MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIR STUDENT CLUBS STUDENT PODCASTS THEATRE & DANCE LECTURER SPOTLIGHTS SPRING CALENDAR COMP POLICY
Now that the Spring semester is underway, classes have begun, the hallways are bustling, and productions are starting to take shape, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on our fall accomplishments in this issue of In the Round. First, I’d like to sincerely thank all of you for your contributions toward helping our students achieve their creative and academic goals last semester. I hope you will also join me in continuing to build a sense of community within our department by taking time to make a new acquaintance, say “Hi!” to someone you don’t know, or pitch in where help is needed in the department. It truly makes a difference. This semester, I would like to introduce two new student clubs – SPOT (Student Productions Organized by Titans) and Punch and Tuffy Puppetry Club – and highlight our established Dance Association and USITT student chapter. Later this spring, SPOT will be producing a student performed, directed, designed, and run production of Love/Sick in the Arena Theatre. You will also see Dance Association, USITT and TPOT students selling concessions at our performances, and you may see a performance by Punch and Tuffy out on the Quad. In other news, the updated “Stage Duerr” (CPAC 123) sponsored by the USITT student chapter, reopens as a place where students can go to study, collaborate, or borrow books from the collection. Over the past three years we have often heard the phrase “we are all in this together,” but in the performing arts we already live by this. It takes everyone in the community to create a performance on stage, and we are all essential. I look forward to seeing you all in the hallways or at an opening night reception this semester!
Katie Wilson Chair - Department of Theatre & Dance
Together We Ca
Theatre & Dan
an Do So Much
nce Fall 2023
THEATRE & DANCE LECTURER SPOTLIGHTS
SARA GUERRERO
(Directing Marisol, Teaches THTR 160 Intro to Acting) What are you passionate about as it relates to Theatre and Dance, or teaching? That there are many stories are still out there. I love picking up a script, new or old draft, table readings, world building, exploring the possibilities through design and staging a story that lives in the very moment it plays out. What has been your journey to bring you to where you are today (whether that is to CSUF or as an artist/ educator)? What’s been missing on the stage and all that surrounds it. I started like most as an actor. I trained and studied and sought work and my place in the industry but what I found was a disparity. My path quickly changed and I found myself writing, producing, directing and eventually starting a theater organization. I also never saw myself as an educator but I take great joy in it. It’s really the students. During my undergrad I was struggling with some of the realities I was facing as a young actor. A professor of mine invited me to assist her in a youth theater program in East Los Angeles and it was there I saw myself and how transformative this program was to them. It’s funny, my drama teacher from high school is Brandee Lara who also teaches here. The theater, I came to know in my public school education, had a strong sense of community. We built and painted the sets together, sold tickets to the show, hosted the box office, searched (bought, borrowed or stole) for costumes, props, etc. It was different when I entered college. However, that sense of community found me again as I assisted my professor. I think for some time I have chased that moment, that feeling, searching for it. It’s never quite the same, it takes on new shapes, sentiments, smells, appearances, But it lives in me, my mission and my work.
MEGAN KIMBALL
(Teaches THTR 100 Intro to Theatre & THTR 110 Oral Communication of Literature) What are you passionate about as it relates to Theatre and Dance, or teaching? As theatre and dance go, I have always been excited to see the story come to life on stage. When a student finds a story, they connect with personal and intellectual growth take place. Thats why when I am teaching my passion stems from a student-centered classroom encouraging students to be active participants of the arts weather it’s from an analytical perspective or telling their own story on the stage someday. What has been your journey to bring you to where you are today (whether that is to CSUF or as an artist/ educator)? When I was young, I used to go to the theatre with my grandparents and saw some of my favorite tales come to life on stage. I then got involved in the arts throughout my education. I have loved theatre ever since and as a result I have never left the stage or the classroom.
TYLER SEIPLE
(Teaches THTR 141A & B Voice & Movement) What are you passionate about as it relates to Theatre and Dance, or teaching? One of Tyler’s foundational beliefs is that the arts encourage humans to greater fullness and complexity. In educating artists, we expand the possibilities and potentials of the entire species and the world we inhabit. What has been your journey to bring you to where you are today (whether that is to CSUF or as an artist/ educator)? Every stage of Tyler’s journey as an artist -- from his earliest productions in middle school to his certifications in Fitzmaurice Voicework, Knight-Thompson Speechwork, and Immersive Acting -- has convinced him that the world gets better through the building of communities that integrate the performance arts into their core. He seeks to create models of those communities in his classrooms, with the goal of developing authentic artists who will go forth to enrich themselves and their societies. He also just loves really good stories.
TULA STRONG
(Teaches DANC 324 Forces and Figures & THTR 357 Blacks in the Performing Arts) What are you passionate about as it relates to Theatre and Dance, or teaching? I have a strong core belief that the arts – and particularly Dance and Theatre – have the ability to shift culture, open hearts, and change minds. It is this belief that makes me certain that artists are critically needed in our society. Our work is important, and it is healing! As an artist-educator, I feel incredibly passionate about pouring into the next generation of artists. I hope to create classroom environments wherein emerging artists can continue to fall in love with the craft, be provided with practical tools to thrive as artists beyond the academy, and most importantly be encouraged that their own voices as artists are powerful & needed in our world. What has been your journey to bring you to where you are today (whether that is to CSUF or as an artist/ educator)? I actually grew up not too far from Cal State Fullerton in the Inland Empire! I was raised there by a single mother who came to America due to a civil war in her home country of Liberia, West Africa. Growing up I never imagined that a career in the arts was possible, but when I got a scholarship to Princeton University and discovered choreography & experimental performance there - everything changed! I left undergrad determined to be an artist (but honestly, I was also incredibly frightened by the fear of ending up a ‘starving artist’). So, I took a leap of faith deciding to dance & train in LA while also pursuing my Masters in Educational Studies specializing in the Performing Arts from Loyola Marymount University. Following this, I received my MFA in Dance from UCLA to expand my work as a choreographer. I’m so grateful to have begun my journey as an artist-educator at Cal State Fullerton (my older brother actually graduated from here!) I started my career in the CSUF African American Studies Department teaching Dance & Performance Studies, and am incredibly happy to be teaching now in the Department of Theatre and Dance too!
CRAIG TYRL
(Teaches THTR 100 Into to Theatre) What are you passionate about as it relates to Theatre and Dance, or teaching? I’m most passionate about theatre’s power to transform. It transformed the course of my own life. As a teacher and theatre artist, I give back what was so freely given to me. By telling stories, we transform the world for the better. What has been your journey to bring you to where you are today (whether that is to CSUF or as an artist/ educator)? My career in theatre started late in life. I was a man in my 30s when I decided to take my first acting class. I’m a product of Saddleback Community College. I kept exploring all the classes that were offered, and slowly I began to believe in a dream I never thought possible. In theatre, I discovered a voice I never knew I had.
SPRING CALENDAR MAIN STAGE Marisol (Little Theatre) 3/8 Opening Night Reception 3/8-3/23 Run 3/14 ASL Interpreter performance Accidentally On Purpose (Hallberg Theatre) 3/22 Opening Night Reception 3/22-4/13 Run (date change) Urinetown (Young Theatre) 4/12 Opening Night Reception 4/12-4/27 Run 4/18 ASL Interpreter performance Spring Dance Theatre (Little Theatre) 5/2 Opening Night Reception 5/2-5/11 Run STUDIO SERIES 12X16 (Grand Central Theatre) Dance 2/22-2/24 Run Living Out & Bright New Boise (Arena Theatre in rep) BFA Acting Sophomore show 3/22-3/30 Run Love/Sick (Arena Theatre) Student Club SPOT 4/18-4/20 Run Tacos with a Fork (Grand Central Theatre) 5/3-5/4 Run
THEATRE AND DANCE COMP POLICY 2023-2024 • Chair: Katie Wilson • Department Faculty, Staff & Grad Asst. Students (paid by department): Two (2) complimentary tickets per production (including COTA operas/musicals) • Production designers, choreographers, vocal coaches, and musical directors Two (2) complimentary tickets per production One (1) complimentary ticket per performance for yourself only. • Department design assistants, asst. directors, asst. choreographers and other production assistants for particular shows do NOT get comps unless authorized by chair. • Production Directors: Two (2) complimentary tickets for the production you directed. One (1) complimentary ticket per performance for yourself only. Additional requests for comps must be approved in advance by the Department Chair or Vice Chair. Issuance of complimentary tickets is subject to availability at time of request. * Please contact Stephanie Tancredi (stancredi@fullerton.edu) in advance for any special accommodations or ticket reservations.
DEPARTMENT CANVAS PAGE
Please refer to this page for general information about productions, classes, contact information for faculty and staff, departmental announcements, a virtual call board for student projects, and general information about the Department and University.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
If you have any suggestions for future topics to be included in the Newsletter, please contact Katie Wilson katwilson@fullerton.edu