PAGE 3 Visiting Artist Robert Woodruff Conducts Workshop
PAGE 5 Dance Medicine Center Opens
PAGE 7 Alumni News
FALL 2010
Director of Applied Theatre Arts Brent Blair plays theatre games with students at a school for survivors of the genocide near Butare, Rwanda.
Donors attended this year’s Tony Award-winning Best Play, Red, and toured the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York.
SOT Faculty Goes Global By Elizabeth West
Tony Awards Headline New York Theatre Trip
itting at a small café table, Associate
S
Just as economics have been affected by technology
Professor of Theatre Practice Eric Trules
and globalization, so have the arts. Our communi-
chats over lunch with the students
cation and artistic exchange has become fluid no
of his Solo Performance and Improv
longer contained by geographical borders. Artists
This past June, the School of Theatre hit the
classes. They talk about class; they
are moving and performing around the world with
Great White Way as we launched the first of
talk about politics, vampires, family, the ’60s in
greater flexibility and ease. Audiences, too, are
what will be an annual theatre trip for friends
America, gypsies, courage, cowardice and life.
becoming more sophisticated and familiar with
and donors. Over a dozen lucky travelers had
global cultures. And if theatre is about being open
the rare opportunity to see the hottest shows on
But Trules isn’t eating a burger over at the new
and in-the-moment in order to tell personal stories,
Broadway (including A Little Night Music starring
Tutor Campus Center; he’s enjoying a bowl of
then the USC School of Theatre faculty has certainly
Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, Billy
“chorba,” a Romanian vegetable and chicken
been practicing what they preach by making con-
Elliot, American Idiot and Red), have a private
borscht with sour cream and freshly-baked bread,
nections all over the globe.
behind-the-scenes tour of the inner workings of
at the café adjacent to Caragiale Film & Theater
the award-winning hit musical Mary Poppins at
University in Bucharest, Romania, where he was
In addition to Trules’ trip to Romania, the School
the recently-renovated New Amsterdam Theatre
on a Fulbright Senior Specialist Residency for two
of Theatre has had professors visiting and making
and attend the theatrical event of the year – the
weeks this past May.
connections in Japan, Rwanda, India, Austria, the
2010 Tony Awards at the world famous Radio
(continued on page 4)
(continued on page 2)
SCHOOL OF THEATRE BOARD OF COUNCILORS
A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
OUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR Dean Madeline Puzo
This fall is a time for celebrations. As I am writing this message, we are in the middle of the festivities sur-
David Anderle, Lisa Barkett, LeVar Burton, Tim Curry, Charles Dillingham, Lauren Shuler Donner, Tate Donovan, Michele Dedeaux Engemann (Founding Chair), Michael Gilligan (Chair, USC School of Theatre Parents Council), Robert Greenblatt, Patti Gribow*, Susan A. Grode, Paula Holt, Donna Isaacson, Gary Lask, Sheila Lipinsky, Laurence Mark, Martin Massman*, Jimmy Miller, Madeline Puzo, Andy Tennant, Allison Thomas, Rik Toulon, Joe Tremaine, Richard Weinberg (Chair) *on leave of absence
rounding the inauguration of USC’s new President, Max Nikias. As many of you know, President Nikias is a dedicated lover of the arts who created Visions and Voices: The Arts & Humanities Initiative, the extraordinary program that has made an engagement with the arts a distinctive component of a USC education. The School of Theatre has something else to celebrate: our 20th anniversary as an independent school. The Drama Department began in 1945 as part of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. It then became part of the School for the Performing Arts, along with cinema and music. When that school disbanded we were – for a short time – a division in the School of Cinema. In 1990-91 we became an
Tony Awards Headline New York Theatre Trip (continued from page 1)
independent school with the ability, authority and responsibility to create a mission specific to our art
City Music Hall. The fun-filled weekend included
form and chart our own growth.
great food in some of Manhattan’s best res-
We have grown a lot in those years both in size and in reputation and, as this Callboard will show you, we continue to grow. The entering freshman class this fall is the largest in the School’s history and we added a new Masters program in Applied Theatre Arts. Our faculty are expanding their work outside of the United States and the school is beginning to gain an international reputation for excellence. This past year, the School received applications from 21 foreign countries and, next year, we are planning to conduct recruiting trips to various Asian/Australian cities, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney, to reach out to more international students.
taurants, as well as an illuminating pre-theatre discussion about Mark Rothko, the subject of the Tony Award-winning play Red, led by Selma Holo, Director of the USC Fisher Museum of Art. Our next tour adventure is scheduled to take place in June 2011 as we travel across the pond to England for a unique opportunity to experience “real” London theatre, seeing pro-
As always, thank you for your continued support of the School. We have a great history but, with your
ductions all over the city by some of the most
help, the future will be even better. Here’s to our next 20 years.
innovative companies working today. For more information on our London Theatre Tour, please contact J.D. Brown at (213) 821-4262 or email
Madeline Puzo
jeffrey.d.brown@usc.edu.
Suzanne Grossman Scales
1937-2010
Suzanne Grossmann Scales, wife of former School of Theatre
Her stage adaptations include Alpha and Omega for Chelsea Theatre Center/
Dean Robert Scales (1993 to 2003 and currently a Professor
New York, La Vie Parisienne for the Circle in the Square/New York, Number
Emeritus), actress and author of works commissioned by the
Our Days for the Mark Taper Forum/Los Angeles, The Dance of Death for Seattle
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Stratford Festival
Rep, Theatre London/Ontario’s The Lady of the Camellias and The Grand Hunt
of Canada, the Shaw Festival, Theatre London, New York’s
for the Shaw Festival/Niagara-on-the Lake.
Chelsea Theatre Center, Seattle Repertory, San Diego’s Old Globe and the Mark Taper Forum, passed away in Los Angeles
Working frequently with actor-director Paxton Whitehead as co-adapter of
at the age of 72 after a long struggle with Chronic Obstructed Pulmonary
Feydeau’s work, they turned La Main Passe into Chemin De Fer/The Chemmy
Disorder (COPD). Her early successful career as an actress on the stage and in
Circle which was produced at the Shaw Festival and subsequently at the Mark
television gave way to decades of work as a writer of original works, a translator,
Taper Forum, New York’s Phoenix Theatre and the Arena Stage in DC. Their
as well as a skillful adapter of other media for television and the stage.
version of Feydeau’s Le Dindon, retitled There’s One in Every Marriage, premiered at the Stratford Festival/Canada and transferred to Broadway. They
Blessed with a sunshine smile, a radiant soul, slyly twinkling eyes, her full-
also adapted A Flea in Her Ear for the Mark Taper Forum.
throated laugh spoke volumes about her years of actor training. She appeared on Broadway as Princess Alais in the world premiere production of The Lion in
The Suzanne Grossman Scales Memorial Fund has been established at the
Winter, as Roxanne in a revival of Cyrano and as Sybil Chase in Private Lives.
School of Theatre with a generous gift made by Dean Scales. Annually,
On television, she appeared in The Diary of Anne Frank and as Cleopatra in
starting in the fall of 2011, a freshman student will receive scholarship support
a documentary series called Shaw vs. Shakespeare.
in her honor. Contributions to the Fund, which will be matched by the School of Theatre, can be made by contacting J.D. Brown at (213) 821-4262 or by
Her original teleplays include Showstopper (CBC), The Story of Lucy Stone (for
email at jeffrey.d.brown@usc.edu.
the series On Account of Sex), Nellie (CBC) and Sarah (CBC and WNET) which starred Zoe Caldwell as the legendary Miss Bernhardt. Grossmann’s screenplay
A celebration of her life will be held December 21, 2010, beginning at
and teleplay adaptations include The Importance of Being Earnest (Stratford
4:30 p.m., in USC’s Town and Gown. You may RSVP to the USC Emeriti Center
Festival/Canada), Pale Horse, Pale Rider (CBS) and Mavis Gallent’s His Mother
at ecrsvo@usc.edu or call (213) 740-7122. More information on the event can
(CBC), as well as 107 episodes of TV’s Ryan’s Hope.
be found at http://mcsgtributes2010.blogspot.com/ 2
M.F.A. Actors Swim With the Greeks With the Help of Visiting Artist Robert Woodruff By Evan Henerson
the Habimah National Theatre in Israel. He has taught at Tisch School for the Arts at New York University, at UC campuses in San Diego and Santa Barbara and at the Yale School of Drama where he is currently on the faculty. It was at the Yale Repertory Theatre where Woodruff reunited with Andrew J. Robinson, director of the M.F.A. in Acting program. Woodruff had directed
A full month before the semester began, the
Robinson in In the Belly of the
School of Theatre’s second and third year M.F.A.
Beast in 1983, a production at the
acting students jumped into the pool with the
Mark Taper Forum produced by
Greeks. It would fall to iconic director Robert
School of Theatre Dean Madeline
Woodruff to help them learn how to swim in an
Puzo. When he was gearing up
intensive three-week acting workshop held in the
to direct Yale Rep’s production of
McClintock Theatre. “It’s kind of the big materials, the big roles,” says
M.F.A. actors Danielle Thorpe and Sabina Zuniga Varela work with director Robert Woodruff.
Bernard Marie-Koltes’s Battle of Black and Dogs,
In determining which students would get which
Woodruff and Robinson agreed that the occasion
roles, Woodruff took recommendations from USC
was right – 25 years later – for a creative reunion.
faculty. Sometimes he agreed that Grad Student
Woodruff of the two-person scenes he assigned,
X was Agamemnon. Other times, he went against
“Elektra and Clytemnestra, Orestes and Achilles
While in New Haven, Robinson watched
and Iphigenia. It’s great for (the students) to put
Woodruff teach the Greeks to the Yale Drama
on these suits because they’re so big, and then
School grad students and proposed a similar, if
“I encourage them to bring their own tools,”
to try to own them and live and breathe in the
abbreviated, workshop study at USC. Woodruff,
says Woodruff. “It’s not Martian. It’s not even
room with them; it’s a great challenge.
en route to La Jolla where he would re-stage
Greek. They’re asking a lot of the same ques-
Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground, finally
tions they would ask of any text and then I’m
had a window.
trying to make them see the different things that
“It’s a gift for actors and, really, it’s one of the reasons we’re put on this planet,” he continues, “to investigate this kind of material.”
type and assigned Orestes instead.
an author demands in terms of investigation. “I’ve been wanting him to come to USC and he’s
If somebody talks for 40 lines, then they really
been wanting to come, and it was just a question of
need to talk for 40 lines and you have to find the
Woodruff is no stranger to the Greeks, to the
when it was convenient for him and his schedule,”
necessity of that text.”
classroom or to the West Coast. The co-founder
says Robinson. “The M.F.A. program is pretty new
and former artistic director of San Francisco’s
and he’s actually the first major person to come in
Woodruff communicated with the students –
Eureka Theatre, Woodruff has directed theatre
here and do an ongoing workshop with these folks
eleven second year students and nine third years
and opera regionally and internationally from
and bring his work which is totally his thing.”
– via e-mail over the summer, assigning them one
the Sydney Arts Festival to the Public Theater to
(continued on page 6)
Tenth Anniversary of the David Dukes Memorial Scholarship Fund This year marks the 10th anniversary of the David Dukes Memorial Scholarship Fund at the School of Theatre. The scholarship, established in memory of the late actor David Coleman Dukes, is awarded annually to a third-year undergraduate theatre student working toward a career in acting. Over the course of the last decade, this prestigious endowed scholarship has Past Dukes scholars Jonathan Baron, Jesse Einstein and Margaret Ivey with (second and third from left) Barnet Kellman and Carol Muske-Dukes.
recognized a student’s exemplary dedication to the craft of acting, and, in the process, they have helped to continually honor David’s memory.
television and is slated to play the lead character in USA Network’s new In his 30-year career as an actor, David appeared in more than 20 films and
pilot, A Legal Mind; in addition to her role as vampire Jessica Hanby on the
numerous television shows, but theatre always remained his primary love.
acclaimed HBO series True Blood, 2007 scholar Deborah Ann Woll has no less
Dean Puzo said, “David‘s career still epitomizes the career I wish for all of our
than three films currently in the works, including the indie drama, Highland
acting students. He was an actor’s actor, with whom other artists aspired to
Park; and 2008 scholar Devin Kelley is filming a new Fox drama set to pre-
work. He was one of a special group who could successfully play classical and
miere mid-season entitled Ride Along, created by The Shield’s Shawn Ryan.
contemporary roles in the various media with equal ease and ability. David’s skills, talent and professionalism earned him respect and admiration from all
The School of Theatre would like to thank the following individuals for their
who worked with him in the fields of stage, television and film.”
continuing support of the David Dukes Memorial Scholarship Fund: to Carol Muske-Dukes for serving as a driving force in the scholarship effort and for pro-
Many recipients of the Dukes Award have gone on to successful acting
viding mentorship to all of our awardees; and to Steve Albrezzi, Martin Fisher,
careers: 2004 scholar Patrick J. Adams portrayed King James in the Geffen
Gary Gilbert, Richard Gurman, Barnet Kellman, Mark Rossen and David Zucker
Playhouse’s highly-praised production of Equivocation, works regularly in
for their tremendous outreach in hosting the annual Dukes tennis tournament.
3
USC FRIENDS OF THEATRE DONOR MARQUEE The USC School of Theatre would like to recognize the tremendous generosity of the following individuals and organizations whose cumulative giving has exceeded $1 million. Their foresight and commitment to the arts and higher education have helped transform the School into a leader in theatre education:
VISIONARY CIRCLE Dr. & Mrs. Peter Bing and the Anna H. Bing Living Trust George N. Burns Trust Katherine B. Loker
The USC School of Theatre is grateful to those who have given wisdom, talent, time and financial resources to the benefit of the School’s Annual Fund, the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists and the School’s other scholarship funds. The following members have made pledges of $1,000 or more over the past year. We hope that you will consider becoming a member as well by joining these supporters. Please take a moment to return the enclosed reply envelope. For more information about giving to the School of Theatre, please contact Chris Cook at 213.821.4047 or cc.cook@usc.edu.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Lisa & Bill Barkett • Roger & Michele Dedeaux Engemann • Michael & Debbie Felix • Catherine Gousha • Sheila & Jeff Lipinsky • Sally & Howard Oxley in honor of Dean Madeline Puzo • Gayle Garner Roski & Edward P. Roski Jr. • Richard & Diane Weinberg
Gribow • Denise DuBarry Hay & Bill Hay • Paula Holt • Fred & Emily Nason • Natural Resources Defense Council • Oneida Indian Nation of New York • Robert & Elizabeth Plumleigh in honor of Claire Cortney • Pritzker Family Foundation • Steven & Sylvia Ré • Raymond & Peggy Rosenthal • The Sinatra Family • Allison Thomas & Gary Ross • Rik Toulon • Margo Lee Upham • USC Alumni Association • USC School of Social Work • Jim & Leslie Visnic • Lynne & Steve Wheeler • Linda Yu
PRODUCERS Anonymous • Inger A. Armour Ong • Dawn Balcazar • Susan A. Grode • Jean & Steve Hamerslag • Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg • Lynn Davis Lasher • Gary & Karen Lask • James Low • Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP • Martin Massman • Jimmy Miller • Christine Marie Ofiesh • Rainbow Media • Bruce & Madeline Ramer • Showtime Networks, Inc. • Robert R. Scales in memory of Suzanne Grossmann Scales • Mary Toti • Phoebe & Bobby Tudor • Twentieth Century Fox • Malcolm Waddell & Suzanne Bruce • Warner Bros. Entertainment
PATRONS Anonymous • The Emanuel Bachmann Foundation • Vimal & Bulbul Bahuguna • Mitch & Bonnie Bloom • Sharon Carnicke • William & Patricia Flumenbaum • Patricia Glaser • Greg & Nancy Hillgren • Jay & Kit Kanter • Virginia Mancini & Jay Weston • Robert & Debbie Myman • John and Lisa Pritzker Family Fund • Steve Rudnitsky & Karen Angrist • Pamela & Charles Schroeder • Ruth Tuomala & Ernest Cravalho
DIRECTORS Scott & Rachelle Adler • David Anderle • Michael Douglas Foundation • Todd & Ruth Graham Black • Bloom Hergott Diemer Rosenthal LaViolette • Feldman & Goodman, LLP • John & Leslie Burns • Creative Artists Agency • Henry Crown and Company • Tate Donovan • Michael Gilligan & Anne Helgen • Joanne Marie & Marcel George Foundation • Patti & Dale
Faculty Goes Global (continued from page 1)
ANGELS Sherry Ahern • Gary & Annette Angiuli • Michele Andelson in honor of Lillian Weirick • Ariel Investments • Randolph P. Beatty • Joan & Larry Bedrosian • Dr. Rosula A. Bell in honor of Luisa S. Andaya • Robin Brown & Marc Byron • Caroline Choi • Pierson & Sara Bancroft Clair • The Patrick Cole
Family • William & Harriette Cook • Barbara Cotler • Julie Darmody • Arthur J. & Theodora Edelman • Freddie & Andrea Fenster • David Emmes & Paula Tomei • William & Marcia Frank • Sid Ganis & Nancy Hult • Joan Gardner • Mark Gordon • Patricia J. Higgins • Laura Langford • The Bridges Larson Foundation • Barry & Terri Lind • Jeanne Randall Malkin Family Foundation • Kathleen McCarthy • Edward & Deena Nahmias • Stephen & Lisa Nesbitt • Nancy Ritter • Andrew J. & Irene Robinson • Aurie Salfen • Jim & Debbie Schreier • Laura Turner Seydel • Jeanette Shammas • Rick Silverman • Nancy Sinatra, Sr. • Andreas Steiner & Ulrike Stednitz • Andy Tennant • Claudia & Lee Trevino • United Talent Agency • Jeff & Sharon Walsh • Rebecca & John Walsh in honor of Jordan Walsh • WoodellMascall Family • Bill & Jeanie Zwiener
We have taken care to list names and gift designations accurately. If you believe there has been an error or omission, please contact Development Assistant J.D. Brown at 213.821.4262 or by email at jeffrey.d.brown@usc.edu. Thank you for your support.
which included speakers from the US, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel and Japan.
United Kingdom, Greece, Germany and Australia,
Rwanda doesn’t sound like the average person’s
and that’s just within the summer and fall of 2010.
summer break destination, but that’s just where Associate Professor of Theatre Practice Brent
As an internationally known expert on the
Blair, who recently created the School’s new
Stanislavsky System (Active Analysis) for actor train-
M.A. program in Applied Theatre Arts, went in
ing, Professor Sharon Carnicke, was the keynote
June. This marked his third trip to that country,
speaker for the Australian National University’s
this time giving the women of Abasa, a geno-
Australasian Drama Studies Association annual
cide survivors group, training in Theatre of the
conference held last June in Canberra, Australia.
Oppressed (TO). The techniques of TO, developed
She shared her experimentation with Active
by the late Brazilian activist Augusto Boal, give
Analysis in Motion Capture Technology (mocap),
members of oppressed communities a voice,
which she conducts with the USC Viterbi School
changing their role as powerless victims to
of Engineering through a grant funded by the
dominant voices of change and transformation.
Professor Sharon Carnicke teaches a master class at NIDA in Sydney, Australia.
not in comparison. And our students need to experience testimony from other worlds, other experiences, to broaden our cultural shell.” David Bridel, Associate Director of M.F.A. in Acting, originally hails from the United Kingdom but now
National Science Foundation. In addition, she gave a demonstration of Active Analysis with
In December, Blair will end 2010 presenting
the M.F.A. directing and acting students from the
at the 20,000 member Jana Sanskriti Centre
National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), with
for Theatre of the Oppressed’s Muktadhara IV
whom she has been working for two years.
Festival in Kolkata, India.
Dr. Carnicke also continued her master classes at
He hopes to send some of his M.A. students
NIDA in Sydney, Australia and guest-lectured at
abroad as well. He said, “I need to go to
Queensland Technical University. In September,
Rwanda, personally, to have my world scope
she shared her research again at an international
expanded so that I remember that the things
conference, “Acting in Film,” in Potsdam, Germany,
that I thought were really important are really
calls Los Angeles and USC home. He has sent productions he has directed, choreographed and written to New York, Tel Aviv, France, London, Munich and Slovakia. Bridel has just choreographed Daniel Cantan’s opera Il Postino (based on the movie of the same name) at the LA Opera, directed by Ron Daniels and starring Placido Domingo. He will travel with the production to Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria, for its (continued on page 5)
4
Faculty Goes Global (continued from page 4)
December opening, and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for its summer 2011 engagement. This opportunity grew from connections Bridel made in 2004 with LA Opera and in 2006 with the (Left) The new Dance Medicine Center’s Will Robinson, Director of Dance Dr. Margo Apostolos and Dr. Glenn Pfeffer. (Above) A therapist works with a patient.
Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. Though being naturally organized and linear, Bridel admits after the experience of working with so many others from around the globe with differing approaches, there’s not always a right way to do something. “It’s interesting what grows in the cracks when you let there be cracks.” And he brings that learned flexibility back to his students. Meiling Cheng, Director of Critical Studies, may not have been racking up airline miles this summer, but she has been traveling to China
Treating a Dancer’s Body Through a Dancer’s Eyes Dedicated solely to dance medicine and the specific needs of the individual dancer, the new Cedars-Sinai/USC School of Theatre Dance Medicine Center is a unique collaborative
regularly for fieldwork in performance research
effort to educate dancers about how to avoid dance and other movement-related injuries.
since 2005 and has presented and published her
Based at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
“Most dancers intellectually understand the
findings in Singapore, London, Toronto, New
Angeles, the Center offers a multidisciplinary
importance of doing stretching and warm-up
York, Copenhagen and Melbourne.
team of experts in dance and movement, sports
exercises to prevent injuries so that they can con-
medicine, orthopedics, surgery and physical
tinue practicing the art they love for many years
Staying grounded since fall 2009 in order to fin-
therapy. In addition to providing informational
to come. Unfortunately, many of them haven’t
ish her book on contemporary Chinese time-based
workshops and training about how to prevent
received the best training about how to pre-
art hasn’t slowed Cheng from continuing to make
injuries, team members from the Center are
vent injuries, or perhaps they’ve practiced those
global connections. She has been busy publishing
also available by appointment to assess, treat
techniques incorrectly or inconsistently. Injuries
multiple articles, including “The Prosthetic
and rehabilitate injuries when they do occur,
can also occur when newcomers to dance are
Present Tense: Documenting Chinese Time-based
particularly foot, ankle, knee and hip injuries.
unfamiliar with the limits of their own bodies
Art” in the anthology Perform, Repeat, Record,
or those of their dance partners; or when expe-
edited by Amelia Jones and Adrian Heathfield
This unusual collaboration began when Glenn
rienced and professional dancers feel pressure
(London: Routledge, 2010); three original
Pfeffer, M.D., Director of the Cedars-Sinai
to ignore minor problems until they become
concept essays, “Animalworks & Bodyworks,”
Foot and Ankle Center, met Margo Apostolos,
chronic or disabling. All of these situations
“Extreme Performance” and “Multicentricity,” in
Ph.D., associate professor and the School of
create opportunities for team members from
Performance Studies: the Key Concepts, edited by
Theatre’s Director of Dance. Apostolos and
our collaborative Dance Medicine Center to step
Gabrielle Cody (London: Routledge, 2010), as well
Pfeffer now co-lead the Center.
in and offer consultations, training or corrective
as two essays on the French feminist theorist and
education to help keep dancers healthy and on
playwright Hélène Cixous, “The Laughing Medusa”
Apostolos holds a doctorate in Physical
and “Somagraph,” published in the experimental
Education from Stanford University. A dancer,
writing anthology Feminaissance, edited by Christine
educator, scientist and an expert in human
“Many dance students and professionals sus-
Wertheim (Los Angeles: Les Figues Press, 2010).
and robotic movement and choreography,
tain injuries caused by high impact, repetitive
Dr. Apostolos is uniquely qualified to be the
stress,” explained Pfeffer. “Often, those types
Playwright and Associate
dancer’s liaison with the medical and therapeutic
of injuries are preventable; but when they do
Professor Oliver Mayer
staff. She also spearheads the Center’s educational
occur, they require specific types of care. What
thinks that while interna-
efforts and works with medical practitioners to
makes the Cedars-Sinai/USC School of Theatre
tional travel may be sexy,
identify promising areas for research into dance
Dance Medicine Center unique is that we’ve
it’s key to invest his time
injury prevention and recovery.
assembled this amazing team of experts who
here at home. “Travel Associate Professor Oliver Mayer (on right) with Professor and poet Jon Stallworthy at Wolfson College, Oxford, England.
their feet,” said Dr. Apostolos.
can speak dancers’ language from experience.”
feeds you, keeps you
Dr. Pfeffer brings to the program more than
interested. When you’re
25 years experience as an orthopaedic surgeon
Dr. Apostolos and Dr. Pfeffer said that the pro-
away, you actually think
treating dancers, athletes and others. Media
fessionals involved in the Center will share their
about home and you see
outlets including The New York Times, Wall
knowledge about dance and movement injury
angles you didn’t see before. To be away, you see
Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington
prevention with the community by visiting dance
how other people do things and the choices they
Post, USA Today, People Magazine, Dancer
classes, attending and making presentations at
make. At a distance, you gain perspective.”
Magazine, CNN, Dateline NBC and Good
conferences, and meeting with renowned dance
Morning America have featured him. He
and athletic movement experts across the country.
Mayer traveled in March to the 20/20 Conference:
earned his medical degree from the University
Playwriting/Pedagogy at the University of
of Pennsylvania, where he completed a surgical
For more information on the center, call
Birmingham, UK, where he participated on a panel
internship and orthopaedic residency.
1.800.233.2771 or visit http://www.cedars-
entitled “Writing in Theory: Between Reflection
sinai.edu/Patients/Programs-and-Services/
and Production,” followed by a trip to Merton
Dance-Medicine-Center/.
College, Oxford, giving a paper at the (continued on back cover) 5
The School of Theatre would like to announce the newest members of our Board of Councilors: Tate Donovan
Academy Award nominations, winning two of them. Prior to that, Mark
Actor/Director Tate Donovan has recently appeared in such feature films as
received an Academy Award nomination for producing Best Picture nominee
Shooter, Nancy Drew, and the Academy Award nominated Good Night, and
Jerry Maguire, and he executive-produced As Good As It Gets and Working
Good Luck, for which he shared a 2006 SAG Award nomination. He played the
Girl, both Academy Award nominees for Best Picture.
title role in Neal Cassady for IFC and starred in the independent films American
Mark also produced I, Robot starring Will Smith, Last Holiday starring Queen
Primitive and Below the Beltway on Showtime.
Latifah, and The Lookout starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and directed by Scott
In addition, he has had roles in The Pacifier, Swordfish, Murder at 1600, The
Frank which won the 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature.
Only Thrill, Ethan Frome, Love Potion #9, Memphis Belle, Clean and Sober,
Mark also produced Riding in Cars with Boys, Finding Forrester, Hanging Up,
Space Camp and Inside Monkey Zetterland, for which he earned an
Anywhere But Here, The Object of My Affection and Romy and Michele’s High
Independent Spirit Award nomination. He was also heard as the title voice
School Reunion.
in the Disney animated film Hercules.
Laurence Mark Productions is headquartered at Sony Pictures Entertainment,
On television, Donovan has been a regular on the Emmy Award-winning
where the company has a long-term production arrangement with Columbia
Damages, The OC, as well as well as appearing on several others shows,
Pictures. Mark’s other producing credits include Black Widow, Cookie, True
including Friends and Ally McBeal.
Colors, Sister Act 2, The Adventures of Huck Finn, Simon Birch, Bicentennial Man, Center Stage and Center Stage: Turn It Up.
Tate has also directed several episodes of TV, including Gossip Girl, Weeds, The Good Guys, Damages, Medium, Nip/Tuck, and The OC, and worked as a field producer on HBO’s Emmy winning documentary By The People, The
Lauren Shuler Donner
Election of Barack Obama.
Lauren Shuler Donner has, in the past three decades, established herself as one
On stage, he will be appearing in the new play Good People with Francis
of the most successful and versatile producers in Hollywood. The first feature
McDormand at the Manhattan Theatre Club in February of 2011. Other credits
film she produced was the smash hit comedy, Mr. Mom, one of the top ten
include Rabbit Hole, which won him an Ovation Award at the Geffen Theatre.
grossing films of the year. She then went on to produce Ladyhawke starring
Broadway credits include Amy’s View with Dame Judi Dench, Picnic and the
Matthew Broderick, Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer and St. Elmo’s Fire and
long-running hit, Lobby Hero, by Kenneth Lonnergan. He’s worked at the
Pretty in Pink, both of which garnered platinum records for their soundtracks.
Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Roundabout, the Mark Taper Forum and
In the early 1990s, Shuler Donner produced the box office smash hits Dave and
the Long Wharf.
Free Willy, two of the top ten films of 1993. The critically acclaimed Dave was
Born in Tenafly, N.J., Donovan moved to Los Angeles and began working as an
nominated for both an Academy Award (Best Original Screenplay) and a
actor while studying at the USC School of Theatre where he received his B.F.A.
Golden Globe (Best Picture-Comedy). She went on to produce You’ve Got Mail, Any Given Sunday, Radio Flyer, 3 Fugitives and the sequel to Free Willy. As
in Acting in 1985.
head of The Donners’ Company, she has executive-produced Volcano, Bullworth, Just Married, Semi-Pro, Timeline with Paul Walker and Gerard
Laurence Mark
Butler, Constantine with Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weisz, and She’s The Man
Laurence Mark most recently produced Julie & Julia, written and directed by
with Amanda Bynes.
Nora Ephron and starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, and last year he and
In 2000, Shuler Donner began a new franchise with X-Men and followed up in
Bill Condon produced the 81st Annual Academy Awards hosted by Hugh
2003 with X2. Those films were followed by X-Men: The Last Stand in May,
Jackman. Next up for Mark is How Do You Know, written and directed by
2006, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine starring Hugh Jackman in 2008.
James L. Brooks and starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and
Recent films include The Secret Life of Bees, for Fox Searchlight, starring Queen
Jack Nicholson, which is scheduled for release in December.
Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and Paul
In 2006, Mark produced Dreamgirls, written and directed by Bill Condon and
Bettany, and Hotel for Dogs for Dreamworks/Paramount. She began production in
starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy. The film received
August on the next X-Men film, X-Men First Class, which will be released in 2011.
three Golden Globe Awards, including one for Best Picture, as well as eight
M.F.A. Actors Swim With the Greeks (continued from page 3)
from?; where is she going?; what does he want out of the scene? “You could go from idea to idea, but who is this? What’s the gestalt? What’s the image you’re
scene and one monologue. As summer was draw-
working on?” says Woodruff. “Who do you want
ing to a close and the school year beginning, he
to put in the room? What kind of Creon is this?
then spent 10 sessions working with the students
Is it Mussolini? Is it Pinochet? Is it Nixon?”
on campus. The sessions were closed to observation. (“He won’t let me in,” Robinson says with
He found the M.F.A. actors eager to get to work.
a laugh, “which I think is right.”). But the work
“They’re hungry, they’re curious and they’re tal-
would culminate in a scene presentation class.
ented,” the director says. “Three for three. That’s pretty good. And they have good bodies. Andy’s
As for the work itself, Woodruff says there’s no
program is very physical. They have good cores
secret. The aim is to get the students in a room
which is great for this kind of material.”
with the kings, queens, gods and goddesses and
M.F.A. actor Eric Schulman shares a laugh with director Woodruff.
“All this stuff… I don’t care what the hell they
help them figure out who these characters are.
So universal are the Greeks that Woodruff figures
do as performers afterwards. It just helps,”
Some of the motivations are basic questions of
the work can only help the students whether they
Woodruff says. “If you can do this, you can walk
dramatic intent: where did the character come
immediately get back into the pool with classical
through the door for a television audition and
texts or move on to another genre.
you’ll be better at it.”
6
Patrick J. Adams (B.F.A., 2004) guest-starred on TNT’s “Raising the Bar,” ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars” and ABC’s “FlashForward.” He can be seen in the upcoming film 6 Month Rule starring Jaime Pressly and Natalie Morales. Tasha Ames (B.F.A., 2001) was seen earlier this spring in Crimes of the Heart at the Rubicon Theatre. Leigh-Allyn Baker (B.F.A., 1994) is a series regular in the Disney TV series “Good Luck Charlie.” Troian Bellisario (B.F.A., 2009) is a series regular on the ABC Family “Pretty Little Liars.” She can also be seen in the indie film Peep World starring Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman and Ron Rifkin. Liv Boughn (B.F.A., 1996) can be seen in the Roger Corman films Dinoshark and Sharktopus for SyFy. Bough also professionally works as a teacher and acting coach to children, teens and adults. Jennifer Brienen (B.F.A., 2006) was the Assistant Stage Manager for the play Nightmare Alley at the Geffen Playhouse. The production was directed by Gil Cates and was costume designed by SOT faculty member Tina Haatainen-Jones. Douglas Clayton (B.A., 2000) directed Twelfth Night (Azusa Pacific University), The Philadelphia Story (Actors Co-op), and Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (Musical Theatre Guild). He also serves as Colony Theatre’s Producer and Director for the Reading Series which presents five new works annually for diverse audiences. Meghan Corea (B.F.A., 2006) was the Costume Design Assistant for the documentary Man on Wire, which won the 2009 Oscar for Best Feature Documentary and the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. She was also the costume designer for the film Patrimony and costume assistant for the film Friends with Benefits. Tim Dang (B.F.A., 1980) directed the stage adaptation of Scott Heim’s novel Mysterious Skin at East West Players. Heleya de Barros (B.A., 2006) and Vivian Kerr (B.A., 2005) wrote, produced and starred in We Are With the Band, a new web series distributed by Koldcast.tv, which featured Trevor Peterson (B.F.A., 2006), Gabriel Oliva (B.A., 2006) and Nicholas Rutherford (B.A., 2006). Wyatt Fenner (B.F.A., 2007) was recently seen in South Coast Repertory’s production of George Bernard Shaw’s Misalliance.
Lisa Sharon Harper (M.F.A., 1995) is the author of Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican… or Democrat (published by The New Press) and is the Co-founder and Executive Director of NY Faith & Justice which addresses issues of environmental injustice and violence in black and brown communities.
Janine Salinas (M.F.A., 2007) was awarded a 2010 MacDowell Fellowship.
Greg Holford (M.F.A., 1982) created and directed a series of five shows at the Anaheim Convention Center for Amway China International’s gala and incentive travel program. The shows, which combined Cirque, cutting-edge multi-media, and included China’s biggest popstar, Amei, was performed for over 15,000 Chinese guests, the largest Asian contingency to ever visit the United States.
James Snyder (B.F.A., 2003) was seen in the concert version of Heathers, a musical adaptation by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, at Joe’s Pub in New York.
Nikki Hyde (B.A., 2007) stage managed 3 Truths for Cornerstone Bridge Show which opened the Grand Performances 2010 summer series at California Plaza in downtown Los Angeles.
Nick Thurston (B.F.A., 2010) can be seen in the CW web series “The Lake” starring opposite fellow SOT alum Erica Dasher (B.A., 2009). Thurston can also be seen in the upcoming films The Truth Below and White Irish Drinkers and is currently filming the Lifetime movie Reviving Ophelia, based on the best-selling novel.
Donald Jolly’s (M.F.A., 2008) play Baby Eyes, which he developed for 2008 Under Construction, was presented by Company of Angels last fall for their Staged Reading Series. Jaclyn Kalkhurst (B.F.A., 2008) recently stage managed the world premiere of East West Players’ Road to Saigon directed by SOT adjunct faculty Jon Lawrence Rivera and featured lighting design by alum Jeremy Pivnick (B.A., 2001). John Paul Karliak (B.A., 2003) wrote and performed his first full-length solo production, Donna/Madonna, at the Celebration Theatre earlier this summer. He will reprise his performance for the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York this fall. He can also be seen in the films Little Black Dress and Premarital Six, and can be heard voicing the role of the Avenger for Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic. Alma Martinez (M.F.A., 1995) performed in the National Theatre Company of Mexico’s production of Zoot Suit. Martinez, who is a professor of theatre at Pomona College, not only brought the project to the company but she also served as the US-Mexico Project Coordinator and dramaturg. She is featured in the film Cristiada directed by Dean Wright and starring Andy Garcia, Peter O’Toole and Catalina Sandino. Michael Prichard (M.F.A., 1971) has recorded more than 500 audio books since 1976 for Books on Tape and Tantor Media. He has also been nominated for two Audie Awards. Since 2006, Prichard has performed in eight productions for Ray Bradbury’s Pandemonium Theatre at the Fremont Centre Theatre. Angela Pupello Cistone (B.A., 1991) can be seen in the upcoming films Pizza with Bullets and Monster Heroes.
Miriam F. Glover (M.F.A., 2009) appeared in the world premiere of Lisa Kron’s The Wake at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.
7
Kyra Sedgwick (1985) won her first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role on TNT’s “The Closer.”
Joe Sofranko (B.F.A., 2009) appeared on stage in the Company of Angels’ ten-minute play festival entitled LA Views 3: Hunger and the City.
Elissa Weinzimmer (B.A., 2007) directed The Bedroom Window, an original musical, which also featured actor Jesse Einstein (B.A., 2010). Mary Kate Wiles (B.A., 2009) recently completed shooting the thriller Murder in the Dark, produced by Chris Wyatt, in Italy. Earlier this summer, she appeared as Perdita in Theater 150’s production of The Winter’s Tale. Michael T. Weiss (B.F.A., 1984) starred in the Second Stage Theatre’s Off-Broadway production of The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. SOT alums Forest Whitaker (1982) and James Lesure (B.F.A., 1997) can be seen in the Fox Searchlight film Our Family Wedding. Carolyn Zeller (M.F.A., 2009) appeared in the play Chasing Monsters, co-presented by Company of Angels and Son of Semele Ensemble.
IN MEMORIAM B.F.A. graduate Jeremy Duncan Ross died in his sleep June 23, just five days short of his 56th birthday. Born in Nottingham, England, June 28, 1954, to William Duncan Ross & Mariane Lys Ross, he was a sports radio announcer and stand-up comedian whose lifelong passion was sports. Basketball team owners of the Seattle SuperSonics deferred to his advice on how to retrieve the team spirit back which resulted in the team colors reverting back to green and gold. Ross often traveled with the Sonics, rousing the attending crowd with cheers. Ross later earned a counseling degree and started working with kids, devoting his life to counseling and serving his community through his involvements with AA meetings, Cocoon House (which serves homeless youth), church and Lakeside-Milam Recovery Centers.
symposium sponsored by the Japan Foundation in
Faculty Goes Global
cooperation with the Agency for Cultural Affairs.
(continued from page 5)
Out of the Wings Symposium, “Spanish Golden Age Drama in Translation
She spoke about theatre being a soft power tool
and Performance.” He will go back in 2011 taking translations of the
in nurturing international relationships. She also
playwright Cervantes’ Interludes to the Hotbed Festival at the Menagerie
presented a proposal for a US-Japan Contemporary
Theatre, Cambridge.
Theatre Alliance website which would allow both
Eric Trules with the great Romanian director Livui Cuilei.
the US and Japan to exchange contemporary plays, Traveling to Athens, Greece, in June, Associate Professor and Director of Dance
thereby increasing students’ awareness of life in the other countries and
Margo Apostolos understands connectedness and universality in a global
cultivating bilateral interest.
world. While there, she spoke to the Athens Institute for Educational Research (ATINER), an international meeting of fine and performing artists, on movement
In 2011, the Tokyo Engeki Ensemble in Japan will produce her play Calling
for animators. Language differs but how we communicate through our body is
Aphrodite in Japanese. And USC Visions and Voices will be producing “Voices
universal. Her talk grew out of connections at DreamWorks Animation and the
from the Black Diaspora,” an event that she conceived and is organizing
USC School of Cinematic Arts.
featuring artists from around the globe.
Dr. Apostolos is currently writing a paper covering her research on dance and
In addition to fostering professional global connections, she often travels to
sport in collaboration with the Cedars-Sinai/ USC School of Theatre Dance
research her plays. Travel feeds her internal resources and gives greater depth
Medicine Center, of which she is Co-Director, to present at the International
and resonance to her plays. Dr. Houston’s message to her students is as Mayer’s,
Olympic Committee meeting in Monaco prior to the London Olympics. Over the
one of perspective. “Having seen all those countries, I realize that there’s so
years she has worked with 18 Olympians and 33 players currently in the NFL in
much here in Los Angeles, that often we take it for granted.” We travel the
dance cross-training for sports.
globe only to come back to our doorsteps, but seeing with new eyes.
Born in Japan, but raised in a small town in Kansas and reared in a community
Our faculty are not just teachers, they are learners. Every time they travel or
full of military brides from around the world, Professor Velina Hasu Houston, who
reach out globally, they bring back those experiences and connections to share
heads the M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing program, enjoyed a unique, organic education
with the School’s students both directly and indirectly.
that taught her early the world was bigger than Kansas. “Sometimes if you grow up in a global city, you can take for granted other places,” she said. Dr. Houston didn’t.
Back on the USC campus for the new academic year, Eric Trules can now reciprocate the hospitality and sharing of experiences shown to him while in Romania,
bowl of chorba.
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Ioana Moldovan, from Romania, though this time it probably won’t be over a
following her March panel in Tokyo, Japan, at the Arts & Cultural Exchange
University of Southern California
as the School of Theatre plays host to its first visiting Fulbright Student Researcher,
Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange in Washington, DC,
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage
In June, Dr. Houston was invited to speak at CULCON XXIV, the US-Japan