IPA Spring 2018 Newsletter by Institute of Performing Arts

Welcome to the eighth IPA newsletter! The Institute of Performing Arts at Tisch School of the Arts includes the Department of Dance, Design for Stage and Film, Graduate Acting, Department of Drama, Graduate Musical Theatre Writing, Graduate Theatre Production and Department of Performance Studies. In addition, Open Arts and the Department of Art & Public Policy are now officially part of the Institute of Performing Arts. Chairs, Associate Chairs, faculty and students from these departments are meeting on a regular basis and sharing concerns, ideas and plans for the future. This newsletter highlights Fall 2017 events sponsored by IPA and significant happenings in each of our Departments. What weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re able to share here represents only a small portion of the exciting work that is going on in all corners of the IPA in both our conservatory and academic programs. Our IPA office is in Room 267 at 715 Broadway, Second Floor. It is being run by Hali Alspach and her office hours 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday through Friday. Danny Larsen is the Program Coordinator and can be reached at 212-992-9322. Sarah Schlesinger can be reached at ss4@nyu.edu. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re anxious to hear your ideas for collaborative programming, events, etc., so feel free to contact us at any time. Sarah Schlesinger Associate Dean, IPA

-IPA Department Highlights-

Art & Public Policy

Spring 2018 Highlights

Arts Activism Entrepreneurship Master class with Marjuan Canady On April 12th, Award-winning creative entrepreneur, activist and Arts Politics alumna Marjuan Canady led a master class that allowed students to understand the important of creative innovation, social entrepreneurship, grassroots community organizing and building a creative business from scratch. Creative artists need to be both master of their chosen craft and experts equipped with professional and business skills demanded by a rapidly evolving global arts economy. In the master class, students took a project they were currently working on and built a business strategy including both creative and social components, culminating in a final 2-minute pitch.

Fueling the Funding Engine – Fundamentals of Grant Writing with Elizabeth Kipp-Giusti On March 20th, Arts Politics alumna Elizabeth Kipp Giusti ('16) taught the fundamentals of grant writing. The workshop was designed for Arts Politics students and alumni, whose work often crosses interdisciplinary boundaries and maintains a lens of social engagement. Elizabeth Kipp-Giusti is a strategic development professional and multidisciplinary performer. A New York City native, she values the intersection of education, history, and community as the foundation for building institutions. As Development Associate, Institutional Partnerships at The Public Theater, Elizabeth helps to generate over $10 million in annual revenue to support The Public’s broad range of artistic programming. She serves as the primary grant writer for support from foundations, corporate philanthropies and government agencies. Elizabeth received a BA from Columbia University in 2012, and graduated from the NYU Arts Politics program in 2016.

Faculty Highlights: Spring 2018 •

Dr. Ella Shohat was awarded a Middle East Monitor Palestine Book award in the Memoir category for her book "On the Arab Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements." In April 26th, 2018, Art and Public Policy celebrated the publication of On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements Selected Writings (Pluto Press) by Ella Shohat, Recipient of the Middle East Monitor Palestine Book Award in the Memoir Category.

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"Oscillator in Tualatin Hills Nature Park" by Professor Pato Hebert received the Juror's Choice award for the Staged exhibition at PH21 Gallery in Budapest. And, Professor Pato Hebert's Ataqueridas series appears in the newly released English edition of the Queer City Reader. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) commissioned Professor Pato Hebert to guide the residents from Palo Verde Apartments in a series of workshops to develop and create a zine. Residents of this Los Angeles Family Housing permanent housing facility are transitioning out of homelessness and poverty.

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Pato Hebert shared "Much Better than A Like: Art and the Organizing of New Worlds" at the Mid America College Art Association’s "Fear of the Unknown" presentation, also at the CAA Conference on February 24th.

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A chorus of artists including Art & Public Policy (APP) faculty Anna Deavere Smith, actor Danny Glover, Tisch faculty Oskar Eustis and APP alumnus Anooj Bhandari recite “To Kneel” by Professor Kathy Engel, in a video directed by APP alumna Leah Natasha Thomas, in support in support of the NFL players who take the knee, the movements against racist police brutality and for the right to dissent.

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Two poems by Kathy Engel appeared in Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology. The book launch, hosted by editor and Split This Rock co-founder, Melissa Tuckey, took place at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference on March 9th. In the fall of 2018, excerpts from the book will be featured in an exhibition in the Kimmel Windows gallery space along with a reading involving featured poets from the collection at NYU.

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Kathy Engel was one of four U.S. poets invited to participate in the Voci Lontane, Voci Sorelle International Poetry Festival to be held in Florence in June 2018. Her poems were translated into Italian and published in Voyages: Journal of Contemporary Humanism.

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In February 2018, HBO premiered Notes From The Field, the film version of Smith's play by the same name. The film trended #4 on Twitter nationwide on the night of its premiere. Media coverage included television (Nightline), radio and podcasts (Politico’s Women Rule), written articles (Washington Post, Huffington Post, Mic.com), and more.

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Dr. Hentyle Yapp presented "Deleuze Your Daddy? The Mirror as Method for China" as part of the "Race and Deleuze: Representation, Affect, Art" session at the College Art Association (CAA) Conference in Los Angeles on February 23rd.

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Karen Finley celebrated a 15-year anniversary at NYU this year. NYU recognizes and honors faculty who reach important service milestones at the university.

Dance

Faculty and Alumni Highlights •

Tiffany Ogburn, BFA '17, recently joined the cast of Punchdrunk's immersive theatrical experience, Sleep No More. She met the show's choreographer, Maxine Doyle, while at Springboard Danse Montreal, and later auditioned through a workshop. "It's a very physical show and unlike anything I've ever experienced," she says. "I really enjoy the theatricality of the show and diving into a character's world ... there's always something new to find in each performance!"

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Assistant Arts Professor and Associate Chair, Rashaun Mitchell, continued his choreographic and performance career with two recent projects. Tesseract, performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Harvey Theater in December, merged 3D video and live performance in an exploration of shapes and "galactic" space. DESIRE LINES: RETROFIT, a January series at the San Francisco MoMA, featured an 80-minute structured improvisation examining the boundaries "between subjects and objects." Both projects continued Rashaun's collaborative partnership with dancer and choreographer Silas Riener.

Tiffany Ogburn, Class of 2017

Sean Curran , Chair of the Dance Department, recently completed choreography for the New Orleans Opera production of Terrance Balanchard’s Champion; An Opera In Jazz. Sean is currently choreographer-in-residence at Opera Theater in St. Louis where he is choreographing new productions La Traviatta, Regina, and the world premiere of David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s An American Soldier. In June, Mr. Curran will travel to Los Angeles for the world premiere of his newest dance, Reaction Yield, performed by The Wooden Floor. The Sean Curran Company returns to BAM’s Next Wave Festival October 24-27 celebrating their twentieth anniversary season with the premiere of Everywhere All The Time, choreographed to music by Donnacha Dennehy that will be performed live by the music ensemble Third Coast Percussion. 2018 BFA student Sabrina Karlin, pursuing a second major in journalism, is the 2018 recipient of the Anna and Peter Zenger Award, presented by NYU Journalism and the National Journalism Honor Society to the department's highest achieving student. This summer, Sabrina is headed to the Sundance Resort in Utah to perform as featured dancer in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! 6

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Maddie Parrish, BFA ’18, is currently an apprentice with Parsons Dance, a touring dance company that performs a vast repertory of over 75 works created by David Parsons in addition to works by guest artists. They recently finished up a national tour and a tour through Italy. Maddie understudied for Parsons' May 2018 season at the Joyce Theater. Claire You, BFA ’18, is currently a third-year dance BFA student minoring in Philosophy. She is moving to LA in the fall to apprentice with Ate9 Dance Company under the direction of Danielle Agami. Ate9 is a nationally touring company that serves as an innovative, visceral voice in LA. Claire is excited to apprentice with the company and reach new heights of understanding and expressivity with dance.

Chair of Tisch Dance, Sean Curran

Translucent Borders Translucent Borders, a project of the NYU Global Institute for Advanced Study headed by Tisch Dance music professor Andy Teirstein, explores the ways that "dancers and musicians can engage in creative dialogue across geographic and cultural borders." Having facilitated interaction between artists in Israel, Palestine, Greece, Cuba and Ghana since its inception in 2016, the project now nears its culmination with a series of summer performances at Lincoln Center, NYU, and the renowned Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival. "While a border can be represented by a line, it can also be viewed more expansively, as its own space, fertile with the potential for either confrontation or learning and evolution. Every day our basic questions become more relevant to this moment in world events as we ask ourselves, 'What is the role of music and dance at cultural and geographic borders?' and 'How can we stimulate our own work by encountering the artistry from other cultures?'"

Design for Stage and Film Design Show 2018

NYU Tisch Department of Design for Stage and Film, the MFA Graduating Class produced the Design Show 2018, an exhibition featuring the work of 17 set, costume, lighting, and film designers.

Design Showcase West at UCLA Seven members of the class of 2018 participated in Design Showcase West at UCLA on June 2. They all reported that it was a great experience and that they met many people! Alum John Iacovelli '84 was there to offer advice and support, and he hosted them for dinner. The NYU designers stood out - both for the high quality and the professionalism in their presentations.

Faculty Updates 11

Brett J. Banakis is began work on a new musical, All I Could See, based on the life and poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay, with poems set to music by Carmel Dean. Renascence is set to have its world premiere with the Transport Group this fall at Abrons Art Center, co-directed by Jack Cummings III and Dick Scanlan. Brett is continuing work as International Scenic Supervisor on NYC and Worldwide productions of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, with Set Design by Christine Jones. Brett continues other collaborative work with Christine Jones: they are co-designing a new musical, The Cher Show, based on the life of - and featuring the music of - Cher. They are also working on a new production of La Traviata at the Metropolitan Opera, directed by Michael Mayer, with costumes by Susan Hilferty. Paul Hackenmueller designed a new Carmen co-production with Opera Philadelphia and Seattle Opera, a private concert by the musical artist Zedd, the Financial Community, Now Next, and Owned-Brand meetings with Target Corporation executives and the corporate worldwide re-branding of the Rezidor Hotel Group (Radisson Hotels) in Hong Kong. Over the summer, Susan Hilferty is designing sets and costumes for Rinne Groff’s new play Fire in Dreamland at the Public, sets and costumes for a Hamlet at the Gate Theatre in Ireland, costumes for Turn Me Loose at the Arena Stage, and costumes for La Traviata at the Met, which, though it opens in December 2018, is deep in production now. She is currently working with alumni Christine Jones ‘92, Brett Banakis ‘10, Jason Ardizzone-West ‘12, Ilana Breitman ‘16, Mark Koss ‘13, Tricia Barsamian ‘07, Sarita Fellows ‘08, Amith Chandrashaker ’12, Lap-Chi Chu ’98, and Glenna Ryer ’13. Christine Jones is currently working on the NYC production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child along with Brett Banakis ‘10. She is also designing La Traviata for the Metropolitan Opera's 2019 Season, and has recently begun a new project - The Cher Show - which she will co-design with Brett Banakis. Christine is also designing an adaptation of Cyrano, with music by the band The National, to be work shopped this summer. This fall, Hugh Landwehr will be designing Sherlock’s Last Case at the Huntington Theatre in Boston, directed by Maria Aitken, and a new play, Minor Fantastical Kingdoms, at REP in Newark, Delaware, directed by Mark Lamos. Maggie Raywood has left for Florence! Her time will be split between the research and pattern work in the Acton dress collection and the projects with Jim Calder. Paul Steinberg’s photo essay, Drawings Lie, appears in the current issue of Theater and Performance Design. You will have access to the issue through the Bobst Library. Paul was in London until May 4th for Lohengrin rehearsals at Covent Garden, directed by David Alden. It opened June 7th.

Robert Wierzel is designing A Walk On The Moon, a new musical, with music & lyrics by Paul Scott Goodman; book and additional lyrics by Pamela Grey; based on her screenplay A Walk On The Moon; directed by Sheryl Kaller; choreography by Josh Prince; musical direction by Greg Kenna; scenery by Donyale Werle â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;02; projections by Tal Yarden; costumes by Linda Cho; sound by Leon Rothenberg; produced by Hendel Productions; general management by Roy Gabay Management. A.C.T. San Francisco. The Summer King, an opera based on the life of Josh Gibson, one of the greatest Negro League baseball players. Music by Daniel Sonenberg; libretto by Daniel Sonenberg and Daniel Nester with additional lyrics by Mark Campbell; directed by Sam Helfrich; scenery by Andrew Lieberman; costumes by Kaye Voyce. Michigan Opera Theatre. Rigoletto, directed by Mark Lamos; scenery by Michael Yeargan. Costumes by Constance Hoffman. LA Opera. A Thousand Splendid Suns, a play by Ursula Rani Sarma, adapted from the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; directed by Carey Perloff; scenery by Ken MacDonald; costumes by Linda Cho. Old Globe Theatre, San Diego. 5/18. Camelot, a musical with music by Frederick Loewe; book & lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner; based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White novel The Once And Future King; directed by Alan Paul; choreography by Michele Lynch; music direction & conductor- James Cunningham; scenery by Walt Spangler; costumes by Ana Kuzmanic; sound by Ken Travis; fight choreography by David Leong. Shakespeare Theatre, DC. Christopher Young has been promoted to Vice President â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Creative Director, Creative Visual Merchandising & Archives of Tiffany & Co. In his new role, Christopher will amplify an evolved brand message, revolutionize in-store product presentation, and, in partnership with cross-functional teams, deliver an exciting OmniChannel customer experience. Christopher will achieve this by continuing to ideate original creative visual merchandising (CVM) campaigns aligned with our brand position that enable Tiffany & Co. to be culturally relevant, a market leader amongst our competitors, and help us achieve our sales growth plans. In addition, he will be responsible for all creative direction for Tiffany windows, in-store, events and archives. Christopher will conceptualize, design and develop the CVM aesthetic for the brand in order to maximize sales while maintaining the Tiffany tradition of excellent quality and design. He will also oversee the global Creative Visual Merchandising and Archives teams to support key business strategies, product launches and sales initiatives.

Awards and nominations Tony Awards: Best Scenic Design of a Play Christine Jones '92, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child *WINNER! Best Scenic Design of a Musical David Zinn '91, SpongeBob Square Pants *WINNER! Best Costume Design of a Musical Gregg Barnes '83, Mean Girls Clint Ramos '97, Once on this Island David Zinn '91, SpongeBob SquarePants Drama Desk Awards Nominations: Outstanding Set Design for a Musical Beowulf Boritt '96, Prince of Broadway David Zinn '91, SpongeBob SquarePants *WINNER! Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical Gregg Barnes '83, Mean Girls Clint Ramos '97, Once on This Island David Zinn '91, SpongeBob SquarePants Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical Amith Chandrashaker '12, The Lucky Ones Outstanding Projection Design David Bengali '12, Van Gogh's Ear Peter Nigrini (adjunct faculty), Spongebob Squarepants

Lucille Lortel Nominations: Outstanding Scenic Design Laura Jellinek '09, Mary Jane Amy Rubin '12, Miles for Mary Outstanding Costume Design Tricia Barsamian '07, KPOP Tilly Grimes '10, The Government Inspector

Outstanding Lighting Design Bradley King '10, The Treasurer Golden Mask Awards: Best Music Theatre Production: Billy Budd, Bolshoi Opera in Moscow, set design by Paul Steinberg and costume design by Constance Hoffman *WINNER! Best Set Design: Billy Budd, Paul Steinberg, set designer *WINNER! Olivier Award: Best Opera Production in London Semiramide, Covent Garden (Paul Steinberg, set designer) *WINNER! Best Costume Design Paul Tazewell â&#x20AC;&#x2122;89, Hamilton 2018 International Opera Award for Designer: Paul Steinberg *WINNER!

Drama

Tisch Drama Hosts an All Studio Festival This spring, Tisch Drama presented a one-of-a-kind festival of performances, screenings, and special events highlighting the ongoing creative work in each of its 10 professional training studios. The festival took place March 29 - April 28 in various venues at Tisch and featured more than 325 Tisch Drama students in 53 performances across 39 productions. Tisch Drama Chair Rubén Polendo said the month-long festival showcased the remarkable array of techniques taught and developed in the department, each supported by Tisch Drama’s renowned Theatre Studies curriculum. “I was so excited for the All Studio Festival, because it highlighted the collaborative spirit of Tisch Drama, which is so important for our department,” Polendo said. “The act of coming together in this large-scale collaboration—as one unified department of 10 unique studios—is vital.” Isabella Uzcategui Matos, a student in Tisch Drama’s Classical Studio, called it a rewarding experience. “Being a part of the All Studio Festival has been a great way to connect with the Tisch community and to experience the work of other studios,” she said. Similarly, Kern McFadden—who directed Julius Caesar, featuring students of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting—said the festival provided a great opportunity. “It was a chance for (the students) to share, to create, and to inspire work in themselves and their fellow classmates,” he said. “I only hope that this festival continues to grow and build and create a more symbiotic relationship with all of the studios in the NYU system.” 16

Tisch Drama Hosts ‘Building Inclusion & Belonging in Drama’ This spring, the department hosted a series of training workshops titled “Building Inclusion & Belonging in Drama”, a collaboration with NYU’s Center for Multicultural Education & Programs (CMEP). Led by Chanel Ward, CMEP’s associate director of Diversity Education & Training, the training was an extension of preliminary assessment workshops held last fall, which were further developed to address the department’s unique make-up, structure, and creative curriculum. Tisch Drama Chair Rubén Polendo said the workshops demonstrate the department’s ongoing commitment to building a community where every member feels they belong. In addition to the CMEP training, the department has launched several initiatives to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. These include the Women in Theatre series, Community Call-Ins, and productions and festivals highlighting a diverse range of potent and underrepresented voices, aesthetics, and points of view. “The spring training with CMEP was required for all current faculty and staff and will lay an essential foundation for future colleagues and students,” Polendo said—a point participants reflected. Associate Arts Professor Nathan Flower said Ward and her colleagues guided the group through “potentially dense and intimidating territory” with great openness and wisdom. “It truly felt like a judgment-free zone,” Flower said. “The presentation made the possibility of dialogue and conversation around difficult issues seem much more accessible. And the training provided a way to take the first few steps into a better facility with vocabulary around inclusion, race, and privilege. It was an empowering and humbling experience.” Similarly, Professor Erin Mee said that the training enabled participants to be focused and open with one another. “Chanel invited us to ‘lean into’ any discomfort we encountered and to examine where the discomfort came from,” she said. “She asked us to remember some of the first things we learned about race (whether positive, negative, or neutral) to demonstrate how early and how unconsciously we learn about racism.” Tim Crouse, an instructor at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, said the workshop was “thought-provoking and facilitated some important discourse.”

Going forward, “Building Inclusion & Belonging in Drama” will be required for onboarding all full-time, adjunct, and studio faculty at Tisch Drama, as well as staff.

The Brendan Bradley Innovation Lab

In December, Tisch Drama introduced the Brendan Bradley Innovation Lab, a cross-department, collaborative initiative designed to foster innovation in live performance using digital media and technologies, including virtual reality, site-specific response, and more. The pilot project was held every day for two weeks at Tisch and in NYU’s Brooklyn-based MAGNET center (Media and Games Network). The lab was made possible by a generous donation from Tisch Drama alumnus Brendan Bradley, who approached the University about supporting students in the development of theatre using new technologies. Tisch Drama Chair Rubén Polendo and Bradley came up with the idea of a “lab” to give theatre students a way to incorporate technology in their craft, process, and practice. Collaborating departments included Drama and Game Design. At the end of the two weeks, six students had created prototypes in movement, site-specific performance, virtual and augmented reality, wearable technologies, archaeological narratives, and more. “We created a space where we could experiment,” said Attilio Rigotti, who facilitated the pilot lab. “There was no pressure for it to be good, or instant. We were constantly prototyping and casting, with the focus on process over product.” Likewise, Bradley described the lab as a think tank for young artists who were looking to share tools, knowledge, and ideas about the future of storytelling, and its relationship to technology. “My ultimate goal is to help protect and incubate student ideas,” Bradley said, “allowing students to leave their undergraduate experience with both a prototype for their ideas and the ability to articulate and execute them in collaborative environments.” A second installment of the lab will be held this fall.

A student experiments with virtual reality during the Brendan Bradley Innovation Lab, a new cross-department, collaborative program exploring the intersection of technology and live performance. (Photo: Attilio Rigotti)

Theatre Studies Director Curates María Irene Fornés Colloquium On April 15, Tisch Drama faculty member and Director of Theatre Studies Gwendolyn Alker curated and convened the Fornés Colloquium, as part of a larger regional symposium intended to preserve and archive the legacy of artist María Irene Fornés. Initially held at Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts, in partnership with the Latinx Theatre Commons (a division of the HowlRound organization), Alker was on the planning committee for the first day’s events and spearheaded the colloquium at NYU Tisch. Alker said the event was an extension of her teaching on Fornés’ work over the past 12 years, as well as her role as a nationally respected scholar, producer, and advocate of Fornés’ work. “María Irene Fornés is among the most influential American theatre-makers of the 20th century,” she said. Symposium organizers called Fornés—as playwright, director, designer, and teacher—a defining force within Faculty member Gwendolyn Alker teaches an honors class in Theatre Studies. the off-off-Broadway movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The nine-time Obie Award winner became a guiding presence for emerging theater artists of the 1980s and 1990s, especially those invested in staging feminist, queer, and Latinx aesthetics and experiences. “While many credit her for single-handedly creating a culture of Latinx playwriting today, and for being a mother of the U.S. Avant Garde, Fornés work remains under-acknowledged outside these communities and is rarely produced in regional or Broadway theatres,” Alker said. The NYU colloquium featured a panel of scholars including Alker, Bonnie Marranca, Anne García Romero, and Scott Cummings, and was chaired by Alisa Solomon. The event included a concert reading of Fornés’ 1965 musical Promenade directed by Alice Reagan, with 20

musical direction by Nathan Koci, and a panel of female directors discussing Fornés’ influence on their work that included Reagan, Elena Araoz, Gisela Cardenas, Katie Pearl, and Tina Satter, chaired by Julia Jarcho of NYU Arts & Science. View the recorded livestream here: http://howlround.com/livestreaming-women-directors-on-forn-s-as-director-panel-at-new-yorkuniversity-sunday-15-april. Alker said she was pleased that many of her Fornés seminar students were able to attend and participate in the event. “Overall, both Tisch’s colloquium and the larger symposium was an important step in recognizing and celebrating her legacy and impact,” she said. The event was a joint collaboration of Tisch Drama, Tisch Institute of Performing Arts, Initiative for Creative Research, and the Dean's Office at NYU Tisch, with further support from NYU Center for the Humanities.

Faculty Highlights Narda E. Alcorn served as Production Stage Manager on Broadway’s The Iceman Cometh, starring Denzel Washington. The production was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including "Best Revival." Sebastián Calderón Bentin published his essay "The Politics of Illusion: The Collapse of the Fujimori Regime in Peru" in the January 2018 issue of Theatre Survey (Volume 59, Issue 1). In June, he premiered his new theatre piece The Reception at HERE Arts Center, in collaboration with performers Sean Donovan, Jane Comfort, Ishmael Houston Jones, Leslie Cuyjet, and Hannah Heller. In fall 2017, he performed with the Chicago-based performance company Every house has a door in the New York premiere of The Three Matadores at the Knockdown Center, based on the writings of American poet Jay Wright, as well as in This is not a dream, a performance commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago to run alongside the exhibition Revoliutsiia! Demonstratsiia! Soviet Art Put to the Test, commemorating the centennial of the October Revolution in Russia. Gigi Buffington was the company vocal coach for The Doppelgangër (world premiere) with Rainn Wilson, directed by Tina Landau; You Got Older by Claire Barron, BLKS (world premiere) by Tisch Drama alumna Aziza Barnes; The Minutes (world premiere) by Tracy Letts; and The Rembrandt by Jessica Dickey, all of Steppenwolf Theatre. This summer, she is coaching Guards At The Taj and The Roommate, directed by Phylicia Rashād; Mary Page Marlowe, directed by Lila Neugebauer at Second Stage; and Romeo and Juliet for Bedlam. Byron Easley was nominated for a 2018 Lucille Lortel Award for choreography in the Off-Broadway production of X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation. During winter break, he served as choreographer for the developmental project Wait, Wait, Don't Kill Me based on the NPR podcast “Serial.” Additionally, this spring, he choreographed the rhythm and blues opera I Dream based on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for Opera Toledo. In May, he remounted the production in Charlotte., N.C., for Opera Carolina. Chris Jaehnig served as set designer and manager for the spring performance of New York-based company Dancing Dreams, which provides dance classes to children with physical and medical challenges, collaborating with current students and alumni. Kevin Kuhlke directed a production of The Seagull for Tisch Drama’s Experimental Theatre Wing that included several original songs, for which he wrote the lyrics, with music by Shaina Taub. Additionally, Kuhlke wrote two chapters for On the Horizontal about Mary Overlie and the influence of her work developing and teaching the Six Viewpoints. The book is contracted with Routledge and will come out in 2019. He served as an associate dramaturg for Anne Bogart's/Saratoga International Theater Institute (SITI) company production of The Bacchae, which runs this summer at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, and next year at BAM. He also worked on the preliminary development of a new piece with singer-songwriter Jay Stolar based on the story of Parsifal and the Holy Grail.

Darci Picoult's film Where is Kyra? starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland garnered strong critical response and has been screened across the country in a limited release. Louis Scheeder attended the Shanghai Theatre Academy's Winter Institute where he worked on scenes from The Hairy Ape as part of the Exploring O'Neill workshop. Robert Vorlicky will speak on Young Jean Lee’s Straight White Men at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education conference in Boston this fall; the conference theme is “Theatres of Revolution: Performance, Pedagogy, and Protest.” Vorlicky is on the board of directors at the American Theatre and Drama Society and on the editorial board of the Journal of American Theatre and Drama, which convenes in Boston. Rubén Polendo and members of his company, Theater Mitu, completed a month long residency in Japan, where they engaged in rigorous physical and theoretical research with Tatsushige Udaka of the Kongo School of Noh and renowned Butoh company Sankai Juku. The work was supported in large part by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. Polendo’s Theater Mitu was also awarded a partnership award from the Cultural Affairs Office at the American Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. This spring, the company received additional support for various projects from the New York State Council for the Arts, the Howard Gilman Foundation, and the New England Foundation for the Arts.

Graduate Acting

Graduate Acting Alums in Othello Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Jitney, The Piano Lesson) returned to Shakespeare in the Park to direct a sumptuous new production of OTHELLO. Set amid war and palace intrigue in the 17th-century Mediterranean, this classic drama about a noble Black Venetian general whose marriage is sabotaged by theater’s most infamous villain, Iago, remains Shakespeare’s most urgent and relevant tragedy today. A lush, romantic vision gives way to the violent tangle of love and jealousy, race and revenge in this must-see production of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, OTHELLO. The production featured Grad Acting alums Heather Lind, David Kenner , Chris Cassarino,, Andrew Hovelson, Motell Foster, Tim Nicolai and Corey Stoll

Mark Rylance Visits Grad Acting

The cast of School For Husbands got a fun treat when Oscar, Tony and BAFTA winner Mark Rylance showed up at rehearsal. Rylance's initial visit was to give them advice about "asides" in Molière and Shakespeare, which naturally morphed into fascinating insights into his own process, that was then explored further in his subsequent visit. Fresh off of Farinelli and the King on Broadway, and before heading back to London to play Iago in Othello (Othello will be played by Grad Acting alum Andre Holland), Rylance spent two evenings on the fifth floor with the Second Year Moliere cast, and an additional two hours chatting with the program as a whole, with a Q & A led by program chair Mark Wing-Davey, and first year actor, Ronald Prokes.

Mark Rylance

New Film Curriculum in Grad Acting The Class of 2018 has served as guinea pigs for Grad Actingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new film curriculum, and have come out bigger, stronger, faster guinea pigs for the effort. For the first time, the Los Angeles showcase included a film component for agents, casting directors and producers to see how the actors appear on the big screen, as well as giving a taste of what happens here on the fifth floor from the comfort of a laptop. Current students and alumni of color have teamed up with POC from Juilliard and the National Black Theatre to form the HomeBase Theatre Collective. All works are written, directed, produced and starring students and alums of color, and after a sold out performance last January, they reconvened this spring for an evening of new works, including pieces written by alums Naomi Lorraine, Fedna Jacquet and Doron Mitchell.

Recent Alumni Highlights Annie Fox (‘17) on Broadway in Lobby Hero Jin Ha (‘16) on Broadway in M. Butterfly Will Seefried (‘16) & Robin Weigert (‘94) on Dietland on Netflix Carvens Lassiant (‘17) on Broadway in Hamilton Nick Selting (‘17) at Lincoln Center in Admissions Chris Cassarino (‘18), Motell Foster (‘17), Heather Lind(‘10), David Kenner (‘09), Andrew Hovelson (‘12), Tim Nicolai (‘15 ) and Corey Stoll (‘03) in Othello in Central Park

Graduate Musical Theatre Writing

GMTWP Alums Win Lucille Lortel Award for New Musicals On May 6, 2018 two GMTWP alums were the proud recipients of the prestigious Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical. Cycle 22 alums Helen Park & Max Vernon penned the songs for their new immersive musical KPOP which premiered this last Fall at Ars Nova. With book by Jason Kim and produced in association with Ma-Yi Theatre Company and The Woodshed Collective, KPOP also garnered awards for outstanding actor performances. Also, BELLA: AN AMERICAN TALL TALE, a new Western-style musical adventure by GMTWP alum and adjunct professor Kirsten Childs (Cycle 4) was nominated for Outstanding Musical amongst other nominations. The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. The League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers produce them by special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Foundation, with additional support from the Theatre Development Fund.

Be More Chill by GMTWP Alum Joe Iconis to be Produced Off-Broadway The musical Be More Chill will play a limited engagement off-Broadway this summer. Featuring music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz, the production will play at The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center from July 26 through September 23. Stephen Brackett will direct and Chase Brock will choreograph the show, which will officially open on August 9. Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill is the story of Jeremy Heere, your average, nothing-special teenager at Middleborough High in nothing-special New Jersey. That is, until the day he finds out about "The Squip." Thus, begins a journey that pits Jeremy's desire to be popular against his struggle to remain true to his authentic self. Be More Chill is a look at coming of age in the digital age and looks at issues such as depression, bullying and anxiety through the lens of sci-fi films of the ‘50s, horror flicks of the ‘80s and teen movies of the ‘90s. Be More Chill was originally commissioned and produced by Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey in 2015, and the off-Broadway engagement will feature company members from that production, including Gerard Canonico, Katlyn Carlson, Stephanie Hsu, Lauren Marcus and George Salazar. Joining the New York premiere company will be Will Roland and Jason SweetTooth Williams.

GMTWP Holds Annual â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sessionsâ&#x20AC;? June 1st through June 3rd, GMTWP hosted its annual Sessions, a weekend for current students and alumni to gather at the department for three days of workshops, panels, and cross-pollination of ideas. Topics this year ranged from working with (and as) a stage manager to contemporary opera to gender parity in the theatre.

Cycle 7's Michael Wartofsky, Cycle 17's Anna Jacobs and Katya Stanislavskaya, and Cycle 18's Sara Cooper. 30

Alum Updates •

GMTWP alum Michael R. Jackson (Cycle 14) was announced as one of the writers to have their work featured in the 2018-19 season at Playwrights Horizons. His new musical A Strange Loop will receive its world premiere on the mainstage at the wellknown NYU off-Broadway theatre in May of 2019. The new musical is about Usher, a black, gay writer, working a day job he hates while writing his original musical. Michael R. Jackson’s blistering, momentous new musical follows a young artist at war with a host of demons — not least of which, the punishing thoughts in his own head — in an attempt to break out of this strange loop.

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Selections for this year's National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival of New Musicals include THE RIVER IS ME with book and lyrics by Cycle 16's Sukari Jones and GUN AND POWDER by Cycle 24's Ross Baum and Angelica Chéri. The Last Day, a new musical theatre work by GMTWP Chair Sarah Schlesinger and Grammy Award Winning Composer Mike Reid premiered in April. 2017. The piece was commissioned as part of Penn State University 's Initiative to support and encourage the development of new musical theatre work on significant topics in contemporary American culture. Florida, written by faculty members and GMTW alums Randall Eng and Donna Di Novelli had its world premiere in Washington DC on April 7th, 8th, 13th, and 14th. Set in an American suburb, the dynamic new opera tells the story of Florida Fandango, a teenage girl wrongly accused of murdering her mother. On May 3rd, Cycle 16 Alum and GMTW Faculty member Julianne Wick Davis presented Forgotten Voices – Songs of the Willard Asylum Suitcases at Joe's Pub at The Public. From May 24th-June 24th The Lonliest Girl in the World by Cycle 16's Gordon Leary and Julia Meinwald had its World Premiere at the Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, California. On June 8th at Rockwood Music Hall, Cycle 27’s Rebecca Hart held a release concert for her album The Magician’s Daughter. Premiering at Barrington Stage Company Summer 2018: The Royal Family of Broadway, with music and lyrics by William Finn (Faculty) and book by Rachel Sheinkin (Cycle 10/Faculty).

Open Arts

Art Matters Master Class with Bayeté Ross Smith With a second installment of the new ART MATTERS master class series this year, Open Arts is advancing its efforts to create impactful new course opportunities for students across NYU. This year our faculty colleague and recent NYT / POV fellow Bayeté Ross Smith was our featured artist for this seven-week, large format lecture series. With an enrollment of over 50 students from across the university, the class pursued a lively discourse as Bayeté shared examples of his work, introduced questions about the politics and economics of art, invited guest lectures from various fields, and sustained thoughtful discussions about perception, identity, class, and race.

Photo credit: Bayeté Ross Smith

Tisch + PS3: Year III Building and maintaining connections between NYU and the local NYC community is vital to the Open Arts Program. This year Tisch Open Arts partnered with first year students from the Drama Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Experimental Theatre Wing to make creative linkages with their fourth grade collaborators from PS3. The two groups were introduced in the fall when ETW students paid a visit to PS3 for conversation, tours of the school, and community building through song. This spring the students were reunited at Tisch to continue their conversations from the fall. Fourth graders presented their own choreographed work to a standing ovation from their ETW friends, and the session culminated with a set of shared ensemble performance pieces based on the work of Alvin Ailey.

Photo credit: CG Foisy

Patricia Hoffbauer 2017 NYSCA Movement Research Artist in Residence Assistant Arts Professor Patricia Hoffbauer was named a NYSCA Movement Research Artist-in-Residence, a “free, high visibility low-tech forum for experimentation, emerging ideas and works-in-progress” for movement-based artists. This two year residency provides rehearsal space, invites collaborative work and creates performance opportunities at Judson Memorial Church. This spring, Professor Hoffbauer collaborated with fellow Open Arts faculty member Steven Drukman on her piece “Sharon & Vinny,” a choreographed work inspired by the third movement of Luciano Berio’s “Symphonia.” Patricia and Steven serve as “interrupters”, breaking into the dance piece and speaking excerpts from Beckett’s “The Unnamable.”

Photo credit: screenshot from Youtube/movementresearch. Videography by Quentin Burley

Performance Studies

Spring Semester Highlights The Department of Performance Studies celebrated its Third Annual José Esteban Muñoz Memorial Lecture on February 12, 2018. Eminent scholar Judith Butler presented her new work on “Susceptibility and Solidarity.” This talk is presented as part of the new SKIRBALL TALKS series and is co-hosted by NYU’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality.

On February 17, 2018, the Performance Studies community gathered for a night of memorable tributes and performances in celebration of department founder Richard Schechner. Richard Schechner has been named Professor Emeritus of the department.

The Department of Performance Studies hosted the third annual Curating Performance Symposium this April. Co-curated by Assistant Professor Malik Gaines, Department Chair AndrĂŠ Lepecki, and Distinguished Teacher Allen S. Weiss, this yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; symposium Curation as Collaboration asked how do artists and curators collaborate with one another, but also with different institutions and communities in the making of performance-oriented curatorial projects? How do curators and artists work together in co-imagining modes of display, presentation, and performance for both existing and new works? In which ways do the curatorial act and the artistic act respond to each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specificity (or fail to do so!), when curating performance?

Faculty Updates Professor Fred Moten was featured in The New Yorker’s "Fred Moten’s Radical Critique of the Present," as part of the magazine’s “Persons of Interest” column. Professor Moten sat down with The New Yorker’s David Wallace to discuss is past work, future projects, and adjusting to life at NYU. Associate Professor Barbara Browning’s latest novel The Gift (or Techniques of the Body) was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Fiction. Assistant Professor Malik Gaines’ latest book Black Performance on the Outskirts of the Left: A History of the Impossible was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in LGBTQ Nonfiction. Performance Studies Professor Fred Moten and Assistant Professor Malik Gaines are both recipients of the 2018 United States Artists Fellowship. Fred received the honors for his contributions to writing, while Malik's performance group My Barbarian was awarded for their contributions to theater and performance. Fellows are awarded $50,000 to help further their work. Fred Moten The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected Professor Diana Taylor as a fellow. Since it’s founding in 1780, the American Academy convenes leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to address critical challenges facing our global society. The Academy’s Fellows and Members include many of the most accomplished scholars and practitioners worldwide. Associate Professor Barbara Browning published her latest collaboration Who the Hell is Imre Lodbrog? with longtime collaborator Sébastien Régnier.

Student Updates The Whitney Museum in New York has appointed Performance Studies Ph.D. student Adrienne Edwards as its Engell Speyer Family Curator and Curator of Performance. She started at the Whitney in May. In conjunction with Women & Performance, the Department of Performance Studies was proud to host The Between: Couple Forms, Performing Together, organized by Performance Studies Ph.D. Candidates Olivia Gagnon and James McMaster. This day-long symposium featured co-authored and/or co-performed papers, presentations, and performances, which sought to explode that stalwart object of queer and feminist analysis: “the couple form.” M.A. Candidate Ivan Espinosa was named a finalist in the 2018 GSAS Threesis Academic Challenge. The Threesis is a vehicle to showcase the academic excellence and important scholarly work of GSAS master’s students. Each participant has three minutes to present a compelling oration on the significance of their research in language appropriate for a non-specialized audience. The Department of Performance Studies is proud to announce its first class of B.A. graduates! This year, Annie Seminara, Jeremy Swanton, Ruhi Bhalla, and Rachel Greenblatt will represent the department as the first graduating cohort of the undergraduate program in Performance Studies. M.A. Candidate Matthew Wilson was awarded the Tisch GSO Interdepartmental Grant to facilitate a collective writing exchange between NYU Tisch and the College of Staten Island to connect, ignite and publish the next generation of writers. Co-facilitated with M.A. Candidate Charles Gershman and the Department of Dramatic Writing, this project utilizes the act of writing and assembly to forge points of contact and intra-connectivity between departments and universities within the City of New York.

Institute of Performing Arts

IPA EVENTS

Women in Theatre This year, Institute of Performing Arts teamed up with Tisch Drama to produce the series Women in Theatre. The series brought prominent women in theatre to Tisch to speak about their careers and to work with students from Tisch Drama and a partnering department. For the first two Women in Theatre events, Baayork Lee and Phylicia Rashad joined us two nights of inspiration and insight. For the 3rd Women in Theatre event, Kirsten Childs was joined in conversation by Michael McElory (Associate Chair of Tisch Drama), Fred Carl (Associate Chair of Graduate Musical Theatre Writing, /Co-Associate Dean of Faculty), Deijah Lucille Martin-valle (Tisch Drama Student), and Morgan Smart (Graduate Musical Theatre Writing). "Working with Ms. Childs' choreography in her very presence was an incredible honor. She was as excited to watch us as we were excited to have the opportunity to dance for her. I have yet to meet an artist of such esteem who is as grounded, real, humble, and human as she is. As much fun as I had participating in the choreography portion, what I will carry with me forever are her incomparable words of wisdom. I was so thankful to have the opportunity to ask her questions about my own playwriting process. As someone who is interested in exploring autobiographical theatre, hearing her speak and being able to speak directly to her about her largely-autobiographical Bubbly Black Girl was an enlightening, and beyond insightful opportunity. I felt incredibly lucky to have gotten such personal attention from her-- she gave me specific advice for breaking down the barriers I feel in working through my own vulnerabilities. That being said, my experience was not isolated; she infused every answer in the Q&A session with radiant kindness and a genuine interest in her audience members, making the evening indescribably inviting and intimate. I am so thankful to have had the privilege to attend and participate in this master class, and will be infinitely grateful to Ms. Childs for sharing her wisdom and heart with us!" - Nicole Tsarouhas - Tisch Drama, New Studio on Broadway

Tisch Drama Students perform “Three Magical Fairies” from Funked Up Fairy Tales

Kirsten Childs (center) in conversation with Fred Carl, Morgan Smart, Deijah Lucille Martin-Valle and Kent Gash

For the 4th and final Women in Theatre event this year, Michael McElroy (Associate Chair of Tisch Drama), Jason King (Director of Global Studies and Associate Professor, Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music), Taylor Perry (Recorded Music Student), and Sara Emiko Chan (Tisch Drama) were joined in conversation by Sara Bareilles. The evening covered Ms. Bareilles’s early career to her experience writing the Broadway musical, Waitress.

Tisch Drama students perform “A Soft Place to Land” from Waitress.

Sara Bareilles (center) in conversation with Jason King, Taylor Perry, Sara Emiko Chan, and Michael McElroy.

A Conversation with Tony Award-winner Jeff Marx On February 26th, the IPA hosted A Conversation with the Tony Awardingwinning writer Jeff Marx. The evening covered Marxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career, his experiences writing the Tony Award-winning musical Avenue Q, and he even performed a few of his own songs. Jeff Marx co-created and co-wrote all the songs for the hit Broadway musical AVENUE Q, which won 3 Tony Awards in 2004 (Best Score, Best Book, and Best Musical) and has become the 20th longest running musical in Broadway history. It is currently still running in New York, now in its 13th year, and in productions around the world. He co-wrote songs for the Emmy-nominated musical episode of SCRUBS, the theme song for the TV series RICK & STEVE, and some of the best songs in Broadway's THE BOOK OF MORMON. His song "You Have More Friends Than You Know" (cowritten with Mervyn Warren) was featured on the TV series GLEE. His song "The Hustler Store" won 1st place in the Comedy category of the ISC International Songwriting Competition. Jeff is a former lawyer, a Tony Award winner, a Grammy nominee, and an Emmy nominee. His journey with AVENUE Q and the Tony Awards is captured in the documentary film "Show Business: The Road to Broadway." He is currently working on a new musical with Fat Mike from the punk band NOFX, about crusty punk teenagers living on the streets, titled HOME STREET HOME.

Jeff Marx

A Conversation with Tony Award-winner Jeff Marx

COLLAB FEST IV- artBreak

On February 16th and 17th, a variety of Grad and Undergrad students came together and were put into random teams with members from every department to create an artistic, site-specific piece exploring the post-Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s theme of heartbreak. The teams had exactly 24 hours to put their work together to present to the Tisch and NYU community Saturday night and ranged from a theatrical Tindr experience to an immersive journey through a relationship between an orange and a piece of seaweed.

Students gathered in the GMTW Black Box Theatre to meet new collaborators.

IPA Staff Lunch

Tisch's Institute of Performing Arts hosted the 3rd Annual IPA Staff Lunch to celebrate the work of the exceptional IPA Staff. This year we honored Joe McGowan from Tisch Drama, Noel Rodriguez Jr. from Performance Studies, Daria Kendus from Dance, Josh Murray from Communications & Technology and Carrie Meconis from the Office of Faculty for their dedication to excellence!

IPA Full Time Faculty Gathering On February 28th, the IPA held its inaugural IPA Full Time Faculty Gathering, bringing together a variety of full time faculty members from all of the IPA departments. Over the past four years the Chairs of the nine departments that make up Tisch Institute of Performing Arts have had the opportunity to become better acquainted with each other. We have learned a great deal about each of the Departments and the ways in which we differ and most importantly the immense amount we have in common with each other. IPA has made encouraging gains in fostering interdepartmental and inter-institute collaborations between students. We have also brought IPA staff together in new ways. This newest initiative works to provide opportunities for full time faculty members to interact and attend events within other IPA departments. IPA also honored faculty members Michael McElroy from Tisch Drama for his work and leadership in creating the Women in Theatre Series and Robert Lee from Graduate Musical Theatre Writing for his leadership in continuing to develop IPA's Students of Color Mentorship Program. We look forward to continuing the gatherings next year!

IPA Faculty Members

Tisch Institute of Performing Arts "Students of Color Mentorship Program" The Tisch IPA Students of Color Mentorship Program continued to meet monthly. This spring the meetings included “A Conversation with BD Wong”, “A Conversation with Rubén Polendo: Documenting Communities”, and a Show & Tell, where students shared their art with the group. The Mentorship Program is committed to providing a welcoming, forward-focused environment for mentorship, fellowship and the sharing of experiences among faculty, staff and students of color from all departments based on a common rising passion around the intersection of race, heritage and culture within the performing arts. Each monthly event is held on a different day of the week to accommodate varying class schedules, and is planned and led by an individual faculty mentor or group of faculty mentors with an eye towards reflecting the diversity of the Tisch IPA faculty and student body. Students of Color Mentorship Program with guest, BD Wong. The success of any mentorship program hinges on the quality of its participants, and though the students and faculty who have attended this year have been an extraordinary group, new members are very much encouraged to join. Any students of color, faculty of color or staff of color interested in participating should feel free to contact Hali Alspach at tisch.ipa@nyu.edu.

IPA Staff Grants 2017-2018

Josh Billig, Graduate Acting Josh traveled to Sitka, Alaska to do more research for a one-act play he has written titled Outside Sitka. It is a 30 page two-hander that deals with addiction, the Tlingit community, codependence and the toxic relationship between Coco, Seamus and meth. The play has won the Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival award, and has gone on to have a handful of productions. During his visit he spent time in the Tlingit and Haida communities, teen recovery centers, canneries and trailer parks. From seeing otters and humpback whales, to the native blessing for the start of herring season to tribal bingo, by the time he left Sitka, with a population of just around 7,000, he already knew significantly more people than in his building in Brooklyn where he's lived for five years. While finally experiencing the place in person has forced him to rethink the entire Hearing Ceremony (Photo by Joshua Billig) play and how it might be expanded into a larger piece, the excitement of getting to share these stories has opened up a vast world of possibility.

Sitka, Alaska (photo by Josh Billig) 52

Therese Bruck, Kim Parkman, and Asa Thorton Undergraduate Costume Department On March 23rd, Therese, Kim and Asa led an interactive performance art installation, The Real Cost of Clothing in the 721 lobby. Its purpose was to draw attention to the clothing industry's impact on the work force, the environment, and the economy. Additionally, it was scheduled on March 23rd to coincide with other events commemorating the anniversary of the Triangle Shirt Factory Fire. Visitors were invited to participate in sewing (for a predetermined time slot) and would function as a machine laborer. A total of over 100 shirts were sewn and available for free to any participants in the event and anyone who filled out a survey about how they view the clothing industry. The goal of the installation was to enlighten and engage the participant and bypasses to really think about the product they are buying, who made it, who benefited from its purchase, and how it affects the environment both in the making of the textile, and the garment when it is no longer needed. Kim Parkman, Therese Bruck and Asa Thorton. Kat Tharp and Dan Soule, Drama Department Kat and Dan will be putting together a Scenic Arts Workshop to be held over 3 days, over 2 weekends, for a total of 12 hours. Participants will be a group of approximately 10 students and staff. The goal is to expose students to the wide range of new and classic scenic art techniques used by professional scenic artists, and give them the knowledge and confidence to begin to utilize those techniques in the creation of their own performing arts pieces while following best practices. Topics to be covered may include: newly developed techniques & materials; classic trompe lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;oeil techniques; painting translucent backdrops; rigid & soft foam carving & sealing; faux stainedglass effects; foliage painting, faux bois (wood graining) & marbling; using pneumatic sprayers for scenic artwork; color mixing; and safe working practices; careers in scenic art; and the process of a scenic artist.

The Real Cost of Clothing 54

Janelle Hutchison, Drama Janelle has written a book of short stories, ENDING UP, which she has worked on for a number of years. She has moved into the next phase of the book’s development and begun to work with an editor to make some critical decisions regarding next steps.

ENDING UP is a book of 12 stories, each representing a consecutive month of the year with an overall arc of healing and how we move forward with our lives. 12 women whose marriages/relationships all end on the same day – the last day of the calendar year – New Year’s Eve. The shock and anger that the central character in the January story deals with, following the end of her life as she knew it, starts us on a journey of healing, as each subsequent month’s story focuses on a new character – another woman who continues the journey of stitching her life back together - until at year’s end we’ve met our dozen. Coping, healing, rebounding, starting anew, Ending UP. Megan Dawson Jaffe, Theatrical Production Megan produced and ran a large-scale immersive benefit event, set in the world of Star Wars. While the original concept was to focus on a live action role-play style of event, it has expanded in scope to become a multimedia occasion accessible to the community at large. Sets, costuming, puppetry, music, robotics, gameplay, puzzle solving, writing, and improv were all used to envelop the participant in a galaxy far, far away. There are a tiered set of attendance options that range from a deeply involved experience with personal plot, developed in conjunction with us and the guest and connections to other guests and actors, a basic encounter with a prewritten character, and a simple attendance which is just an opportunity to take in the sights and sounds. All of the proceeds for the event were dedicated to the Liberty Humane Society, a shelter for the animals of Jersey City that has done wonders in a tiny amount of space, but is looking to expand.

Photo provided by Megan Dawson Jaffe

John Dietrich, Tisch Drama John (Librettist/Lyricist) with his collaborator Julianne Wick-Davis (Composer) held a 29-hour reading of their new musical LAUTREC AT THE ST. JAMES. They assembled a cast of 10 actors, Director Stephen Fried and Musical Director Alexander Rovang and over 4 days work shopped and collaborated on the material culminating in a reading of the One-Act Musical. LAUTREC AT THE ST. JAMES is a musical theatre work focused on the French-Impressionist artist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec and the time he spent in an insane asylum a year before his death at the age of 36. Casey O’Neil, Drama, New Studio on Broadway Casey's IPA Staff Grant helped to support a production of his new musical, The Great Cat Massacre. The Great Cat Massacre is a tale about sexism, class discrimination, and the chaos that results when alternative facts are accepted with mass hysteria. In this true story that predates the French Revolution, two apprentice printers convince the city of Paris their beloved cats are possessed by demons. The riot that ensued remains the worst event in feline history. Directed by Marella Martin Koch, the show was produced as part of the Frigid Festival at the Kraine Theater, and played to sold out audiences over a three-week period. Lauren Stevens, Theatrical Production Lauren is creating a burlesque act in a new style. She has participated in workshops with accomplished performers developing and studying specific skills of classic burlesque, including fan dancing. American burlesque fan dancing is arguably the most graceful, elegant, and glamorous example of the form, and it was a pivotal development in the evolution of cabaret performance into burlesque as we know it today. She researched Sally Rand, the creator of fan dancing, and her contemporaries to best create a historically accurate dance and costume. She has also learned the craft of building graceful feather fans and used her knowledge of costume building to the patterning of a body suit inspired by vintage lingerie and pin--up illustration. Craig Foisy, Tisch Open Arts Craig is completing post-production for Enter Aviva: Pursued by a Bear, a short experimental documentary that chronicles the story of a drag queen’s first year. The project explores the uncertainties of starting anew, enacting multiple identities, and trying to make sense of living and thriving in multiple worlds. Craig has worked on this project as a one-person crew managing all aspects of the production, from the directing, shooting and editing of the film to the composing, performing and recording of the musical score. He followed Aviva’s journey in and out of amateur drag competitions for the past year, accumulating over 40 hours of footage of subject Amir and his drag creation – documenting them learning new lessons about being a performer and taking on new roles as each other’s director, designer, stylist, choreographer, editor and producer.

Michael Doshier, Design for Stage and Film/Production Since Michaelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time in Prague, he has worked with new musical collaborators and created a new show, Johnny Darlin: Songs About Boys! with this updated material. He has continued toward his goal of moving his show toward the live music scene; the purchase of a keytar with the grant has certainly helped, as it's pushed even more of the music to live instrumentation. This has expanded the venues he has been able to book with his act, which was a goal of the grant; and he is taking a brand-new show to the 2018 Prague Fringe Festival and 2018 Queerly Festival here in New York.

Johnny Darlin: Songs About Boys!

Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing and Tisch Design for Stage and Film Collaborate with Brooklyn Museum to Present Mini Operas The Dinner Party Operas, a showcase of eleven original mini-operas inspired by Judy Chicago's iconic feminist installation The Dinner Party, a multi-media work housed in the Brooklyn Museum, were presented this May in New York City by the NYU Tisch Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program (GMTWP), the Brooklyn Museum, the NYU Tisch Department of Design for Stage & Film and American Opera Projects (AOP). The Dinner Party Operas includes the following works by the following GMTWP current students and alums: MASTER, with music by Jacinth Greywoode (Cycle 27) and libretto by Deepali Gupta (Cycle 25) PETRONILLA, with music by Kent Jeong-Eun Kim (Cycle 26) and libretto by Zack Childers (Cycle 27) A DROP IN THE OCEAN, with music by Bryan Blaskie (Cycle 27) and libretto by Christine Claudel Filimonova (Cycle 26) Ă R N-ATHAIR, with music by Benedict Braxton-Smith (Cycle 27) and libretto by Nick Stephens AN UNBROKEN LINE, with music by Spencer Robelen (Cycle 26) and libretto by Seth Christenfeld (Cycle 23) AVERY AND AINSLEY, with music by Jonathan Fadner (Cycle 24) and libretto by Scott R. Ritter (Cycle 17) WAITING FOR THE RAIN, with music by Kevin Cummines (Cycle 16) and libretto by Clara Luthas (Cycle 24)

PRESIDENT JOAN (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF SANDWICHES), with music by Boram Han (Cycle 25) and libretto by Cal Silberstein (Cycle 27) THEODORA, with music by Minhui Lee (Cycle 24) and libretto by Benji Goldsmith (Cycle 26) JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES, with music by Mehmet Salih Yildirim (Cycle 24) and libertto by Lily Dwoskin (Cycle 26) WOMEN'S WORK, with music by Benji Goldsmith (Cycle 26) and libretto by Seth Christenfeld (Cycle 23) Lighting Designers from the Department of Design for Stage and Film at Tisch include Michael Cunningham, Bailey Rosa, and Rachel Fae Szymanski.

IPA Ticket Initiative In its fourth successful year, the IPA Ticket Initiative has continued to send classes within the IPA to shows all over Manhattan, Brooklyn and a few outside New York! This semester alone the IPA funded the attendance of Ballyturck, Fire and Air, Alvin Ailey at New York City Center, Returning to Reims, At Home at the Zoo, Hello Dolly!, The Opera House, Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, X: or Shabazz v. The Nation, Lobby Hero, Wayne McGregor at The Joyce, The Making Room, An Ordinary Muslism, The Band’s Visit, The Winter’s Tale, Harry Clarke, Danger Signals, All Robbins and Carousel. Continuing IPA’s collaboration with Skirball, IPA funded the attendance of Gob Squad: War and Peace, Jérôme Bel: Gala, and Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods Until Our Hearts Stop.

JÉRÔME BEL: GALA

Tisch IPA Students attending The Bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Visit

Dean Allyson Green Associate Dean of the Institute of Performing Arts Sarah Schlesinger Program Coordinator, Institute of Performing Arts Danny Larsen

Program Coordinator, Institute of Performing Arts Hali Alspach

Institute of Performing Arts Tisch School of the Arts 715 Broadway, New York, NY 10003 Second Floor, Room 267 212-998-1654