek Walcott and Christopher Durang. Among the many actors Mr. Jones has directed are Meryl Streep, Roc Dutton, John Turturro, Tony Shaloub, Nathan Lane, Liev Schreiber, Angie Bassett, Christopher Walken, Jason Alexander, Peter Weller, Frances McDormand, Kate Burton, Michael Gross, Lindsay Crouse, Mariel Hemingway, John Goodman, and Tony Award-winning stage actor, Jefferson Mays. Mr. Jones was a staff director at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference from 1980 until 1990 and directed regularly for the Yale Rep, Arena Stage, and the American Repertory Theatre. He is the author of The 1940s Radio Hour and A 1940s Radio Christmas Carol, both published by Samuel French, Inc.

LAURA JONES THEATRE PROFESSOR laura.jones@colostate.edu (970) 282-9711 Dr. Jones is a graduate of Northwestern University, received a masters from the University of Illinois and a doctorate from the University of Denver. Dr. Jones teaches acting, directing, and theatre history, with the primary focus of her research in twentieth-century performance theory and criticism, with a special interest in works by, and about, women. Her three decades of directorial credits range from Shakespeare to Arthur Miller to Moliere to Neil Simon. She has staged works by Nobel Prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Dr. Jones currently directs productions at both CSU and at the Bas Bleu Theatre Company in Fort Collins. Dr. Jones is as interested in process as in product, and strives to continually improve her skills as a teacher. She is a professional development mentor for the Leadership Institute of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education, a juror for the Wyoming Arts Council and an adjudicator for the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. In 2003, she was awarded the higher education theatre educator of the year award from the Alliance for Colorado Theatre.

THEATRE PROFESSOR walt.jones@colostate.edu (970) 491-5562 Walt Jones, who joined the CSU Theatre program in 2006, is a graduate of The Yale School of Drama. As a teacher of acting and directing, he has served on the faculty at Yale School of Drama, and University of California, San Diego. Mr. Jones has directed twice on Broadway, six plays off-Broadway, including the American premiere of Howard Barker’s No End of Blame at Manhattan Theatre Club, and over sixty plays in more than twenty regional theatres from Cambridge to Fairbanks and productions in Soviet Russia and in Tokyo. He directed the world premiere productions of plays by Thomas Babe, Lanford Wilson, Naomi Iizuka, José Rivera, Arthur Kopit, Jim Yoshimura, Pulitzer Prize-winning

ERIC PRINCE THEATRE PROFESSOR DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR STUDIES IN BECKETT & PERFORMANCE eric.prince@colostate.edu (970) 491-5562 Dr. Prince has an international profile as a Samuel Beckett scholar and director with many published essays, interviews, and productions. He is also director of CSU’s Center for Studies in Beckett and Performance which promotes a wide range of Beckett productions, along with internationally renowned guest artists and scholars. He has directed over a 100 productions in London, Edinburgh, Scarborough, Plymouth, York, Augsburg, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Berlin, and San Diego as well as

devised children’s theatre on the beaches of Yorkshire and multi-cultural theatre on the streets of Leeds. Five of Dr. Prince’s plays have been finalists for the British National Student Drama Festival, two of them, Kafka’s Last Request and Wildsea Wildsea, receiving the London Sunday Times Playwriting Award and Best Production Awards. He also served as a writer/ director with the British National Student Theatre Company. From 1981 to 1999 a close professional association with Sir Alan Ayckbourn resulted in two plays being commissioned and produced by Ayckbourn’s company, The Stephen Joseph Theatre, North Yorkshire. Dr. Prince has directed many CSU productions including Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, The Birthday Party, Waiting For Godot, and Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential. Earlier experience include being Chair of Theatre at University College Scarborough, now the University of Hull, and Respondent and Chair of Playwriting for the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival.

ROGER HANNA SET DESIGN roger.hanna@colostate.edu Roger Hanna has designed sets for theater, opera, and dance in Japan, Israel, and across the United States, including over 150 productions in New York City.

Before joining CSU, Mr. Hanna’s teaching experience included NYU, Rutgers, SUNY, and the University of Miami. He has designed for universities including University of Minnesota, The New School, NYU, Point Park, Ramapo, Temple, and Yale, and served as resident designer for the Mannes Opera since 2004.

He has also served as resident designer for Playwrights Theater of New York (2000-2004), the Gilgamesh Theater Group (1994-2002), and four discrete NYU Programs (1991-2001). Projects of note include repeated collaborations with Laura Alley, Jack Allison, Jonathan Bank, Trazana Beverly, Tracy Bersley, Joseph Colaneri, Nilo Cruz, Jackson Gay, Robin Guarino, Ron Jenkins, Susan Marshall, Eleanor Reissa, Jody Sperling, and Tommy Tune, at venues including Dance Theater Workshop, Jacob’s Pillow, The Mint Theater, Provincetown Playhouse, Sarasota Opera, Tennessee Shakespeare, and Yiddishpiel (Israel).

Awards include the 2009 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Scenic design, as well as two Drama Desk nominations (2006, 2012), and two Henry Hewes Design Award nominations (2011, 2012). His recent design for Donogoo at the Mint Theatre Off-Broadway received rave reviews in all 25 reviews published (as well as a guest spot on WNYC’s “Leonard Lopate Show”). Mr. Hanna is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and holds a BA in Theater from UCLA and an MFA in Set and Lighting Design from NYU.

GARRETT AYERS ACTING AND DIRECTING garrett.ayers@colostate.edu Garrett Ayers has worked as a professional actor and director with the world’s foremost theatre companies including The Wooster Group in New York City, The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski, and Thomas Richards in Pontedera, Italy. In 2004, Mr. Ayers founded Harlem Theater Project where he developed a community outreach program, curated a gallery of multi-cultural Harlem-based visual artists, and directed productions for the company.

In 2008, he traveled to southern France to study Traditional Vibratory Chant with Maud Robart who was a co-founder of the artist collective Saint-Soleil, and one of Jerzy Grotowski’s primary collaborators. Mr. Ayers has trained and collaborated with SITI, Tectonic Theater Project, and Roy Hart Theatre.

Most recently, he was the Charles Evans Fellow at the Tony Award-winning McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J. Mr. Ayers has an M.F.A. from Naropa University, is an associate member of SDC, and a member of the 2009 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.

PATTY GOBLE ACTING/MUSICAL THEATRE patricia.goble@colostate.edu As a professional singer and actress, Patty was last seen on Broadway as Miss Jones in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette. She has been a member of six original Broadway companies that include the critically acclaimed Ragtime with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald, Curtains starring David Hyde Pierce, The Woman in White, Bye, Bye Birdie with John Stamos and the Tony Award winning Musical Revivals of La Cage aux Folles and Kiss Me, Kate. Throughout her career, she has joined the companies of Toronto, Broadway and The Music Box Tour of The Phantom of the Opera having performed the roles of both Christine and Carlotta.

She has toured the United States and Canada in the productions of Kiss Me, Kate, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Music of the Night and Cats (Jellylorum/Griddlebone). Carnegie Hall appearances have included South Pacific (PBS), Show Boat, The Sound of Music and the NY premiere of the controversial hit opera Jerry Springer, the Opera. She performed with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall in the PBS production of Candide. Regional credits have earned her rave reviews as Anna in The King and I, Meg in Damn Yankees, Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music and Mrs. Sneed Hill in The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

Original cast recordings include Kiss Me, Kate, Ragtime, Curtains and South Pacific (at Carnegie Hall). She had the distinct pleasure of recording Songs of Love and Life, for voice and wind ensemble by Frank Ticheli with the University of North Texas Wind Ensemble with Eugene Migliaro-Corporon conducting. She holds a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory, a Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Northern Colorado and is a distinguished alum from Casper College in Casper, WY.

AMY SCHOLL ACTING

ZHANNA GURVICH DESIGN

amy.scholl@colostate.edu

zhanna.gurvich@colostate.edu

Amy Scholl is a professional actor from Los Angeles who taught acting at University of California, San Diego for 13 years prior to moving to Colo. in 2006. Ms. Scholl has acted in regional theatres, Off-Broadway and in Los Angeles, where she guest starred on several sit-coms, appeared in award-winning commercials, and performed onstage at Tim Robbin’s The Actors Gang, Theatre 40, The Gascon Center, and Theatre Geo where she received two Drama-Logue Critic’s Awards for Outstanding Performance. She was a member of an award-winning sketch comedy troupe that performed at “The Improv” in Hollywood. In San Diego, Ms. Scholl performed at the La Jolla Playhouse, Lambs Players, and for the Actors Alliance. She also acted and directed at the Carlsbad Playhouse. Ms. Scholl holds a B.F.A. in acting from the University of Colorado and an M.F.A. in acting from UCSD. She is a member of Actors Equity, SAG, and AFTRA.

Zhanna Gurvich is an award-winning designer and painter who has designed for theatre, dance, opera, and film at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Joyce Theatre, Chautauqua Opera, and the Juilliard Theatre. Ms. Gurvich received an HOLA Award for Outstanding Set Design for her work on La Llorona. She has painted for Scenic Art Studios, Goodspeed Opera House, Virginia Opera, Dallas Theatre Center, Mannes Opera, and The Mint Theatre Company, including critically acclaimed portraits for Mary Broome and a mural for Black Snow. Ms. Gurvich is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and holds a B.F.A. in studio art from Clark University, as well as an M.F.A. in stage design from Southern Methodist University, with a concentration in scenery and lighting design.

MAILE SPEETJENS COSTUME SHOP DIRECTOR DEBBIE SWANN ACTING debbie.swann@colostate.edu Debbie Swann graduated from Kansas State University with a B.A. in Theatre and English in 2006. From there, she pursued her Master’s in Theatre with a Directing emphasis from Texas State University.

During her studies, she trained in England at The Shakespeare Center, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

From 2008 to 2013 she taught, designed, and directed theatre at Central Community College in Columbus, Neb. Some of her favorite directing credits include Rumors, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Tartuffe, and Godspell. Currently, Debbie teaches the school’s Shakespearean acting and analysis courses.

maile.speetjens@colostate.edu Maile Speetjens attended Emerson College in Boston, Mass. where she received a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre. After graduating, Ms. Speetjens worked as a wardrobe supervisor and costume designer for Boston’s Actors Shakespeare Project, and continued as a cutter/draper at Emerson College. She received her M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Georgia, Athens. Ms. Speetjens design work includes Hidden Man (7 Stages, Atlanta), The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild, and The Dance of Hands (UGA), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Hawaii Children’s Theatre), Rent and Bugsy Malone (Hawaii Children’s Theatre), and Much Ado About Nothing (Actors Shakespeare Project).

STEVEN WORKMAN TECHNICAL DIRECTOR steven.workman@colostate.edu

HALLY ALBERS PRODUCTION MANAGER hally.albers@colostate.edu Hally Albers has an extensive list of professional stage management and production management credits from Santa Fe Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Spoleto Festival, throughout Colorado, as well as in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She balances her professional work with teaching and mentoring student stage managers.

Steven Workman holds an M.F.A. from Indiana University in Theatre Technology, and a B.F.A. from the University of South Dakota in Theatre Design and Technology. Before coming to CSU, Steven worked as technical director for the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, Brown County Playhouse, and The University of South Dakota Playhouse. Other positions include shop foreman for The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, as well as multiple summers with the Black Hills Playhouse.

The Kafka Project by Walt Jones and the COMPANY

Colorado State University

School of Music, Theatre, and Dance UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 1778 CAMPUS DELIVERY, FORT COLLINS, CO 80523-1778 Websites: theatre.colostate.edu / smtd.colostate.edu Phone: (970) 491-5529

Polaroid Stories by Naomi Iizuka

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